Watching a documentary on the Vietnam war the other day, I
suddenly remembered a painting I did years ago depicting
two small Vietnamese boys being marched through the
Vietnamese jungle at gunpoint, treated
as adult enemy combatants.
At what age does a child stop being a child and
instead become an adult?
Depending upon our definition of the terms, some
of us may perhaps never experience ourselves as ''adults'',
and perhaps some of us may feel that we were never children.
Watching a three year old sitting in a push-chair
using an i-Pad like a pro, I started to ponder whether our
speed of ''progress and enlightenment'' perhaps have
some potentially serious draw backs.
Take thinking for instance, before we had the internet
how did we find answers to questions we pondered?
We probably asked people in the know, we read books,
we did courses, we studied, etc. etc.
We collected answers from different sources, processed
them, thought about them, and then arrived at an answer.
Thinking about things is important because it is by thinking
about things that we create an understanding of the world
we live in.
Why is the sky blue? Why does everything fall down?
Where does the wind come from? Why do people die?
What is time? etc. etc.
These are some common questions children often ask.
It may be tempting to answer: ''Google it'' rather than answer
''what do you think?'' but is that really helpful I wonder?
When my son was going through the ''why?'' stage he often
asked questions that made me reach for an Encyclopedia.
We would look up the answer together (which usually would lead
to another ''why?'') and though I don't know for sure whether
this may have something to do with my son's preference of
books rather than the Internet, but I am chuffed that he, just like me,
loves books.
Back to thinking....what is it?
At what age does a human being begin to think?
(This question still perplexes me.)
Think about it for a minute.
Is it possible to think without language?
What do we do with our thoughts?
Some suggest that thinking is not one single ''thing'',
rather our thinking can be divided into different
categories such as: reasoning, problem solving,
judgement and decision making.
''The world as we have created it is a process of our
thinking.
It cannot be changed without us changing our thinking.''
(Albert Einstein)
''Thinking is the mental process in which beings form
psychological associations and models of the world
they inhabit.''
''Thinking is the internal mental processes that makes sense of
our experiences.''
When we think something, more often than not we don't ask ourselves
why we think the way we do.
In my view it can be quite helpful to ask ourselves that question now
and then, especially if the outcome of our thoughts often
lands us in some kind of emotional and or physical quandary.
My theory is that thoughts trigger feelings, feelings often
then motivates us to act some way or another,
the outcome of that act will then be either one we desired and or
hoped for or not.
At what age does a child stop being a child and
instead become an adult?
Personally, I believe that has a lot to do with
thinking.
According to some ''in the know'' there are four types
of thinking skills: convergent or analytical thinking,
divergent thinking, critical thinking and creative thinking.
I believe that it is with the help of these different thinking skills
that we understand the world we live in, solve problems,
make reasonable and logical choices and develop our
own values, ethics and beliefs.
As far as I can ascertain whether one is a ''child'' or an ''adult''
has less to do with one's age and more to do with one's
thinking skills.
''For in every adult there dwells a child that was,
and in every child there lies the adult that will be.''
(John Connolly)
about the image: acrylic on canvas
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