Number of words: 233

A normal child, left to himself with proper love and guidance, is not immobilized by the fear of failure. He, in finding ways to remain civilized, will naturally ask himself an important question: In what way do I see my own success without hindrance to that of others? His primary problem and the problem that affects all of us is the selfishness of the individual and not the learning of numbers and skills as early in his life as he can so that he can score high on an IQ test given to him and feel confident in that imposing score! It involves the human awakening, not an awareness of science around us. In the words of LeShan, science seems to succeed because the questions it is capable of handling are really not the important ones. Science can answer the question: How can we send a rocket to the moon? But it cannot answer the question, How can we learn to love each other, to truly believe that every human being is part of every other human being. And love is not like a pie that we can cut out pieces of: large or small. The IQ test will look for immediate answers; the real test of life is to find long term solutions to the complex social problems of living.

Excerpted from page 95 of ‘Examinations: An Informative Update’ by M Mascarenhas.