Get our team. So let's talk about intelligence today. What is it? What isn't it? And let me start by saying, as I always do, this is me thinking out loud. There's me thinking out loud, sharing thoughts and ideas. I think the way that intelligence is framed and explained and tested and portrayed is a very limited paradigm of a very fucking big thing. And in fact, I think the way that intelligence is tested is stupid. Here it is,
I'm saying it out loud. I think the idea of testing people and then giving them a number on a given day, doing a given test, and saying you are, based on this number that you got, you are intelligent in the top whatever, or you're in the bottom whatever. And so what we're doing is we are giving someone a number or a label that then they're going to take out of that experience with the moving forward, which could be not at all indicative of what that person's
actual potential is. It could be influenced by cultural things, emotional, psychological things, the good on the day, they could be tired, it might be written in a language that doesn't really work for them. It's you know, we're doing one test on one day, at a moment in time, we're assessing one aspect of intelligence, which is generally cognitive ability. There's cultural bias, there's language bias. There's a whole bunch of things that don't work about IQ tests. Yet, says the
guy doing a pH d in psychology. Yet they are held in very regard, and I think in some situations and circumstances and contexts they have relevance. I'm going to say that, but I just think that, you know, when we have a thing called mensa, which is where the GENII go. If you've got an IQ or if you get a score I think it's one forty, doesn't matter. You get this certain score, and then you can be in this club, which is this prestigious club that says
you're really fucking smart. You're in our super smart group. But the thing about this kind of language and this kind of assessment and this kind of psychology is that it discounts. It discounts a whole range of other kinds of intelligence. So let's talk about intelligence and not the ironically stupid kind of an IQ test where people are
labeled smart, stupid, or somewhere in between. They're literally given a number and they're told, you know, they're told essentially, they're told they're pretty smart or pretty stupid, or they're given a number, and what could what could possibly go wrong?
I mean, that couldn't possibly have a negative or a negative psychological or emotional or sociological outcome, That couldn't damage people, that couldn't fuck them up, that couldn't hang over their head, they could never Imagine a kid, imagine doing a test and they get a bad score and other people find out and that that's used as some kind of you know, weapon against them or bullying kind of tool or whatever.
And I mean, these things happen. These things happen, so you know, I know also, and this is on no level meant to be any kind of brag, but I did an IQ test when I was young, and I scored quite high and not you know, not ridiculous, but
you know high. But what's what's funny is despite the fact that I did okay on that test, there are situations, there are environments, there are problems, there are challenges where I am in regards to that thing and that context, in the context of that problem that needs to be solved or that need that needs to be met, or that conversation that needs to be had, or that whatever I'm I am borderline stupid, depending on the context, the situation,
the challenge. So I want to talk about the myriad of intelligences, because surely it's not a single thing that can be measured or understood or really comprehended by a kid or an adult sitting at a computer answering some
questions for thirty or forty minutes. So I really want to talk about I don't know how to explain this, but I'm just going to call it real world, practical, usable, demonstrable situation, improving outcome, improving relationship, improving problem solving, observable intelligence, not what Brian or Katie scored on a particular kind of test on a given day sitting in a room. So I guess in our culture, we really like thinking that intelligence is a fixed thing. Like he is not intelligent,
she is intelligent. Well, that depends what we're going to ask him to do. That depends on the task or the challenge or the question, doesn't it Because he might be a genius in this room and she's not. And she might be a genius in the other room and he's not. It depends what's going on in the room. So intelligence is not a fixed thing. And we know that not only is it not a fixed thing and it's a multi dimensional thing, but we also know that individuals this is not the right word, but it kind
of explains that individuals are smarter and dumber. Let's put an asterisk next to that. Depending on a bunch of variables, the same person doing the same test or the same kind of test will not always score, In fact, may hardly ever score the exact same outcome or score or number. Because our intelligence, or our aptitude, or our ability to figure things out or solve problems varies over the day. It varies day to day, and it varies over the day depending on a whole lot of things, like what's
happening with our hormones, what's happening with our nutrition? Have I eaten? Am I hungry? Am I distracted? Am I hydrated? My body is mostly water, my brain is mostly water. So when I'm dehydrated, I literally my brain is not as smart. My cognitive capacity diminishes and decreases. Also when I'm anxious, when I'm stressed, it also is diminished. So if I do a test when i'm dehydrated or a bit drunk or kind of tired, my score is going to be lower. So we know that that it is
not an absolute thing. It can be a dynamic and a variable thing depending on a myriad of things. So we like to pretend that it's fixed and it lives in our brain as like a single number, and you're either smart or you're not. You're gifted or you're not. But away from the theory, we know it's bullshit because we all recognize that that intelligence is slippery, it's multi dimensional. It's context dependency, suation dependent, task dependent, problem dependent. Sometimes
it's invisible or subtle. We can't really see it, and it's often I think misunderstood and or miss represented. You know, there's the person who aces the test, who gets the aplaster distinction, thee hundred out of one hundred, but they can't hold a great conversation. You throw them a ball, they can't catch it. You give them a crying baby, they have a meltdown. They don't know what to do. There's the academic genius who can't manage their emotions or
their relationships. There's the and I'm this is with a wink There's the dumb tradey who builds a multi million dollar empire because she noticed that she understands people and timing and risk and hustle better than the other trade or the other person, I should say, who's got three degrees. There's the dude who can't read music, who's never had a lesson, but nonetheless plays fifteen instruments with incredible fucking skill. So we love categories, we love labels, we love rankings.
But intelligence leaks across categories. It doesn't, It doesn't fit in a pigeonhole. It operates and expresses differently depending on what's required. What's the task, what's the question, what's the role, and in what capacity. Someone who knows, for example, how to listen deeply, how to be fully present, how to read what's going on, how to understand the other person, how to ask great questions, how to know what that individual's saying when they're not saying anything right. That's the
kind that's social intelligence. That's situational awareness, which is also intelligence. Someone who can regulate their reactions under pressure. Someone who can be the calm and the chaos, that thing that we call equanimity. Someone who doesn't lose their shit when other people might lose their shit under far less pressure. That's emotional intelligence. Someone who can adapt to change, someone who can unlearned bullshit, someone who can keep growing. That's practical,
That that's fluid, that's evolving intelligence. See, the thing is that IQ tests don't measure wisdom. They don't measure awareness or kindness, or how well you're going to manage a breakup or handle someone that you love dying or starting over after going broke, or dealing with some nasty fucker at work. IQ tests don't measure that. They don't measure adaptability. They don't measure intuition. They don't measure your ability to understand what's not being said or to read a room.
They don't measure humility, which, by the way, might be one of the smartest things a person can have. And the irony is the moment that you believe you're truly intelligent and you stop consciously learning, growing, and questioning is the moment that your intelligence kind of becomes rigid and fragile and outdated. Because real intelligence isn't a single thing,
it's a process. It's a multi dimensional, emotional and practical skill set that you have that you can develop to help you survive and then thrive, no matter the problem that you need to solve. It's not a DestinE nation intelligence. It's kind of like a kind of like a dance with the unknown. How well can you do the stuff that you don't know, that you can't predict, that you can't see, that's unfamiliar, that's uncomfortable. How well can you deal with all of that shit. It's a willingness to
be wrong. It's a willingness to change your mind and to not need to be right, to not need to know, to not need to be the smartest person in the room. So, yeah, intelligence is slippery, And anyone who tries to sell you on the idea that intelligence is a score or a number or a title or a trophy probably doesn't really understand it really, or maybe they don't have it. Can I say that