The winds of sand and time are always blowing. We often think of time progression as a linear entity. Today, there is great angst and anger over how the 21st century is progressing. Gone is the halcyon vision of Stanly Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey. Sadly, many people today are lost in their own bitterness about how things have played out so far.
People rage and tirade that this candidate or that person is the answer to the woes of the world. Few understand that most politicians’ ideas and dogmas are useless for manifesting positive change in the 21st century. What lessons can we learn from the Enlightenment of the 18th century? Is it time for a new Enlightenment?
The Enlightenment, sometimes called the ‘Age of Enlightenment, was a late 17th- and 18th-century movement focusing on reason, individualism, and skepticism. The Enlightenment Period encompassed a wide range of beliefs based on the importance of happiness, the pursuit of knowledge through reason and sensory evidence, and goals such as freedom, development, acceptance, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, and religious liberty (Britannica).
The leaders of the Enlightenment let go of the pain of the past to find a better tomorrow. Their manifest destiny was to find truth and not just have their political candidate win an election to protect their interests. Enlightenment thinkers would be amazed at how much time and money is wasted by people on entertainment.
Read not to contradict and confuse, nor to believe and take for granted…but to weigh and consider.
~Bacon
I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it.
~Voltaire
How can we think like the age of Enlightenment thinkers? I think one key idea is to reflect on your daily observations of people and your leaders. Do they uphold what is true? Are they just telling you what you want to hear? Are their messages full of fear disguised as preaching the truth to power? Do you feel better after listening to them speak about this or that issue? If the answers are no or maybe to these questions you should be leery about following these people.
The next step to enhance your enlightenment is good old-fashioned curiosity. Many people allow their minds to fill up with limiting beliefs. Creativity lives and thrives in the realm of curiosity. Further, try to allow yourself to be curious about the world. Further, the one mitigating thing between growing people and those who resist curiosity is the self-belief they can learn and enhance their creativity. One key to growing your curiosity is learning something new each day.
