Our world is constantly overflowing with the richness of mankind. The presence of our species has made such a great impact on the world that our very existence is often described using the quality of abundance. We overpopulate the earth. We waste too much. We use too much.
Yet, there is one resource that we will never face a shortage of, nor can we ever use too much of. For if we ever run out of this resource, then it will simply mean that mankind no longer exists, at least not in a state where we may reasonably describe the population as being human. This resource is of course, ideas. Ideas are our most valuable resource. Ideas can be great enough to change the world, or they can be personal enough to become a symbol of a relationship. Most notably, ideas can be shared with other human beings. Every man-made item that exists was once an idea. Every conversation, every dream and every innovation comes from an idea.
With this being the case, it is no surprise that we have begun to foster the development of young minds. Young minds, after all, are the birthplace of many meaningful ideas. Now, as we spend our time developing our minds and our combined ability to generate ideas, we have struck a rather strange obstacle. Young people can come up with many great ideas, but the challenge lies in how capable we are of convincing other people that our ideas are worth adopting, remembering and incorporating into life. Ideas are born in young people, but ironically, they also die because the world that has taught them how to think, often fails to be receptive to the thoughts young people produce.
Many eras in our past have been marked by the prominence of various schools of thoughts. Entire societies were constructed around ideas and beliefs. When we think of philosophers or great thinkers, we immediately imagine people from decades, if not centuries ago. This may seem to indicate that we longer produce great thinkers or great thoughts, but this is not true. It is simply an indicator of the fact that the way we communicate our thoughts has changed. In the modern era, philosophies that are written in books and discussed in lecture halls rarely reach the common man, which, arguably, is the ultimate goal of any philosophy. Instead, our young people share their philosophies in accessible packages – in songs, in movies, in videos.
We are often keen on dismissing many of these ‘packages’ as being shallow. We are quick to condemn mass media and its products as being useless. Yet, within these very things lie important messages and thoughts that people have produced and chosen to disseminate in a specific manner, with the hope that they will reach others.
The art of thought is such that it allows us to not only create our own ideas, but also discern every part of our world that offers a fresh perspective. Because our world is constantly in need of ideas, we must take the responsibility not only to create them, but also to be receptive to them when they are produced.
