A Personal Intellectual Life

 

When we were students we were given reading assignments. We may have had to read books, novels, plays, poetry, or nonfiction. Then we were had to demonstrate that we understood what we had read by composing papers or taking tests. I remember when I went to college the amount of reading I was assigned seemed overwhelming.  Taking final exams and then getting a break from study was a great relief. Is it any wonder that after college I just wanted to put it all down and get on with life? And Is it any wonder that after graduation most of us put our old books in boxes and never look at them again?

Which is sad because having a personal intellectual life is one of the most important and enjoyable things we can do. To gain new understanding and insight is thru active application of our minds one of the best things that can happen to us. Our view of the world changes for the better. And that advance in our understanding stays with us for the rest of our lives.

Today I want to encourage you to make a space in your life for this important and valuable activity; to maintain an active personal intellectual life.  Most of us already do a lot to take care of ourselves. We make sure that we have an interesting social life. We need the company others. We recognize that to be healthy we need to exercise our bodies and eat well. Good health is foundational to happiness.  And I submit to you that to be a happy and well-rounded person you also need to maintain a personal intellectual life by exercising your mind.

What I am asking you to do is engage in the process of ongoing self-education. You need not be exceptionally intelligent to do this. I assure I am not. A person with even modest intelligence who thinks methodically is ahead of a brilliant person who doesn’t think well. And you need not have an advanced degree to do this. All you need to have is the ability to read, access to a library, and the time to think. Who will set the curriculum? It will be your own interests.

I suggest a three step mental exercise program. First, give you mind daily exercise. Schedule time in your day to just think about things. Do it every day. Make it a high priority and don’t skip it. Find a quiet place where you can be alone and reflect. I find walking in a natural places and thinking go together well.  Second, keep you sense of curiosity alive. Asking questions is a good way to stay engaged. Questions like: What is it that I don’t understand? What does this mean? Why does that happen? How does that work? Why do people act that way? Or What is most important to me right now?  Third, keep exploring new mental territory by exposing yourself to new ideas and new information. You aren’t the first person to walk down life’s road. Many others have done it before and learned a lot. You can benefit from their experience so you don’t have to re-invent the wheel or make unnecessary mistakes.

Today there are many good sources of information, I find online lectures to be excellent. But I still find books to be the most valuable.  With them you can learn from the original geniuses who changed and made our world. Being able to read well is important. There is much more to reading than you think. It is a special skill that you can learn. Mortimer J. Alder wrote a great book about it: Entitled How to Read a Book. I think he might have better entitled it How to Understand a Book.  I considerate it the most important book I have ever read because it has been key to my understanding all the others.

Mortimer Adler wrote in his book about the importance of active reading and this can also apply to intellectual life in general:

 “The body is limited in ways that the mind is not. …the body does not continue indefinitely to grow… By the time most people are thirty years old their bodies …have begun to deteriorate … But there is no limit to the amount of growth and development that the mind can sustain…only when the brain itself loses its’ vigor, in senescence, does the mind lose its power to increase in skill and understanding.

 [but] The mind can atrophy, like the muscles, it if is not used. Atrophy of the mental muscle is the penalty that we pay for not taking mental exercise. …there is evidence that the atrophy of the mind is a mortal disease. …many busy people die soon after retirement. They were kept alive by the demands of their work upon their minds; …as soon as those demands cease, having no resources within themselves in the way of mental activity, they cease thinking altogether and, expire. “

 “Television, …and all the sources of amusement and information…are also artificial props. They can give us the impression that our minds are active, because we are required to react to stimuli from outside. But the power of those external stimuli to keep us going is limited. They are like drug. We grow used to them. Eventually, they have little or no effect. Then, if we lack resources within ourselves, we cease to grow intellectually, morally and spiritually. And when we cease to grow, we begin to die.

Reading well, which means reading actively, is thus not only a good in itself nor is it merely a means to advancement in our work or career. It also keeps our minds alive and growing.”

So remember the three step mental exercise program: First: Give you mind daily exercise by take time to think. Second: Keep you sense of curiosity alive by asking questions Third: Keep exploring new mental territory by exposing yourself to new ideas and new information.

I am the first to admit that having a good personal intellectual life is not the whole of life, there are many elements to a life well lived. But I submit you by its light you will better appreciate life’s beauty and it will add illumination to your path so you can better see the steps in life you wish to take.