As a religion teacher, I believe a big part of my job is to help my students develop a sense of curiosity, but most especially a critical, reflective mind. What I mean by the word critical is that I want them to develop the ability to question what they are taught, and told, and the capacity to decide for themselves what they believe is true. My hope is that by developing these skills, they can discover what life means for them, which will help them have a balanced, productive, and happy life. However, this is a difficult thing to teach, because our culture does not encourage people to stop and reflect. Life is extremely hectic, and the lives of kids today are fully scheduled. This leaves little time for reflection, discussion, and critical thinking. Schools, which should be the one place where the activity of critical reflection is nurtured and developed, are themselves slaves to curriculum, standardized examinations, and the whims of a culture which only wants children to learn enough to function as automata in a growing technological society. This all contributes to dampen the critical faculties of people, which makes it hard for them to skillfully examine their world and make it meaningful for themselves. Victor Frankl, in his incredible book Man’s Search for Meaning, made the bold claim that human beings experience existential problems and crisis’s in life because they often fail to discover what their life means. Frankl was not referring to a metaphysical or religious meaning to life, or a meaning imposed by culture and family, although for some this could provide the context of their meaning. Instead, Frankl’s entire psychological practice of logotherapy was based around helping people find out what life means for them. According to Frankl, a human being could endure any deprivation, any suffering, if he/she knew what it was that gave their unique life its meaning. Frankl believed each person had to develop this sense of meaning on their own, or else the person would experience an existential crisis down the road which would force them to examine and discover their meaning in life. For Frankl, a human life breaks down and becomes chaotic if it does not discover the thing which gives it meaning and purpose.
This is why so many people in our culture, who seem to have it all; like movie and music stars, billionaire financiers, televangelists, politicians, etc. experience such seismic, and painfully public falls from grace. One could argue that they accepted someone else’s meaning of life: fame, money, power, status, holiness. Perhaps this meaning and purpose was not their own? Because of their talents, they achieved great things and appeared to have it all, until their subconscious mind could no longer maintain the façade any longer. The crisis hits, forcing the person to confront their life and make it meaningful for them. But sometimes, when the crisis hits, it may be too late to find that meaning.
Which is why I believe so strongly that education needs to nurture and support each student, and help them develop their own sense of meaning and purpose. Of course, our nation needs to do this as well, but that will have to wait for another article. In the end, in order to live a happy, abundant, and meaningful life human beings must make time to practice critical reflection, on their own, and with others. Schools should offer that opportunity.
By: Dave Cougar
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Dave Cougar writes articles on topics such as self-improvement, spirituality, diet, and fitness.
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