The Importance of the Educational System in Structuring Intellectual Powers, Creativity, and Their Orientation

The Importance of the Educational System in Structuring Intellectual Powers, Creativity, and Their Orientation

Dr. Riyadh Hameed Al-Dabbagh

The future is the harvest of the present, just as the present is the fruit of the past. A generation that merely settles for the verbal selection of knowledge cannot be expected to innovate. But a generation that reflects on its past, explores the depths of its own civilization, and from it derives its goals and future visions, while employing knowledge in this context—not relying solely on rote transmission without comprehension or addition—is the generation that provides the right climate for creativity, development, self-discovery, and the realization of future aspirations in light of the capabilities of the present and the authenticity of the past.

Human intellectual capacities and abilities are limitless; they are not tied to his naturally limited physical abilities. For scientific and technological achievements in particular, and civilizational and human achievements in general, have never been the product of muscles, but rather of minds.

From here arises the importance of the educational system in shaping intellectual powers, channeling creativity, and directing their course—especially within universities—through investment and application. Systems that emphasize preservation without challenge, and conformity to what already exists without striving for what should be, produce nothing but increasing numbers of graduates who add to the burdens of society and obstruct its progress and development. It is enough for universities to add quality to society rather than mere quantities to their graduate lists.

Thus, education is the primary tool in confronting civilizational challenges—whether in its general concept of preserving society and its authenticity and achieving its goals, or in its specific concept of transmitting knowledge, applying it, returning to authentic creativity, and resisting rigidity and unjustified fixation on passive reception rather than active contribution.

Knowledge is the reflection of the external world upon the human mind, while science springs from within—originating from the human self. In the convergence of knowledge and science lies the essence of creativity and the environment of innovation. When this intrinsic process ceases, intellectual growth and development halt, the gates of science close, and scientific and technological dependency begins, with stagnation sinking its claws into the body of society and the lives of its people.