The quote by Aristotle: "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" has raised a platform for various debates on how people perceive rationale minds. The statement simply represents the open mind where one acquires the ability to be open to new ideas, experiences, and innovations. Theoretically, most human beings have their mind conditioned rather than educated. In this case, people tend to think or act in a particular manner so that they can conform to certain group requirements that are considered to be right. The society, therefore, tends to form opinions just because a particular category of individuals believes in the idea. Aristotle was trying to incorporate the aspect of free minds where people think rationally without attaching their full evidence to the already existing customs, traditions, and peer influence. When making precise decisions, there is more to knowledge other than education.
Importance of educated minds
Aristotle's argument can also be closely linked with the essay "who are you and what are you doing here?" by Mark Edmundson where he reflects on his life in college. The primary message is what people need to do to be successful in both education and life. In his arguments, Mark explains how hard it is to gain knowledge because many distractions come along the way. When the writer provides answers to his question, an aspect of deciding life is evident. Success in education doe not only entail the coursework techniques (Lerouge 370). However, one must find something else to do apart from education to control the level of boredom that is associated with school life. The college education should act as a bridge that connects individuals to other significant goals in life. In this case, there is a connection between the use of knowledge and the idea of educated mind concept by Aristotle.
Educated minds are useful in the utilization of the quality of adaptation. In this case, despite what people have learned or practiced over the years, it is essential to learn on how to conform with the dynamic world. Taking an example of the business world, technology has driven the nature of the business to another higher level. Therefore, it takes an educated mind to readily conform to these aspects even if it involves some changes in the socialization techniques. Being shaped by the traditions or other people is good, but at the end, it might be killing. For this reason, educated minds are important in adaptation to new environment and changes that occur in the society. Similarly, the minds can be used by professionals in various fields to provide justice on empirical levels. Education should be used to open up the mind such that one can think freely and make a conclusive decision. However, for the educated mindset, it is not always that the decisions made are as expected (Charlton 277). People learn to differentiate between the wrong and the right without accepting other people ideas just because they are believed to be valid.
Educated minds are also useful when it comes to maintaining diversity. Recently, education pressures have led to an increase in movement of individuals from one country to the other. As a result, people from different cultures, norms, religious backgrounds, and race meet and interact enormously. Therefore, people must be wise enough to receive multiple views and choose between the right ones. In this case, not all arguments are useful but choosing among them and not necessarily using all of the ideas is essential in promoting social fraternity and harmony. Additionally, the mindset can be used to open multiple opportunities where undiscovered realities exist. The argument by Aristotle is closely linked to the idea of Mark Edmundson which emphasis on the need for aggressiveness for college students. One must have a strong will and confidence to fight for life elsewhere other than in the coursework. For this reason, educated minds are essential in democracy in the creation of citizen-centric government where the voter's opinion matters (Lerouge 374). To achieve the goal, the educated individuals have to raise their dignity from the level of ordinary members to respectable and innovative citizens.
Developing identity with the educated mindset
Developing a growth mindset in students starts with the aspect of self-evaluation. Higher education institutions should train their learners on the benefits of self-identity where one focuses on the strengths and capabilities. Research shows that the human brain develops significantly over the years especially in the adolescent period. As a result, educators should not give up on their students because of their development is far from over. The learners should, therefore, be taught on how to develop higher-order thinking styles that will build on the fundamental capacity of their brains. One of the primary aspects that should be focused on is the art of decision-making (Chen " Samuel 468) When people learn to follow their incidents, it is more likely that they will come up with more informed choices. Thinking different from what is expected is the aspect of an educated mindset that Aristotle addressed.
Moreover, the institutions can facilitate in developing of the identity by offering education about self-regulated learning. The way people think about learning has a significant impact on how they acquire and retain knowledgeable ideas. In self-regulated learning, the mindset can be evaluated as a perception that different individuals hold about themselves. People with fixed minds tend to believe in basic concepts that are mainly set to community background and norms. Contrary, not all traditions fit in the modern society of ideas and innovation. Taking an example of changes in technology, the way people interact and do business has changed. To be able to put up with the competitive markets, one has to come up with different ideas from the already existing ones. Similarly, an improvement on old concepts can be made through the implementation of change. Self-regulated learning, therefore, obliges people to acquire more than academic performance but also a transformation of mental abilities in line with educational skills.
Achievement of these goals can fuel by enhancing student motivation during the education life. Motivated individuals believe in themselves as well as their deeds. The reason is that they have their behaviors directed towards specific goals that they desire to achieve (Charlton 274) Motivation also increases commitments towards the set policies that assist in mission accomplishment. One's zeal towards particular targets is determined by the inner strive to achieve them. Learning institutions must provide emphasis on the idea of enrolling in other activities that go beyond schoolwork. Mark Edmundson's point that life is elsewhere brings out a clear picture of how boring life would be when learners do not engage themselves in other affairs outside education.
Conclusion
Having an educated mindset relies on individual's perception and view of life and the surrounding aspects. People must learn to think regarding many ideas and side with the facts and opinions they consider most important. Uneducated people are more likely to fall into the limited trap reasoning and abandoning logical arguments for fear of appearing a deviant. Change does not always imply deviation from norms, but it can be an extension of the already discovered ideas. In this case, if one is lucky to be different, he should not change.
Work cited
Charlton, Bruce G. "Replacing education with psychometrics: how learning about IQ almost-completely changed my mind about education." Medical hypotheses
73.3 (2016): 273-277.
Chen, Ying-Fang, " Samuel S. Peng. "University students' Internet use and its relationships with academic performance, interpersonal relationships, psychosocial adjustment, and self-evaluation." CyberPsychology " Behavior 11.4 (2017): 467-469.
Crum, Alia J., Peter Salovey, " Shawn Achor. "Rethinking stress: The role of mindsets in determining the stress response." Journal of personality and social psychology 104.4 (2013): 716.
Edmundson, Mark. “Issue 74: Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?” Oxfordamerican .org. Oxford American, Web. 29 Jun. 2014
Lerouge, Davy. "Evaluating the benefits of distraction on product evaluations: The mind-set effect." Journal of Consumer Research 36.3 (2015): 367-379.
