Mental Acuity:

Often we are given an eye test to evaluate how well we see. Sadly there is no quick test that will gage how well we think. Such a test is badly needed. Because the process of thinking is more complex than the process of seeing an easy and quick test may not be possible. There are some measures that might give an indication however.

When I was in the Boy Scouts decades ago I can remember how confusing a simple magnetic compass was. The major or cardinal points were of course were fairly simple. The minor points were more difficult but those too were mastered. So at this point the compass had been divided into four sectors and each of those divided in half. The end result was eight reference points. Thinking of this today I realized that approaching a compass this way was how we as humans learn just about anything. First our learning and knowledge concerns large sectors. As we learn more we focus on smaller and smaller fractions of the whole compass.

After learning about the cardinal points and sub points of a compass I learned how to use a compass to orient a map in the same direction that I was looking. Then how to locate land marks on the map and relate those map marks to things I could actually see like radio masts and mountains. More study taught me how to site towards those land marks and from those observations find where I was on the map. My mental acuity was becoming better. I could think more clearly about the process as a whole and understand how powerful this entire process was.

The point of this essay is that knowing the cardinal points of a compass does not mean that you can use a compass to the extent that an expert can. Even knowing how to read a map does not teach you about compensating for compass errors introduced by the fact magnetic north is not true north. So there is more to learn before you can trust your life to an instrument like a compass. You see the nice thing about a compass is that it will point to the north even when it is dark or foggy or both dark and foggy. If you are sailing a boat and you cannot tell which way to point the nose of your boat in order to safely return to harbor a compass can quite literally save your life, but only if you know a lot about how to use it. Surface knowledge is not enough. You must know much more about how to use this tool of guidance. Let us pray that our leaders have an accurate inner compass to guide our nation safely into the future. Let those with mental acuity lead us. Let us follow the best and the brightest not the ones who add to the fog with bigotry and hate.