We Jamaicans are a smart bunch. 

However, there is a part of the brain that deals with our instincts that I will be paying much attention to as a part of my development in 2009.  It has to do with my natural instincts, the natural abilities.

I was very aware of the:

cognitive – thinking

affective – feeling,

but the conative – ?

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Ancient philosophers and modern psychologists share the concept of a three-part mind with separate domains for thinking, feeling, and doing. The conative, or doing, part contains the striving instincts that drive a person’s natural way of taking action, or modus operandi (MO). This is the unique set of innate strengths and talents every person has which remains unchanged from birth. Everyone has an equal amount of conative energy for engaging the thinking (cognitive) and feeling (affective) parts of the mind to produce purposeful action.

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So, why should I be paying attention?

Well, it is the part of my brain that affects my capability of executing  tasks.  I am a knowledge worker, so my means of managing information is directly related to my effectiveness.  One’s conative capability has four modes.

1. How one gathers and shares information
2. How one sorts and stores information
3. How one deals with risk and uncertainty
4. How one deals with space and tangibles

If we think we have information overload syndrome bad, just try to wrap your brains around what our kids will face without the proper tools.

Here is a site that you may get further info.

conative website

I am reminded of this gem of a quote by  Victor Hugo.

“An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.”

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Has the focus on conative brain development arrived for you?