{"id":22566,"date":"2025-01-21T14:22:26","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T13:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kennethsorensen.dk\/?p=22566"},"modified":"2026-05-06T20:23:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T19:23:52","slug":"mental-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethsorensen.dk\/en\/mental-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental Development"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We don’t actually think – we rationalise. Assagioli on mental development as the slow work of freeing the mind from the service of desire, and bringing it into harmony with love<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Mental<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Roberto Assagioli<\/strong>
Source: psicoenergetica.com [i]<\/a>
Original title: Sviluppo Mentale<\/em>
Translated and edited with notes by Jan Kuniholm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editorial Note<\/strong>
The abstract and contextual subtitle in this online edition have been added by the editor, Kenneth S\u00f8rensen, to support readability, navigation, and archival consistency. The original wording has not been altered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Abstract<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In this short essay, Roberto Assagioli argues that mental development is only half about training the mind’s functions \u2014 synthesising the senses, gathering knowledge, reasoning, intuition, creating. The other half is changing the mind’s relationship to the rest of the person. In most of us, the mind is in the service of desire, rationalising rather than thinking. The aim of true education, he concludes, is intelligence wedded to love: the slow making of wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mental Development consists not only of a quantitative <\/em>increase in mental activity, but also involves a change in quality<\/em>, which refers to different ways of using the mind. Until not so long ago, they were the prerogative of a few, philosophers and scientists; but the fact that they are beginning to have a mass diffusion today means that they must be properly recognized and adopted on a wider scale, and applied in the educational field. The various activities and uses of the mind can be briefly described as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(a) The first function of the mind is to synthesize sensory impressions, so that the individual acquires an intelligent experience of the so-called external world. In this regard, the mind can be regarded as a sixth sense, a \u201ccommon sense\u201d that coordinates and interprets the messages conveyed by the other five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(b) The second function is to gather information, to make the fruits of humanity\u2019s experience its own, and thus to make use of the cultural heritage of the past. This purpose is achieved by study, and inculcating cognition of this kind has been the main task of teachers in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(c) The third and higher type of mental activity is that which processes the material gathered in the previous stages, coordinates it, and finally draws conclusions and applies them; this may be called: thinking <\/em>or reflecting<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(d) The fourth function of the mind is to become receptive to insights; to understand and interpret them accurately, and then to formulate them precisely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(e) The fifth is the creative <\/em>function. The dynamic and creative power of thinking that has recently been discovered (it would be more accurate to say \u201crediscovered\u201d) is increasingly being recognized and applied; but it is mainly used for the attainment of personal goals (achievement of wealth, success, etc.). One of the tasks of the new education will be to train the individual to make use of the techniques that provide a way to understand this power for constructive purposes and in the service of humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The relationships between the mind and other psychological functions \u2014 impulses, emotions, feelings and imagination \u2014 are far from satisfactory, and pose problems of basic importance in education.<\/p>\n\n\n