INTELLIGENCE DELUSION

Written by

Brij Sachdeva

We say the child is brilliant when the child is good at studies and secures a meritorious position. It is common to describe such a child as brilliant. Conversely, children not good at studies, may excel in other domains and still be perceived as lacking intelligence. They might possess talents in poetry, excel in conversational skills or even display excellence in mischievous behaviour. Do you think that being mischievous does not require any intelligence? Mischievousness definitely requires a certain level of intelligence.

Actually, we value things according to their social utility. People who achieve a prestigious position or success in business are perceived as intelligent in our society. People who talk beautifully are considered intelligent. Someone became a great leader because of being verbally articulate and we think the person is intelligent. Verbally articulate people may not be truthful or intelligent but they are mostly successful because their argument is strong. They are often manipulative and persuasive because they excel in conversational skills. They are skilful at influencing someone or forcing someone to do what they want. Someone becomes an entrepreneur and runs many companies very well and people would say that the person is very intelligent. You handle difficult situations with such ease that everyone thinks you are intelligent. Successful people think that they are successful because they are intelligent.

To be successful in this society,  intelligence is the last thing that you need. You just need a certain level of strength of mind, confidence and ignorance. If you have these things, success is sure. And then starts a magical phenomenon called the virtuous cycle, also called the virtuous circle. 

A virtuous cycle is a phenomenon in which A leads to B and B, in turn leads to A. Strength of mind leads to success and success, in turn, leads to more strength of mind. The more the strength of mind, the more the success; the more the success, the more the strength of mind. Now, the success takes charge and the success itself starts succeeding. You might have heard the proverb NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE SUCCESS. It is not necessarily the man or his intelligence that succeeds. Man or his intelligence succeeds only once in a while. Mostly it is the success that succeeds again and again. And the same is true about the failure. NOTHING FAILS LIKE FAILURE. It is not necessarily the man or his intelligence that fails. Man fails only once in a while. Mostly it is the failure that fails again and again.

When we say that a person is more intelligent than others, it is like comparing two icebergs by looking at their visible tips. You can go on comparing the tips of icebergs and judging their visible part. But the invisible part of an iceberg is so vast and significant that it can break apart huge ships in no time. Titanic, the largest ship ever, at the time of its entering into service, collided with an iceberg and was damaged so severely that it sank into the deep ocean along with 1500 people.

The intelligence of a person is like the visible tip of an iceberg. We can notice only the socially active utilitarian part of one's intelligence. If your intelligence is working more because of the richness of your totality or due to some other supportive environmental factors, it need not necessarily mean that you are more intelligent than others.

There is no such thing as intelligent, unintelligent, less or more intelligent. even if there is, even science has not been able to judge. You may appear very intelligent because people value you. People never value others only because of their being intelligent. Intelligence, in fact, is the lowest value in our society. Money, confidence and position are the higher values, in fact.

One may seem very intelligent because of the appreciation and recognition received from people. People do not value others only for their intelligence. In fact, intelligence is the lowest value in our society. Money, confidence, and status are more highly valued. People do not value you because of your intelligence. Actually, your intelligence becomes more useful or valuable if people recognise and appreciate you.