ANATOMY OF GREY MATTER ON GWEB

The following adage aptly describes the behavior and conduct of many Ghanaian commentators on this forum:

Idle minds foment trouble.

Small minds gossip and discuss others.

Average minds discuss past events and glorify the inconsequential.

STRONG MINDS DISCUSS IDEAS AND PROPOSE SOLUTIONS

What we observe in many a discussion, here is of small minds.

There is an instant gravitation to items like the alleged bribery of the former head of state and his advisor. Every time an article touches on that subject, it generates an overwhelming response.

The original news item was reported in a foreign newspaper, in April 2007; now we are speculating on every inconceivable angle to the story, because a Ghanaian tabloid paper just got whiff it. The rest of the world must be thinking we must be real slo...oow in more ways than one!

The events surrounding that purported scandal are things that no one in this forum can change, since it would have already occurred, and none of us has the power to effect changes at the Osu Castle, till election time anyway; yet it is the hot topic now.

Some average minds will flog that inconsequential news item to death! What a pity, since Ghana has such a myriad of issues and seemingly intractable problems that need to be addressed by strong minds.

This anecdotal story that I relate as my personal philosophy is something to keep in mind; when we want to regress to our more base instinct for gossip:

An ignorant person begs to be lead and wants to know nothing of how and why things work. To them ignorance is bliss, because they prefer to just discuss events as it happens and conjecture the most foolish motives for every action. Their hallmark is to complain, blame, and gossip, but they are incapable of offering solutions.

The next in the hierarchy are knowledgeable people, who acquire a prodigious amount of information and can spew all of it in a heartbeat. Their preoccupation is to impress ignorant people with their knowledge, no matter how much out of context it is. Their hallmark is that they learn very easily from other people�s ideas, and they parrot everything without adding to an original thought.

Smart people are just knowledgeable people who have an additional characteristic of selfish greed. They take advantage of everyone by utilizing their monopoly on some knowledge to make money or advance a selfish agenda. They make great politicians, because they impress the ignorant and rob everyone, even as their praise is sung. Their hallmark is that they will always ask for money somewhere along the line, because for them education is a bad thing if it is for free, and the only thoughts they have is how to "market" themselves.

Intelligent people are the ones who are not just taught, they figure things out for themselves. Their only motivation is to find solutions to problems and make improvements in other peoples lives. They are usually misunderstood and called crazy, or confused, by everyone. The confused state of mind must be in the thoughts of those who have no brain power to conceptualize the ideas that an intelligent person propounds.

The hallmark of an intelligent person is that it usually takes about fifty years for people to realise they are a genius; by which time they had already died poor, but the solutions they left behind benefits mankind forever!

Think of Ghandi and his concept of using non-violent protest to effect change, as an example; he died dirt poor, but his ideas inspired others like Martin Luther King and posterity has judged them both kindly.

Remember that Einstein was given failing grades for his entrance exam and he overcame speech difficulties too! This is what he wrote about conceptualization, when he clashed with authorities at his engineering school; which he quit, because he resented the regimen:

"The spirit of learning and creative thought is lost in strict rote learning".

So to those with small and gossipy minds, who soak in all that "they say", learning by using your own thinking is the key to shedding ignorance.

Remember less talk and more thought is good.

Average minds will continue to discuss the news, endlessly. Let's just hope they do not drown and push out the strong minds with ideas or solutions.

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.