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There has been much speculation about the capacities of the human mind, both about how much of our 'thinking power' we use and about how much of it is potentially avaliable. A controversal issue, much of this speculation explores areas directly related to TOK. Something important to note is that scientests have not been able to finally asess or mesure in any way the capacities of the human brain - the only concensus that has been even somewhat formed is that we, as humans, are not utilising the full potential power of our brains and therefore bodies.
The question I really want to ask, although I will not be able to answer it, is how far can we push ourselves? At what point does pushing our limits turn to going to far and serious physcological consequences? To answer this, I must first make an attempt to define my own limits and what I am capable of.
I have observed so far in my life that I always seem to be capable of achieving much more than I do. I get some marks back from a test or reflect on my performance in a sports match (when I have them, anyway) and I think 'hmmm... I believe I could have done better than that, with a little more effort, or a little more preperation..." It makes me wonder what I am truely capable of.
This year, as it so happens, I made a semi-concious decision to try and find out. I got involved, and still am involved, with more than a dozen extra-curricular activities, am doing the IB diploma and do as much as I can to challange myself. And yet... I still think I could do better. It is not so much that I do not have time, it is that I do not manage my time as well as I should. This leads me to believe that my mindset and attitude has a major piece to play in how successful I am in life, and subsequently how far I can push myself.
All of this ties in to an Emotional Intellegence test my TOK class took last week. It is claimed that EQ, in some cases regurdless of an individual's IQ, is an essential part to what is generally defined as sucess in life. Perhaps EQ is a mesure, to some degree, of not only a person's ability to solve emotional problems but also a mesure of a person's ability to use emotions (motivation, for example) to their advantage?...
Well anyway, back on track - this all relates to TOK because of the limited knowledge we have around this area, and the speculations around what knowledge we do have. Even using our perceptions and aids to those perceptions to their full potential does not reveal to us the secrets of the human mind at this stage, and this shows that however advanced we are as a race, we still have more advancing to do and the knowledge issues around this are numerous and complex.
Limits can be pushed. Boundries can be stretched, to what (we may think) is the max. But.... but perhaps we are capeable of much, much more.
