Yesterday, I was reading “Discover your genius: how to think like history’s ten
most revolutionary minds” by Michael Gelb when I got to the end of the chapter
on Thomas Jefferson, I couldn’t help but wonder where all the great thinkers are
in today’s society. Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Franklin, and many others
came together at one point in time, creating the perfect storm that would craft
what has become the United States of America. The amount of great thinkers all
living during this time, working together on something they collectively believed in
is just astounding. It also took nothing short of their collective genuise to guide
the country through a difficult time when I’m sure many people questioned
whether fighting a super power like British was the right thing to do. Even after
the war, their leadership was needed to get this new country on it’s feet, create a
new economy, and provide the confidence to it’s citizens that they were safe and
good times were ahead.
There are far more people living in the US than there were 200+ years ago. This
would suggest that there would have to be leaders, scientists, and inventors that
are the equal of Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin but where are they. Are we
too blinded by the latest Hollywood stories to even have any interests in the
people that will influence and lead this country over the next 50 years? So I ask,
who in today’s society are the equivalent of these great men? Where can we find
them and how do we acknowledge their greatest before the pass us by?
The modern age has been blessed with the thoughts and ideas of many wonderful philosophers. The way humans now think, both individually and collectively, has been challenged and altered by great modern minds such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell and Aldous Huxley.
With great thinkers, we also have great cynics. Therefore with todays needs to question everything and prove ourselves correct, there can be no room for this generation to find its greats.
All we can hope for is we, ourselves become the great thinkers and improve the lives of those we come in contact with.