Enhancing Mental and Physical Capabilities





Tools to Enhance One's Mental and Physical Capabilities was initially written in 2000 to be used as a short, required reading in an introductory computers in education course for preservice teachers.

The Short Article
Reading, writing, and mathematics are tools that enhance one's mental capabilities. We will call them brain tools. The spear, hoe, and bicycle are tools that enhance one's physical abilities. We will call then body tools. Brain and body tools have changed the way that people communicate, solve problems, and accomplish tasks.

Figure 1 captures the essence of a person or team of people working with brain and body tools to solve problems, answer questions, and accomplish tasks. The brain tools and body tools are getting steadily better, propelled by continued rapid progress in science, engineering, technology, and all other areas of human intellectual endeavor. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is playing a major role in the development of new brain and body tools. As the figure indicates, formal and informal education are needed to learn to make effective use of the brain and body tools.



Figure 1. Problem-Solving, Task-Accomplishing Team

Some brain and body tools are so "natural" that they require relatively little education and skill building in order to use them effectively. Very young children learn to turn the pages of a picture book. Very young children learn how to turn on a TV set and to change channels. But learning to read, write, and do arithmetic takes years of formal education and experience.

The types of tools we are describing share an important characteristic. Although it may have taken a "genius" to invent each of the tools, the tools can be mass-produced and mass distributed. I know how to read and write, but I did not invent reading and writing. I know how to ride a bicycle, but I did not invent the bicycle. I know how to use a computer, but I did not invent the computer and I do not know how to build a computer.

The development on a new tool (be it a brain tool or a body tool) may lead to great changes in a society. For example, a little over 11,000 years ago, all people on our planet were hunters and gatherers. Population density was low, because it takes a lot of land to sustain even a small number of people living by hunting and gathering. There was a very slow pace of change, with the life of one generation being nearly the same as the life of the next generation Agriculture had not yet been invented.

Beginning about 11,000 years ago, in the Fertile Crescent area of the Middle East, people began to develop the tools and knowledge of agriculture. (Agriculture was independently invented in several different parts of the world over a long period of years.) Crops were planted, tended, and harvested. Farm animals such as goats were raised. Tools, such as hoe, rake, and fences were developed. Once invented, knowledge of how to make and use these tools was readily passed on to other people and from generation to generation. Children did not need to go to school in order to learn how to construct and use these tools.

Agriculture changed the world. The total population of the earth at the time the Agriculture Age began was perhaps 10 million people, or a little less than 0.2% of the current worldwide population. That is, we now have a number of mega-cities with populations that exceed the world population of 11,000 years ago. Agriculture made it possible for people to develop villages, and some of these grew into large cities. Agriculture made it possible for some people to specialize in activities that did not directly produce the food, clothing, and shelter needed for survival. For example, a person might specialize in decorative clothing and jewelry making, and pass this knowledge/skill on to an apprentice. The master artist could work full time for many years, gaining increased knowledge and skills.

The Agriculture Age brought many problems. A village often had a desirable location, such as near the confluence of two rivers, near fertile ground, and on a trade route. This location had to be defended against hostile tribes and villages. As population grew, there was the possibility of mass starvation if the crops failed or the animal herds died. There was the need to plan for the storage and distribution of the accumulated production of food.

Although hunter/gathers continued to exist in many locations throughout the world, eventually most of the world's population became farmers. The world's population grew. Agricultural success led to the development of cities. However, farming dominated. When the Revolutionary War began in the United States in 1776, about 90% of the population lived on farms.

Now, less than 3% of the United States population lives on farms. The Agricultural Age gave way to the Industrial Age, and the Industrial Age has now given way the Information Age. The pace of change is quickening.

To Think About
Here are some questions to think about. These can be explored individually or as group activities in a class.


 * Make a list of advantages and disadvantages of agriculture and farming versus a hunter-gatherer form of life. Then decide what types or groups of hunter-gatherer people most likely benefited the most from the transition into a farming mode of life, and which may have had little or even negative benefits from this transition.
 * Make a list of tools that you frequently use. Classify each as primarily a brain tool, primarily a body tool, or a reasonably-balanced mixture of the two. Then briefly discuss how your life would be affected if you no longer had access to these tools.
 * Take the same list that you developed in (2) above. For each tool, make an estimate of how many total hours of formal education, informal education, and practice it has taken you to gain your current level of knowledge and skill in using the tool. For example, perhaps it is taken you 5,000 hours to achieve your current level of reading and writing skills. Perhaps it took you 500 hours to achieve your current levels of car driving skills.

Author or Authors
The initial version of this document was developed by David Moursund.