Intelligence Call It Smarts: Update Yourself - Step by Step

By Harry Zenner

INTELLIGENCE Call It SMARTS
Update Yourself - Step by Step

Many individuals are aware there are cracks and moral challenges, or worse, in American society. These persons do not require convincing; they see it. They know American culture has declined, possibly nearing moral and financial self-destruction. There are obvious reasons behind this state of the nations wellbeing. A distinct path is available that can lead towards a desirable resolution. The current down reality is entangled with education, moral decay, and a torrent of changes driven by technology.

Professor Zenners book sets forth an easy, painless process, step-by-step, building and supplementing the store of ideas, facts, and intelligence, call it Smarts, that the reader already possesses. Step after step, more lights will flicker on, not indoctrination, but the exact opposite, a freeing of the individuals thinking processes. Each new step builds on the last so that the ideas and information naturally integrate into the readers repertoire of reasoning abilities and intelligence. The final steps are designed to leave the individual with personal free will, choice, a moral compass, and perhaps wisdom. A society equipped with open minds, and when broadly educated, has the chance to evaluate the American political scene, its origins, current status, and its desired future.

The book is not a panacea, rather it is a sequenced, rational process of ideas and information that all of society would do well to examine. It will provide an excursion into new worlds for many, fresh perspectives for others, and an enriched life for most. The time to start this journey is now, mid-2012, least the nation wander too close to the edge, too close to a point of no return. That point of no return could be November 6, 2012.

Individuals are not that far out of touch, they need only a review of some things they may have forgotten, or perhaps things they never understood or knew. The narrative surveys the nature of the universe, of human origins and endeavors, learning abilities and techniques, math and argumentation, education, decision making, even philosophy and cosmology. Personal behaviors are also examined, from the individual right on up to the crowned heads of society in the United States.

Today, people have all kinds of questions. Where has the Future gone? Is the Climate Changing? Is the Earth Overcrowded? Is there even one Honest Politician? Does God actually exist? Is Mankind part of Mother Nature? How do you open a Closed Mind? How do people Learn? Where did the Universe come from? How did Life arise? How do humans Reason? What is the concept of Argumentation? What is meant by Real? How can Education be improved? What about Good and Evil? How much should you believe that emanates from the mouth of a Pathological Liar? Who will answer such questions? It may have to be individuals who have free and open minds, capable of independent thought. It will be people like you.

Professor Zenner shows that most of these questions have reasonable answers, some with certainty, and others with mere speculation. The writing provides basic tools for both inadequately and for highly educated persons to develop and judge their own answers. People who comprehend the human function of cognition are better able to understand themselves and the world which we all share.

Many people would like to be able to better reason and judge the accuracy of answers to the myriads of pertinent questions of our times. They want to believe in a better future. And you are one of those persons.

A PREVIEW

So Mr. Zenner, from the title of your book, you must realize that I already know a lot. No matter, you seem to think I need more smarts? And step by step, you will point the way; theyll be mine for the taking?

Thats right! Not just you, probably most persons in every society, especially at this particular time in America, you and all people need

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781469126289

Harry Zenner

Harry Zenner holds a Bachelor of Science, Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, Texas College of Arts and Industries, and a Master of Business Administration, Management - Organization and Administration, Texas A and M University. He has practiced extensively in the fields of engineering, education, and management. Professor Zenner has also delved into disparate activities such as protection from nuclear radiation, human behavioral laboratory design, promotion of educating mentally challenged, pioneering efforts in computerized accounting, and other endeavors. This life of widely varied experiences has provided a broad foundation of knowledge about the world, the cosmos and mankindfs place therein.

Book preview

Copyright © 2012 by Harry Zenner.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2012906856

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-4691-2627-2

   Softcover   978-1-4691-2626-5

   Ebook   978-1-4691-2628-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

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Contents

The Preview

Chapter 1    Who Or What Is Mother Nature?

Chapter 2    Whence Comes Mankind?

Chapter 3    How Special Is the Human Mind?

Chapter 4    Human Understanding and Learning

Chapter 5    Does It Tally and How So?

Chapter 6    Is There Anything We Cannot Know?

Chapter 7    What About the Current State of Education?

Chapter 8    The Decision-Making Process

Chapter 9    What Is My Place in this World and in the Cosmos?

Chapter 10    Ethics and the Individual

FINIS    Political Decision Time

Acknowledgments

Further Readings

Notes

Dedicated to Cristi and Kevin DiGenova, and Sarah and Bradley Wilcox, Sarah and Walter Wilcox, Ed Zenner, and Sharon and Stuart Zenner.

May your days be many and full of love,

May your children be healthy and full of happiness,

And may you live in peace and freedom.

Ve grow too soon old,

und too late smart.

A Common Adage

Harry Zenner was born during the 1930s depression in San Antonio, Texas. He attended a small country school that emphasized reading, writing, and arithmetic. His initial college degree was a Bachelor of Science in petroleum and natural gas engineering. Later, he earned a Master of Business Administration in organization and administration. Harry practiced as a registered professional engineer in the petroleum industry for a total of twenty-one years, serving in several management positions. Teaching experience includes sixteen years in the College of Business Administration at Texas A and M University, plus two years in eighth and ninth grade math. Mr. Zenner is knowledgeable in the fields of petroleum engineering, management, and education.

*     *     *

The Preview

So Mr. Zenner, you must realize that I already know a lot. No matter, you seem to think I need more smarts? And step by step, you will point the way.

That’s right! Not just you, probably most persons in every society need more Smarts, especially at this particular time in America. You and all people need an open and free mind, free from indoctrination and free to judge, decide, and choose on your own. (Open your mind for 11/06/2012.) The Smarts I’m referring to are things a lot of people miss along the way, like how Mother Nature operates, facts about human intelligence, about how a person learns, how mathematics can be used and misused, about what is actually real, plus a lot more. Many people do not have the Smarts or even the inclination to investigate and judge what is true and what is pure B. S. (see special note at the end of The Preview). Many people have a closed mind; they do not have the capability of actually thinking for themselves. They have been indoctrinated, programed like a robot. Indoctrination destroys independent thinking and understanding. Our society has lots of problems. You and everyone could use a few extra Smarts to better understand this world, the people in it, and even to understand yourself.

You must think I’m fuzzy minded! I know there are questionable things in society—some I don’t understand. But it’s my life; I’m having fun! You just want to replace my indoctrination with your indoctrination! I’m not that dumb! If you’re really so smart, let’s see what you have to say.

I did not say dumb, but perhaps you lack some education. Where to start? Hmmm. First, it has been said that many people find it easier to live in ignorance than to acknowledge their shortcomings. Where should I start? They say it’s best to Start at the beginning.

Okay. You will be taking a journey into understanding, into knowledge, call it Smarts, or even wisdom. Each person should get from their educational experiences the ability to dig out the necessary information and facts. They should get the ability to reason and judge with a free and open mind, the ability to decide questions with their own free will. Most persons do not get that ability in school, in college, or even in later life. So let’s just say that your mind has been programed. You have a closed mind, and you may or may not think so. Too harsh for you? Well then, let me say you are inflexible in your thinking. Either way, that will have to change. All you really need is some additional information, call it education. So here goes.

Step 1

You Could Use a Few More Smarts

This writing is built on a framework, or theme, of education and honesty. We will look at some basics—reading, writing, and arithmetic. Reading and writing have to do with understanding others and even yourself. The real down-to-earth basics of arithmetic, of numbers, are at the heart of all manner of things in today’s world. And when you delve into number basics, you will be led straight into how a person knows anything and how a person evaluates and decides. Those things and a lot more will be found in this book, plenty to cause you to want to read it all. And as you read on, step by step, you have a chance to gain a little more, if only a bit, of wisdom.

What use is wisdom when folly reigns?

Yiddish Proverb 1

Life may have taught you a lot, but you probably are still a little short! Maybe all the folly out there is of no concern to you. This world is changing so rapidly that many people are getting further behind every day. Learning must happen automatically, again, something most people did not get in school. This book will expose you to a number of facts, thoughts and ideas about the world, the universe, and even about your own personal self. And you will be shown many things that may be referred to as tools of learning.

One thing this book is about is learning how to learn. It is also about catching up with some nitty-gritty you might have missed. Reading this book will be a journey into a world of ideas and particulars, many unnoticed by or unknown to you. You will be challenged with some far-out, strange notions and facts.

Facts don’t count when they contradict beliefs.

Leonard Pitts, 2010 2

The truth of some of these facts may be suspected by you but not really believed. For example, are humans born into this world with an ability to think? Some argue, No, the brain is a blank slate at birth. Still others would concede that innate or genetic traits are present, but no store of knowledge and no reasoning ability are naturally provided. They may argue that nature, call it Mother Nature, bestows no special gifts to humans. And they may further argue, Only an imagined, make-believe God could do that, and there is no God! But there are those who would exclaim, Outrageous, God is real, and you cannot prove otherwise! God has given man a soul, and what is more, a moral creed, a set of principles by which to live. That is what is natural, that is what is real!

This writing will not definitively settle such timeless questions. There seem to be many things about which humans are not real sure. But we humans do absolutely know some things. We do know some things with certainty. But real, hard, concrete certainty seems philosophical. Can we actually know some things with absolute certainty? Yes, I think we can. In fact, I believe we all do!

Reasoning ability is one thing we humans could improve upon. Actually, humans have developed fair reasoning abilities, although those abilities are more limited than most understand. Man is trying but may never pierce the profound depths of the universe. Think about those reasoning abilities that we all have. They must be passed along from one generation to the next. Every human must learn the art of reasoning from scratch! Does that make sense?

Will we ever be able to answer the very deepest questions? Well, some people seem to think we get a little closer as time goes by. But, certainly, mankind is not yet there! That’s for sure! Consider this little exercise in reasoning. The great paradox of a Greek named Zeno could hold that if we can learn only half the remaining facts each day, we will never learn everything! Zeno’s reasoning was logical? Or was it flawed logic? How good is your reasoning ability? Can you do better than Zeno?

Do you have the necessary tools to make the best choices? Are your tools sharp enough? And how do you know what’s the best? And how do you decide what is right? What tools do you have to make a clear, obvious distinction between right and wrong? Are you certain? How certain?

Those that think must govern those that toil.

Oliver Goldsmith

"The Traveller," 1765 3

This writing describes how humans can think and function. It also describes how we should think and function. That sounds rather profound! This book will settle the questions of right and wrong? No, that’s too much for this country boy. But this country boy has been places most people never get to go; a few of those places were down in the dirt, wrestling with Mother Nature.

Can we even approach correct human thinking, plus learn how to learn, in a modest, unpretentious book? Yes, maybe we can, but maybe not! No matter, you need to gain some basic understandings of this earth, the place where you and the rest of the human race lives. You need to learn more about the cosmos and everything in it. You also need to look at what mankind has been doing since we arrived here on earth. But when you explore these things, there will be so very much that you will not be real sure about. Can you, or can anyone, actually decide some of these things with a real sense of confidence, with certainty? Who knows! But, as you read on, you will be exploring, and you must not be afraid to make some mistakes.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Senator Robert Byrd 4

Did you know that Mother Nature in ages past was making gold and she still is? She certainly can do it! If she cannot do it, where do you think all the gold comes from? It can be made! Would you believe? It is now suspected that the Chinese have discovered a practical process for making gold! Everything about their work is hidden in strict secrecy. But a major key to their procedure has somehow appeared on an obscure website. Is this tabloid, or is it a real story? It’s a safe bet, the major networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, would run with this tabloid story. They do it almost every day, because that’s what many of you want to hear! Tabloid! Bah! Hogwash! Idiots and stupnagles!

A sucker is born every day.

P. T. Barnum 5

There are crucial events transpiring throughout the world. Scores of current writings and other pronouncements describe, document, and analyze serious situations facing mankind. Writers can claim and even prove anything. Internet sites and blogs are easy prey to computer literates anywhere across the world. Independent thinking ability coupled with significant knowledge is indispensable to be able to grasp, judge, and decide relevant truths. (Yes, the word is relevant!) Mankind has just begun to scratch the surface of the untold mysteries of the universe. This writing will broaden your understanding of life, our world, and the cosmos in which we all exist. Americans and all mankind may be on the cusp of a paradigm or fundamental shift in governance. Whether good or bad, a bit of added education is in order.

Humans do come into this world equipped with natural faculties, abilities, and even some limited store of knowledge passed to them by their mother and by her surroundings while the baby is still in the womb. (Do you really believe that?) Man has greatly improved our abilities to grasp and understand the mysteries of this earth, even enigmas, real mysteries, out there in the unknown. Man appears to be somewhat unique among the world’s creatures. The fact that we can think and learn about such things is a mystery in itself.

If the only tool you have is a hammer,

every problem looks like a nail.

Credit William J. Bennett, 2009 6

Mankind does have a lot of tools with which to explore our existence. It seems we did create, or at least enlarge and hone, some of the tools we use to imagine, to think, to reason, to judge, and to decide. The brain can be and is built and sharpened as we move through life. It does, or can, grow in a continuous process, at least to a point. You will look at many tools and perhaps develop a better understanding of how those tools work and how they often fail to work. You will be on a quest for more understanding, wisdom, if you please.

Wisdom lies in the ability to decide between

the truth and the false.

King Solomon 7

Society in the United States is currently said to be swamped by a culture of corruption at all levels, even at high levels of government. People acknowledge that this phenomenon is real, but few are willing to face it head-on. It is too often deemed politically incorrect to describe lying, corrupt people for exactly what they are: lying, corrupt people. This applies in almost all walks of life, not just politics, but even in research and religion. Does it also apply in personal relationships? Of course!

I didn’t know I was that bad.

Tiger Woods, 2008 8

Of course, the Tiger knew he was that bad! Do you judge his little white lie as okay? Tiger’s wife apparently did not think so. She reportedly swung a golf club trying to bash in a Caddy, or perhaps she was thinking of Tiger’s skull! Where is the breaking point between a little white okay lie and the kind of lie you would deem unacceptable?

If you ask ten people, each from differing walks of life, to define truth in their own words, you probably would get several diverse answers. What would Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have to say about this? They are equally shrewd and knowledgeable, compared to average people like you and I. Gates and Buffett are both self-made multibillionaires, able to do exceedingly well, financially, in today’s world. Were they just lucky or do they have some set of principles that they adhere to? It is a safe bet they are good at distinguishing truth from falsity.

The truth is the truth.

2010 TV Ad

How many people do you know who have attributes such as a positive moral compass, a caring attitude, and a proclivity to exercise courtesy toward others? How many stick with some moral code? One objective of this book is to cause people to think about the value of honesty. Another is to enlighten people about the benefits of independent thinking and reasoning abilities. This writing provides a chance for you to broaden your store of knowledge, and it suggests how that knowledge may be of benefit during the rest of your sojourn on the earth.

If you are old enough, you have seen the world evolve and change greatly during the past number of years. And that change is accelerating. For the United States, some of the changes could eventually be catastrophic, while others may be likened to a threatening cloudbank that dissipates as it blows over. Nuclear Armageddon at the hands of megalomaniacs, political and religious turmoil, educational lethargy, surging populations, global warming,