The Search for Meaning and Direction

When we talk about economic development, we should understand that all development comes from the mind of man. It follows then that if one’s mind is educated, he will conceive better plans for development be it economic, scientific, or whatever. Education is the most vital resource if we are to find meaning and direction. As the late Clement Stone said: “What the mind of man can conceive and believe, he can achieve.”

Science and engineering produce “know-how”, but “know how’ is nothing in itself; it is a means to an end, a mere potential. We marvel at computers as they access us to knowledge quicker and easier than ever dreamed of before. The problem arises what are we to do with and how are we to use all this knowledge. In itself this mountain of knowledge remains as trivia until we put it to use. We know how to do many things, but do we know what to do? Thus we need to educate ourselves on how to best use this vast knowledge for our betterment.

We think with ideas. We think because our mind is already filled with all sorts of ideas with which to think. Each word is an idea which when connected properly to another word forms bigger and more complicated ideas. To maximize this process we need to understand grammar which consists of rules for piecing ideas together otherwise our thinking remains confused and unintelligible.

The first and foremost task of education should be transmission of ideas and its use in our lives. The more education we acquire, the more it produces knowledge. Confucius replied when asked what is knowledge, “Shall I teach you the meaning of knowledge? When you know a thing to recognize that you know it, and when you do not, to know that you do not know-that is knowledge.”

We need to understand why things are as they are and what we are to do in those situations. As an example, when we consider ways for economic development, do we study in depth the problems we are faced with, define them, and consider alternative solutions with the intent of implementing the best one according to our knowledge?
Unfortunately many times the best solutions are passed over because of selfish interests at the expense of community good.

Though the individual and the whole family desires to improve itself, it is entrapped by institutions, both locally and nationally, pulling at times in opposite directions. The institutions themselves must also evolve. Institutions have great possibilities for good or evil. But being composed of individuals acting collectively, they are capable of being manipulated towards good or evil.

As members of these institutions, we must define our individual responsibility versus social responsibility, both local and world level. That is another reason for us to acquire an education which then turns into knowledge and allows us to make correct decisions.

For many of us education ended with formal schooling. We graduated and became obsessed with acquiring a livelihood forgetting that graduation means the upward movement to another plateau of education. We squashed curiosity, the feeling that leads us to more education. We ceased acquiring additional life skills along with the desire for self-improvement. To often our civic participation is limited only to selfish goals, leaving the improvement of the community to others.

Unless we rekindle the spark for educating our citizens, and ourselves, the chances for economic redevelopment remain slim. As I mentioned at the beginning, all economic development stems from the mind of man. The mind is a vast field needing cultivation. When a man has plowed and sown well, his harvest will be bountiful!