“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.”

Albert Einstein

Some people are born more intelligent than others, and we can see that in the early stages of life. These children tend to be more curious and begin outperforming their peers early. We all know of that one child that used to get the highest in a class all the time with minimal effort. That child could have been you.

Thankfully, intelligence is not only left down to genes. With hard work and determination, we can build up the skills needed to become intelligent individuals. For some of us, it takes longer than others. But with so much knowledge out there, we have no excuse to be ignorant or stupid.

The problem is, we see more of the latter in the world. Despite there being more news reports than anyone can count every day, people still seem to be unaware. Although our society is advancing in technology and knowledge, people still have no clue how to better themselves.

Not to mention, society has made it harder to find the truth as many people live their lives with a filter on. We are scared to say things lest we be “cancelled”. And our freedom to think is becoming dimmer whilst freedom of expression, whatever that means, is praised.

Unfortunately, intelligence is more difficult to come across now than ever before, and you would think it would be the opposite. And with but a few of us hoping to become intelligent, we are struggling to navigate our way to it. Nevertheless, here is the one thing we must avoid whilst on our journey to intelligence.

Intelligence Today Is the Search for Truth

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With so many lies governing our world, it is hard to filter for the truth. We see fake millionaires promoting their services on social media, fake models and fake news. Those who seek to conform to this world seek its approval. As a result, their truth only becomes what they are told as an observer.

Unfortunately, we are not great observers, and we do not need science to show us that. Good observers tend to look at the whole landscape and can capture most things in their site. Then, they can analyse and filter the information that interests them most.

However, we have something called biases that stop us from observing everything in our space. Confirmation bias is the main one that causes us to filter information based on what we want to believe to be true.

Funny enough, it also assists us greatly in being able to conform to the norms of our environment. For example, putting up your hand in class to speak makes sense. After all, everything you have been told up to this point suggests that it works, and everyone does it. So, you follow suit and never look for any evidence that doing this could be damaging your learning.

The pursuit for truth is one of the hardest we can embark on when you put confirmation bias in the way. It stops us from wanting to dig deeper and potentially find things that go against our beautifully working model. But if you dare to be intelligent, you can not afford to let your confirmation bias get in the way.

You must be willing to not conform to your environment because it feels comfortable. You have to stop being an observer and actively become a partaker of the knowledge you are fed. Those who seek to be intelligent also risk being outsiders. But they also take the largest risk of all. And that is to encompass drastic changes to their ways of thinking.

Your Intelligence Relies on Your Power to Change Yourself

To become intelligent, your desire for truth must outweigh any desire you have. You may desire to be obedient, but your pursuit may cause you to rebel. You may wish to be part of the crowd, but intelligence requires one to not conform.

Intelligence requires us to dig past what we want to be true. To not just merely scrape the surface, but to go deeper into understanding the things no one cares about. After all, if we are to govern our lives correctly, we have to ensure that the correct things are right.

The blocker to anyone’s intelligence is their desire to see things the way they want to. People do not want to be told their beliefs are wrong or that there are two valid arguments. Instead, they would rather let ignorance be their comfort and conformity their guide. Unfortunately, there are more people like this in the world than ever before.

The world should be more educated, and the youth should be more intelligent. But we see a society full of mediocre intellects with no desire to do anything more than obey. We see profanity and hedonism promoted over self-control and respect.

It appears that the more freedom we have had to pursue knowledge, the more we have become enslaved by not knowing anything at all.

Seek to Become Intelligent

The one thing you should never do is let your biases get in the way of your pursuit of truth. The majority are scared to change their perceptions of reality because it will call for a different way of living. Those who are intelligent want their minds to be changed and the truths they find to amaze them.

After all, what is the point of life if we never find knowledge to bring us closer to the truth? Our perceptions of reality are not reality itself. They are only the lens we use to look at reality. The goal of this life for intellects is to break the lens and bare reality, whatever that is.

A Fruitful Thought.