Humanity has made some advancements in the last one hundred years that were unimaginable at the time. Some of those ameliorations of human life were made in dark, silent desks and offices and some of them came into being in loud, exciting, crowded communities of minds. Therefore, one has difficulty distinguishing between the efficiency of these methods. Can we propel humanity forward stronger as a collection of minds exchanging ideas or a single mind concentrating upon what is vital?
We may have to separate sciences in this matter, as for a philosopher or a writer; the mind is the place to be. However, for a physicist or a mathematician, purging their minds on a blank paper or filling multiple boards with the elegant dance of their hands and chalk can be the only way out of a complex problem.
The eminent Russian writer Chekhov argues that, “Everywhere is a desert for anyone who feels lonely”. This quote by someone who has been lonely all his life can be considered as a perspective for this text. Deserts are lonely, shy and lifeless locations that can be shivering cold for some and welcomingly hot for others. Can a person that is alone and occupied by the fight with their own mind think clearly and creatively? Alternatively, is it the isolation that keeps the person’s mind busy for any and all ideas?
While improving on an idea the power of socializing cannot be overlooked. The exchange of brilliant minds via mere words have taken us to the moon, the collaboration of heads of state have founded the resilient European Union, the common effort of similar-minded people has built a pathway for the ear pleasing music of a quartet playing jazz. Of course all these advancements had a proposing behalf, however, one cannot neglect the effort put in by the friends, close ones, teammates, and in general the community behind them. Alexander the Great would be nothing without his soldiers, Jesus’ story would be disregarded if there were no tellers, a queen would be left unprotected without the loyal pieces…
A contrasting argument is made by the great Einstein:” The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.” Some of the most important leaps forward have arisen from the secluded minds of some remarkable people. The emptiness of the surroundings lets the human body feel safe and consolidates the ability of thought production. The lack of initial adrenalin may produce an activating effect on the brain of a human being. Cognitive thinking can be induced by the lack of adrenaline, as the raw instinct to protect oneself is absent.
On the other hand, this feeling of remoteness can take the mind to places it should not be as it happened with Freud. He has proposed some incredible innovations to the insight of the human mind while he lost his own in the process. Although some innovators like Freud can be held responsible of the assassination of their own mind, we cannot ignore the effects of society on bright and different minds. People like Van Gogh who have received the deteriorating comments of other members of their social circles may experience the dangerous exclusion of mind and lose themselves and their consciousness altogether.
It must be stated that although isolation and collaboration have their own idea-inducing effects, the cooperation between these two methods has produced the greatest of advancements. The foundation of Turkey, by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who fed himself with the views of other great minds can be an example. We, humans, have an incredibly complicated social network that is unobservable in any other species known. Only the combination of self-resilient idea assembly and the sharing and cultivation of these ideas can let us push the limits of the mind and survive the process of doing so.