Balaji Prasad
By Balaji Prasad
“I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing.” ~ Socrates
IQ is an obsession that possesses the human animal.
Intelligence can be a wonderful thing that promotes life … if it is aligned with life. But if it is aligned with something else, then it promotes whatever that other thing is. Whatever that thing is divided by intelligence produces a quotient. And a remainder. The remainder is the part of your intelligence that is dedicated to the things that are ignored by your intelligence. Unfortunately, that thing could be life itself. And so, as with many other things, “intelligence”, the word, displaces the thing that it was intended to be; it could even end up promoting the very opposite of what you hope it does!
The math of life
A child is born into life. With something very powerful, but which cannot be called “intelligence” because that word has been co-opted to point to something that is the very antithesis of intelligence. And has concepts built on top of it, such as “IQ”.
So, what should we call this gift of life that we are born with, and innate to us, a gift that we fail to value? We might finesse the currently indoctrinated word by prefixing it with a measuring adjective that pulls it in the opposite direction, diminishing it rather than extolling it.
A Room with a View: Low IQ
If I could rid my mind of thing:
this high IQ,
Then the notes of life might trill through me:
the song that’s true,
That I might part from the living dead:
to a room with a view …
That shows no numbers, words and stuff:
no gobbledygook,
But those Gates open only to those:
with low IQ.
The wordplay is nice but how does all this translate to something that will make a difference? The answer may lie in the math behind the words, “low” and “high”. If the container has a low amount of something, maybe it has space for more of something else? Something more enriching than depleting?
The I of the storm
Maybe? … Be full of your self: your “I”? Be filled with the “I” that you were born with. It is important to realize that this is a very different kind of “I”, very unlike the much more complicated and convoluted “I” that has usurped the throne from its rightful owner.
As the raging storms of words, numbers, and the “logic” cobbled together from this detritus, swirl menacingly and destructively all around you, the “I” of the storm is the calmest and safest place in your existence. The nice thing about it is that it came with the package. You may have just failed to notice it or to appreciate its existence, and its value to your existence.
How do you know if you are in the “I” of the storm? Some clues are in the words you use, words like heart, soul, art, love, etc. It can also be felt in a deep sense of engagement in what you do, whether it be a fine crafting of your creation in a woodshop, a soulful rendition of a piece of music, or a deeper connection with a soulmate. There are no words in this space; there is just a “being-in” state that is beyond such meaningless symbols and artifacts.
It is a higher life. But it is not easy to attain when all around you are words, words and more words!
When they go high, you go low
The words are okay. They don’t cause damage if you let them flow past you, as most of them will. And those that don’t will bounce off your magic shield that lets in only real things. But all this will be so, only if you have developed an immunity to the mirages that the words create: mirages that you end up actually feeling viscerally, invoking deep-seated fears and desires intended for your survival.
When you drop the words, a whole slew of things suddenly drops from your consciousness. Just imagine, e.g., if you didn’t have a word for “virus”, or “cholesterol”, and, therefore, no notion of such things. Imagine if you are skeptical that the idea of “cause” and “effect” is too simple, and often just high-IQ stuff that causes you to look for clear paths to diminish fears that themselves may be based on little more than empty word-castles that are built in the air in the same way that others have built them.
Admittedly, it is hard to be low-IQ when most of the others around you are high-IQ. It is easy to fall into the trap of symbol-based “thinking” as a habit – even an addiction – that causes you to use the words in ways that distract and detract from life. And from love.
High IQ is not without its uses, in day-to-day life, e.g., to make a living, do Sudoku, and calculus gymnastics. The world values it just as it values diamonds. But it can cut like a diamond too and cause bleeding, when used, say, for arguing to prove that you are “right”, or to create dangerous monsters that you start to fear. These can be pyrrhic victories for a high-IQ person.
Low-IQ people are rare. Can you be one?
Balaji Prasad is an IIT/IIM graduate, a published author, SAT/ACT Online and in-person Coach, and K-12 Math Tutor at NewCranium. Contact: balaji.prasad@newcranium.com
