MESSAGE FROM THE
HEAD OF SCHOOL
A Year-Long Celebration of Awareness
W
E SEE THEM EVERYWHERE.
states of “cooperative organization,” we and our
They walk past us on the street,
brains are most engaged and function best when
completely absorbed in conversation. Or sit next to us in a restaurant,
we are contributing members of a group. “It’s the idea that a group of people is smarter
perhaps with a friend, self-sequestered and
than the smartest person in the group,” a Boston
deeply immersed in the challenges of a game.
University biology professor observed. “If you
Or stand alone in the aisle of a grocery store,
live in a group, you solve problems more rapidly,
opposing thumbs flying, intently engaged in an
more efficiently, and more accurately than what’s
extended exchange of text messages.
possible for any individual.”
The phenomenon has become so common-
Development and application of that kind of
place, we no longer even notice — and, to be
essential intelligence requires, we believe, not
honest, we might more than occasionally count
simply presence in the group, but also intense
ourselves in their number. They are at once present and absent, wherever they may be — physically with us, but actually somewhere else, largely unaware of and disconnected from the immediacy of their place, time, and everyone around them. Of course, they may be enthralled, like us all, by the obvious benefits and enticements: Today, with family and friends literally at our fingertips, we can much more easily and frequently be in touch
and uninterrupted awareness.
THE PAGES THAT FOLLOW ARE EACH AND ALL A TESTAMENT TO THAT — AND ALSO TO THE PURE JOY, SATISFACTION, AND TREMENDOUS REWARD DERIVED IN EVERY QUARTER FROM TEAMWORK AND TRUE TOGETHERNESS.
with those we love, near and far away, as never before.
It’s common sense: We’re
In the classroom, on the fields of play, on
at our very best when we are
Baker Theater’s stage, in the wilderness of
present, engaged, involved,
Vermont, and beyond, each and every boy is
and aware. Group members all
learning to master the disciplines of presence
become smarter when they’re
and awareness that have been the heart and
really and completely together,
soul of what Brunswick has taught so well for
unencumbered by distraction.
12 decades.
For 120 years, the cultivation of our boys’ individual and
gain in distraction, it is especially fitting that we
collective intelligence — their
pause at this milestone moment to ponder the
great strength of character
essence of what truly distinguishes a Brunswick
as stewards of the tenets of
education.
Courage, Honor, Truth — has
require, and celebrate the powerful value of
required their careful and
awareness. It is what we have done for 120 years.
complete awareness.
And it is what we will continue to do, in our
And, without question, the pages that follow are each and all a testament
online worlds, we make a sacrifice in what scien-
to that — and also to the pure joy, satisfaction,
tists call our “collective intelligence,” as defined
and tremendous reward derived in every quarter
in a recent report in The Wall Street Journal.
from teamwork and true togetherness. In what-
that, as a result of thousands of years of living in
Every day, in every way, we seek to encourage,
absolutely and purposefully
Still, to the extent that we retreat into our own
The concept of collective intelligence suggests
Looking ahead, in a world that continues to
great and ongoing tradition, in the years and decades to come.
ever the endeavor, collectively, the group really is smarter than its smartest member.
Thomas W. Philip
WWW.BRUNSWICKSCHOOL .ORG |
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