Humanity
Intelligence
quick ideas about intelligence. What is intelligence? Obstacles to finding truth. Open-mindedness. Emotional intelligence.
EspañolA. Intelligence
1. What is intelligence?
Intelligence is the faculty that discovers truth; whether theoretical, practical, sentimental, etc. The best intelligence makes judgments that coincide with reality. The goal is not to think a great deal or quickly, nor to elaborate brilliant or exciting or well-structured ideas. These things can help, but the main thing is that the conclusions be true. The intelligent person is the one who reaches truth — the reality of things — with greater perfection.
2. What is the purpose of intelligence?
The purpose of intelligence is to find truth. The knowledge of truth is the end of understanding and what must be sought by whoever exercises it. Of what use is a magnificent, pleasant, brilliant idea... if it is false, mistaken, deceptive? Where do splendid but erroneous arguments lead? The main thing about a thought is that it be correct, that it coincide with reality. It is not a matter of being intelligent in the sense of having great speed of thought or capacity for analysis or relating concepts. What is decisive is reaching truth.
3. Is intelligence opposed to goodness?
Intelligence is not at odds with goodness. The problem may arise in the case of the proud intelligent person who despises others. But they mistreat others not because of being clever, but because of their pride. Despising others is unintelligent because the true dignity of the human person is not discovered. The intelligent person discovers reality and in this case, the truth is that human beings must be treated well.
4. Are intelligence and entertainment opposed?
No, no. Apparently yes, since study and reflection are means for knowing truth and seem opposed to entertainment. It is true that an intelligent person does not desire the kind of unbridled entertainment found in some environments, since one realizes that in truth that way of resting is not fitting. But at the same time one recognizes the need for rest in order to continue working well. And being clever, one finds interesting ways to enjoy oneself without the excesses that cause harm.
5. Is it possible to improve in intelligence?
Innate gifts are important in the intellectual field. But the point is to hit upon truth, and this can be done splendidly by one who asks for advice or learns from what others have discovered. So a less gifted person can quickly find truth if they possess humility and reflect a little, if they ask for advice and study. We now look at humility and study as means of advancing intellectually.
6. Does humility improve intelligence?
Humility facilitates finding truth in several ways:
- Humility so as not to cling too much to one's own ideas. Thought must have the humility to adapt to and be governed by reality, if it does not want to end in error or madness. The more intelligence one possesses, the greater must be one's humility, to flee from brilliant but false ideas, and to say something as difficult as 'I acknowledge that I was wrong'.
- Humility to learn from others, to ask for advice. In particular it is useful to observe persons of good habits.
- Humility also to accept the discoveries that other persons have reached, even if they are not one's own.
7. Does study improve intelligence?
Study improves intelligence in several ways:
- It exercises the mind. Through study a person reflects on a theoretical or practical reality, draws conclusions, and memorizes ideas that will later serve as a basis for new advances toward truth.
- One learns to reflect.
- Knowledge — truths — are acquired that humanity has achieved throughout history.
8. What obstacles are there to finding truth?
The difficulties come from not seeking truth, for various reasons:
- Relativism.- Relativism holds that there are no truths, that everything is relative. A person with this mentality has enormous difficulty finding truth because they are not looking for it. If everything is a matter of opinion and any opinion is worth as much as its opposite, the eagerness to reach the opinion closest to truth disappears. Relativists lose the capacity — intelligence — for seeking truth, and cannot be good researchers or scholars, unless their relativism is incoherent — which is quite common.
- Laziness, comfort, selfishness, pride: any vice hinders the search for truth when truth runs counter to it. If one does not want to give up a vice, it is hard to heed reason. For example, it is hard to acknowledge the harm of revelry and disordered sex.
- Closed-mindedness.- This is the case of one who entrenches themselves in their views and does not study other options even if they seem correct. Radical ideologies would be an example.
B. Open-mindedness
1. What is open-mindedness?
Open-mindedness is the intellectual attitude of seeking truth in fields different from the usual ones, without being stubborn about one's own opinions. One can have an open mind on some topics and a closed one on others.
2. What matters favor open-mindedness?
- Humility.- Pride makes one listen only to oneself. Humility opens the door to other sources of knowledge, helps in learning from others.
- A broad culture.- An abundance of knowledge causes the mind to expand and makes it easy to add new ideas. This happens if knowledge covers several branches of learning. The opposite happens if one focuses excessively on a single topic.
- Charity.- Love of neighbor opens the mind to understanding positions and actions.
- Eagerness for truth and sincerity.- This mental attitude opens the intelligence.
3. What matters lead to closed-mindedness?
- Intensified or wounded feelings.- Feelings affected by something close the mind to any matter that might reopen the wound. If the wound is generalized to many causes, the closing increases and it becomes hard to reason. Similarly, overfed feelings make it hard to see anything else in that area. This happens for example with some football fans.
- Fashionable ideologies.- Which tend to radicalize because by being in fashion they seem more true, even if they are not really. For example, nationalists, feminists, environmentalists, and gays tend to be closed to moderate positions.
- The critical spirit and the obligatory.- A critical mentality tends to close the mind to other valid ways of thinking or behaving. The same happens with obsessions and the urge to compel. When a debatable way of acting is taken as obligatory, the mind closes to other perfectly valid options.
- Accepted errors.- Truth enters gently into man, while the acceptance of errors requires an act of will that closes the mind to reality.
4. Does open-mindedness have limits?
The limits come from several places:
- The mind must be open toward truth. It would be madness to head toward error. This requires that openness of mind be reasonable.
- Prudence.- To know the truth about the effects of drugs, one does not need to take drugs; it is enough to observe those who do. To know an illness, it is not necessary to be ill but to study it in sick people. To know a sect, one does not need to belong to it; it is enough to study it. Open-mindedness is not equivalent to the madness of trying everything.
- Truth does not have the same value as error. Opinions are not equally valid. For example, if one is an expert professor in a subject, one does not pay attention to the opinions of first-year students, not out of closed-mindedness but because beginners know very little about the subject.
- Open-mindedness does not mean relativism, nor lacking principles. A man of firm principles can preserve them and at the same time seek greater certainty in truth by broadening his field of vision.
- Time is limited and one must select the topics one wishes to know. This selection does not mean closed-mindedness but the exercise of order in ideals.
5. How to exercise open-mindedness?
Several things can help:
- Excursions and travel open the mind to other landscapes and cultures.
- Reading suitable works. With the precaution of seeking advice so that their content leads toward truths, and not in the opposite direction.
- Attending talks, conferences, gatherings, when their content is worthwhile.
- Study and reflection open up a world of knowledge without needing to leave home.
- Listening to parents and teachers is another source of valuable information that should not be closed off.
C. Emotional intelligence
1. What is emotional intelligence?
It is intelligence applied to emotions. That is, the habit of finding truth in the area of emotions.
2. What does it mean to find truth in emotions?
It is applied in two fields:
- Grasping the real emotions of others and reacting appropriately, seeking their good. For example, detecting that someone is angry or tired and consequently avoiding bothering them at those moments.
- Grasping one's own real emotions and learning to control or foster them as appropriate. For example, it is fitting to foster love toward one's wife; on the other hand, one must moderate affection toward a female neighbor.
3. How to understand emotions?
The main resources are two:
- Experience in dealing with people, which helps in interpreting small gestures.
- Charity.- Because affection is attentive to divining the desires and feelings of the one who is loved.