Many issues and deficiencies plague the intellect; a number of these have been documented extensively by scholars such as Plato and Locke. One particularly difficult thinking challenge is that of (colored) “lenses,” whose root is cultures in the widest sense. Intellect can be cultivated in countless approaches composed of goals, interests, and experiences as the center of how people seek knowledge and establish their intellectual development for intelligence. This paper will analyze the various approaches intellect is cultivated and how they enhance a person’s intelligence. Various ways of intellect cultivation enhance an individual’s intelligence in diverse ways.
One of the major approaches to cultivating intellect is gathering experience on a personal basis. Most philosophers in ancient Greece used this approach to illustrate that cultivating intellect requires one to explore the world and question the existence of everything. This way of cultivating intellect is deemed traditional, and most people find it more effective in developing the intelligence of young children. In the article by Tampio, he expresses his desire to preserve the traditional approach of cultivating intellect rather than being glued to the computer that restricts children’s minds from expanding beyond electronic learning. He states that under parental guidance, kids cultivate their intellect by engaging the holistic body in a significant experience. In his writing, he outlines, ” Yet screen learning displaces other, more tactile ways to discover the world.” (787). As someone who has examined both spheres of argument, he claims that although many pioneers campaign for the internet and computers, they cannot deny that traditional learning develops children’s intelligence through tactile exploration of the world.
Additionally, intellect can be cultivated through the use of practical knowledge. Scott Sanders’s “Hooks Baited with Darkness,” illustrates that social media has taken much of people’s time and space, degrading the emotional thinking of youth and rendering them unable to grow their intelligence. He claims that people cultivate their intelligence through practical experience rather than hiding their faces on the screen. Scott says, “So I took seriously Thoreau’s suggestion that the students at Harvard, instead of paying rent, could have saved money and gained practical knowledge by building their own dormitories.” (1728). For instance, he was taught how to hunt, garden, and construct, equating it to the suggestion of Thoreau, who recommended that Harvard students structure their dormitories as practical knowledge. Even though the suggestion he got from a factious story, he still perceived the suggestion was efficient in cultivating students’ intelligence since it proposes using realistic, practical knowledge. This approach of cultivating intellect is significant in developing intelligence because it exposes the students to real-world practice that can stimulate their thinking process for solutions surrounding the world’s challenges.
Moreover, fiction can also be used to cultivate children’s intellect. As much as practical knowledge can effectively develop intelligence, some knowledge cannot be acquired as it may harm children based on their young ages. In such a scenario, teachers may apply fiction to socialize the children with real-life societal experiences. However, as much fiction can develop children’s intelligence, what is to be fed into a child’s mind should be controlled. According to Gottschall, fiction literature with poor moral standing molds children negatively, impacting them with negative experiences.
Nonetheless, Gottschall admits that fiction can change people’s beliefs more than what can be conceptualized in the real world under the persuasion of evidence. He claims, “We are moved emotionally, and this seems to make us rubbery and easy to shape” (1659). Conclusively, learning through fiction may limit people’s intellectual guard but strengthen their emotional intelligence when they are engrossed in the story.
In conclusion, as much as there are many ways of cultivating intellect, such as fiction, whole-body engagement, and practical knowledge, the most effective one is practical knowledge, which engages an individual and establishes an emotional connection with what they do. It is best for parents to limit the screen time for their students to explore the field and develop more experience from an individual perspective.
Works Cited
Sanders, Scott Russell.”Hooks Baited with Darkness.”The Norton Reader: AnAnthology of nonfiction, edited by Melissa A. Goldthwaite et al., 15th ed., W. W. Norton, 2020, pp. 791-98
Tampio, Nicholas. “Look Up From Your Screen.”The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Nonfiction,edited by Melissa A. Goldthwaite et al., 15th ed., W. W. Norton, 2020, pp. 325-32
Gottschall, Jonathan. “Why Fiction Is Good for You.” The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Nonfiction, edited by Melissa A. Goldthwaite et al., 15th ed., W. W. Norton, 2020, pp. 763–67
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