Are you really as smart as you say you are?

[quiXote]

collectively, we are smarter.
as a whole today, we know and have seemingly endless information on file...
but that doesnt count,
do you know these things, or are you just letting the computers, machines and files think and remember things for you?
are we really that much better then are ancestors?

X

[Shaper]

[quiXote]

we are smarter collectively.
not wiser though.
we are far smarter as a collective whole, look at all the examples given above... or here are a few, flashlights, www, refridgeration, more effective ways of bashing each other over the head, velcro, computers the can caculate pie to who-the-hell-really-cares.
the examples you gave have almost nothing to do with intelligence, those are matters of wisdom
intelligence and wisdom are two entirely different animals,
we need something catcylsmic to get us to wise up...

X

[Shaper]

I say again, does the whole world have these things?

[quiXote]

of course not, only i do.
i am hoarding infinite knowledge in my lint filter.

X

[Shaper]

Ah, so that's where all the infinite knowledge went...

[Larry Boy]

It's important to differentiate knowledge and intelligence. The fact that we know more now doesn't necessarily mean we're more intelligent. The majority of people don't know how to process information, they just follow the stream. That's why intelligent people always are seen as idiots in the eyes of the public.

Intelligent people are people who can take information from various sources, critically analyze it and draw conclusions based on facts, not just try to fit it into what they want to believe to be true.

But people in general are to close minded to accept new ideas before they've been told by their educators (that is, the school, media and so on), that it is so. I've realized that if I'm to learn anything about life and universe, I must drop all presumptions about the world we live in. Let's face it, how much do we really know about this reality? With so many strange and supernatural phenomena occuring right before peoples' eyes all the time, I think we must accept the fact that there's something more to this world than we're aware of...

All throughout history, there are people who have realized this, and there are people who just follow the stream's opinion. In my eyes, they latter are all equally close minded.
Let's face it, almost every big contribution to this world has been done by people who have realized that something is wrong with the world view of that day.

It's so silly. People of today can laugh at people who hundreds of years ago close mindedly tried to stop scientists from making new discoveries about the reality we live in, at the same time as they laugh at every alternate theory about reality that is presented today. It was the alternative theories that made us progress to where we are today, why would it be different now?

I just can't except that the materialistic world view of today is true. It's obviously lacking something as it can't explain any of all the strange phenomena that occur in this world. Scientists just ignore everything that doesn't fit into their theories.

The fact that you're here alone proves you guys are open to alternate ideas. Let's be intelligent and not cling to any idea but be open to them all, since we know way to little about this world to claim to be able to explain everything.

[Lebowsk1]

^ great post. A lot of what follows will basically agree with the above and maybe expand a little on a couple of points. But firstly, as I feel a bit uncomfortable judging other peoples intelligence, I'd like to start with my own!

Personally I feel a part of my intelligence absolutely sky-rocketed a few years ago when I started smoking MJ and had a couple of mystical experiences. It literally feels like I'd been wandering around in the dark, not seeing things clearly, for so many years when BING, suddenly a lightbulb was turned on in my brain. I think and say things now that I'd never have dreamt of before and am almost embarrased at some of the things I used to think and say.

Mind you, some things don't change: I'm still useless when it comes to what I'd call physical intelligence. I'm still absent-minded with my possessions, untidy, bad at manual tasks etc. This is why "intelligence" is actually such a multi-faceted thing that cannot be pinned down by any individual test. I mean what KIND of intelligence are we testing? If we are going to reduce people to certain concepts and words then we should be thorough and continue to break those concepts/words down into further concepts/words to develop a high level of precision.

But yes, a good sub-category of intelligence would be knowledge and, as Larry says, you get it via the process of information processing. Firstly you need information (which comes in many forms) and secondly you need the ability to process it (logical thought). This is not a mechanical process where all that is needed is information going IN and a set answer coming OUT (as, sadly, is expected from us in "school") but in a real, human sense whereby the person processing the information really gets it: it is understood.

Information understood = knowledge.

The reason I think my personal methods had the result they did is because I had access to the tools that, together, super-charged my knowledge. First of all the information was provided in spectacular fashion by the internet: type in a subject and get hundreds of authors exploring every aspect of that subject. Amazing, to my mind the crowning achievement of Western civilization.

But that information is useless if I'm not able to process it well. Fortunately I had a tool for that too: Marijuana. Now I know it gets a lot of press for making people ditzy and forgetful but I think that is a different type of intelligence at work: practical, physical intelligence. People are also reknown for getting very "deep" whilst smoking. I found it hugely increased my capacity for thought. I was able to absord information at a crazy rate and now I feel I don't need to use it to access, or at least closely imitate, that state.

So by combining the technology of the West with the 'primitive' idea of a plant raising my consciousness level I had great success! (I also put a lot of time and energy into it which was important)

The problem in the West on a social scale is that we are unable to attain knowledge due to an imbalance: we rate information much higher than the ability to process it and the result is lots of misunderstood information: faulty knowledge. We are not taught philosophy in school, the tools of correct thought. Instead we are shovelled information and so long as we reproduce it on a piece of paper in an exam then that's enough. So we find ourselves in a situation where the average westerner has access to huge amounts of information but lacks the skills (and even the desire) to get the most out of it or, even worse, they mis-interpret the information and develop false-knowledge. Our fundamental metaphysic as a culture is an example of this imbalance. Our science is strong but because we lack the tools to adequately process the information it produces, materialism results (extending to consumerism at the level of the general populace).

Sadly our leaders do not seem to worry about this. In fact, if anything, they wish to perpetuate it. People are forced through the laws of economics to work incredible amounts so when they get home even the processing skills they do have are exhausted: they barely have enough energy to watch tv, never mind research and explore on the internet. The media, also, encourages lazy thought and distorted information cannot be seen through by a populace lacking sharpened critical faculties. And to top it all, the 'mind expanding' drugs that would greatly help are made illegal! Many aspects of our society do not encourage mental growth at all.

So I don't think we (as a society and culture) are as smart as we think we are because a lot of our (false) knowledge is actually inadequately processed information, but there is plenty of room for optimism. There is potential for unprecedented levels of knowledge on a scale never before seen. As knowledge is part of intelligence, a more knowledgable society is a more intelligent society, and a more intelligent way of life is the result. Of course there are many other aspects of intelligence (creative, emotional, physical etc) but as we are such an information-heavy society addressing our knowledge problems is vital.

[Lucretia88]

Hmm... wonder how they made the pyramids...

Cool thought:

If in a 1000 years ahead of us, somebody made time travel
possible, and travelled back once to buildt the pyramids,
is it right that we see the pyramids? or is it only AFTER
they have travelled that the pyramids are there?


I know, sounds stupid... Alot you can't explain, better though..

They say smarter people get more suicidal thoughts than anyone else...

[hooyaah]

what If somebody went back in time with some medicin and walk-on-water shoes and called himself Jesus?

Thats what I think