The cognitive domain in good governance

The cognitive domain comprises of six different categories or hierarchical levels known as the Blooms Taxonomy. These six levels are identified as knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Particularly in the case of applications, the long and short of it simply means that one must have the ability to demonstrate the necessary critical thinking skills and proper information processing in order to solve problems.

However, to achieve this, the cognitive capital of both leaders and the general public must be enhanced. But what exactly is cognitive capital? In a nutshell, cognitive capital focuses on the value of any individual or group of individuals’ mental assets – a valuable resource recognized as an essential part of institutions and organizations, that can be traded with money, social influence and even political power.

It seems to me that only a few fully understand that these collective assets called the cognitive capital, combined with good governance, makes up the wealth of all nations. When talking about good governance, it must be understood that this is a highly complex cognitive process because leaders need to acquire and interpret information well especially when it comes from multiple and contradictory sources in order to arrive at the right decision and govern.

Governing is about engaging in complex problem-solving issues and a good leader must be able to solve them well. Just the same, this is why the citizenry’s choice of leaders also depends on how they are able to apply their critical thinking abilities in order to choose the most competent leader. The effectiveness of good governance is seen as a critical factor for the wealth of nations insofar as it shapes both political and economic systems and, the most crucial part all depends on the specific characteristics of the people who are involved because everyone is affected one way or the other.

Hence, while good governance is always at the forefront of all our conversations, we cannot neglect the foundations and investing in cognitive capital is the key as this is the hidden asset that defines our future. It is also a valuable asset that is often neglected and we see this in the way leadership has been used as well as how the public responds to it.

Let’s just say that, while our eyes are open, our mental abilities still need to be “adjusted” in order to make sense of the situation at hand and respond wisely. Yes, I’m talking about the Philippine situation. People spend time in various activities but we need to reflect on whether these activities actually have a purpose to the growth of our cognitive capital.

I suppose if I were to make some kind of analogy, someone for example who spends time on TikTok videos could be positively or negatively labeled according to what he or she watches. If for example, TikTok helps users understand how proper Italian spaghetti should be made then perhaps one could say, he or she learned something new and this added to his or her cognitive capital just by investing time over TikTok. In the end, he or she could eventually become a good cook just by watching TikTok videos by applying what was learned.

While this is just an example, the bottom line is, the things we do daily determine what we are investing on. That also is the case of lifelong learning where one can call it a direct investment in cognitive capital as every new learning adds to one’s cognitive toolkit. Over all, good governance cannot be fully integrated if members of society, both leaders and civil society, do not do their parts to invest in it so that what is learned is actually applied. We have to constantly add to that mental bucket of knowledge in order for growth to happen.

Abilities and intelligences can be developed through dedication and hard work and it takes commitment and effort to achieve it. Even one’s diverse experiences in life broadens cognitive capacities such as traveling for example, as engaging with people from different backgrounds contribute to cognitive richness.

The cognitive domain should be considered as a warfighting domain. Why? Because the battle is in the mind and in the 21st century, the war is about winning the information where there exists a wide variety of machinery in communications – not to mention, all done in high speed.

Cognition is the mental process of acquiring knowledge and comprehending information. It includes activities such as thinking, learning and decision making and involves how the brain processes and stores information in order to interact with others and the environment that surrounds us.

To sum it all up, the role of education is crucial in understanding the cognitive domain and education policies must develop cognitive capital ranging from basic skills to specialized expertise in order to produce effective governance.

While good governance needs good leaders who can perform well as public servants, it also requires active citizen participation where people should get involved in decision making and express their needs and rights and, at the same time be fully informed and empowered to also promote good governance together with their chosen leaders through their respective actions.

Ultimately, before we can expect our people to participate in good governance, the whole of nation must first be fully committed in investing in the cognitive domain – where everything begins and eventually evolves.