I Am Intelligent: Are you?

Deep downing into ‘Intelligence’ may not be a piece of cake for some since it is frequently viewed as a lighthouse that helps one navigate the complexity of the world. One would claim it as the brighter the light, the sharper our understanding. Others would state it is more than just scores in tests or education level. I opine it’s the oxygen that fuels our potential, the capacity to adapt and overcome the mountains we each face. We all have our own mountains to conquer; hence intelligence is like oxygen without which our purpose of conquering the mountain is far from being true. Hence, it can be defined as an emergent system’s capacity to adapt to its surroundings in order to enhance its state, sustain itself, and maximize its potential for future freedom of action.

Reflecting on myself, for years and years, the only form of intelligence I knew was academic success. Partly because that’s what society taught me, or the so-called standard society stated in order for one to be called intelligent. I have always been a bright student and also the youngest one in my class because I grew up in a joint family and being the youngest one in the family seeing my siblings go to school made me very curious and so I joined school at a very young age. As mentioned before, I was a bright child so even the school suggested me to skip a class and move forward and so did I. Hence, I have always been the youngest student in my class ever since. So, am I intelligent?

Looking from society’s perspective, I surely am an intelligent person but in reality, am I?  Am I meeting the standard an intelligent person should meet? Like Isaac Asimov said, “What is intelligence anyway?” And who sets the standard? Can we say Issac Newton was more intelligent than the uncle that sells tea near my house? Is education the only form of intelligence? Just because Newton made history, discovered something new and won a Nobel prize made him the intelligent one? If we make him compete with a barber in regard to who cuts the hair better would he still be considered the intelligent one? I don’t think so.  So, what actually is intelligence?

It’s fascinating as to how difficult it is to define intelligence. But for me intelligence is simple, it is the ability to make another person convince that what I am doing is correct. When I go shopping, the shopkeeper so amazingly convinces me that I look good in every dress I wear (although I might look horrible in most of it), when I go to the salon the beautician so easily convinces me into thinking that the haircut, I just got suits me so well, when I go to a restaurant and incase I get a chance to talk to the chef he surely convinces me that the food he just made for me is the fanciest dish ever by mentioning god knows what different kind of ingredients he just used for the food. In all these scenarios, there might just be opposite result of what the other person convinced me into thinking but for that moment they sure did convince me into thinking that the job they did was the best. And how in the world could we not consider that intelligence?

Intelligence depends on the context. A few days ago, I came across a video of Mithila Palkar, one of the famous influencers who was talking about her life struggle and in her speech, she mentioned one line that just struck my mind. She mentioned a quote by Albert Einstein that said, “If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” This quote sounds so simple but when you think about it this line is so deep and wholesome. I believe there is no standard when it comes to intelligence because it's just the ability one has in doing the best they can. We all can’t be best in everything but the important thing to realize here is in the one thing I do I am the best in it. 

So, where do I situate myself with intelligence? I don’t really have an answer to that because as far as I know the thing I am best at doing is living my life which surely no one can do better than me because it’s my life and only I hold the power to control it. Therefore, in terms of living my own life, I believe I am more intelligent than any other human to ever exist.