Intelligence

Intelligence – A Conceptual Deep Dive

In this post we’ll deep dive into the concept of intelligence and unpack exactly what intelligence is, why it is a key component of success in life and more.

What Is Intelligence?

Your brain is ultimately designed to keep you alive so it’s constantly creating associations about what leads to pain and what leads to pleasure so it can better predict the future and better enhance your survival. These associations become beliefs which form your Model Of The World ― a mental map of how reality operates.

However, these beliefs are based on subjective reality (opinions) rather than objective reality (facts). In other words, they are based on how we think the world is rather than how the world actually is.

Thus, intelligence is the ability to refine your beliefs as a result of new information so that they align with the truth of how reality operates, moving you from ignorance to knowledge. Hence the maxim “Seek truth.”

More simply, intelligence is the ability to adapt by solving problems.

“Intelligence is the ability to autocorrect.” ― Jeff Booth

A Key Component Of Success

Success, ultimately, is about doing more of what works and less of what doesn’t.

Therefore, in a world of constant change, the more accurately your beliefs reflect reality, the more effectively you can navigate it, allowing you to optimise your success of a specific outcome by doing more of the things that work and less of the things that don’t. After all, success loves speed.

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” ― Albert Einstein

Summary (TL;DR)

Intelligence is the ability to refine your beliefs so that they align with objective reality as opposed to subjective reality, ultimately moving you from ignorance to knowledge.

In order to achieve any outcome in life, you need to be able to do what works. Thus, intelligence is critical to optimising success because the more accurately your beliefs reflect reality, the more effectively you can navigate it.

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