Intelligent leads to arrogance, consciousness is the path to humility

 Consciousness, so fundamental and close to us, yet out of reach at the same time, an abstract abomination with no head or tail, no substance but great weight. Some define it as perception, some as awareness, maybe it's the fine line between both, maybe it's neither. What we can agree on is that consciousness is an entity that’s beyond our physical body. If consciousness is such an entity, we can assume that micro-entities exist within this one mega-entity of the conscious mind. Our thoughts and feelings are equivalent to these micro-entities. Certain fields like the Noetic sciences believe that there exists a cosmic consciousness shared by all humans which forms the basis of our intuition and instincts. Since we as a population have grown too large and overwhelming, this ability of collective thought has been lost.

IQ or intelligence quotient is a certain aspect of our consciousness, a micro-entity if you will. IQ is the result of the human need to be able to measure and quantify anything and everything. In this case, it's the intelligence we’re trying to mold into measurement systems. But even IQ can act as proof of consciousness and collective consciousness based on its heritability and on the Flynn effect which tells us that the average human IQ has been rising since the early 20th century.

Though a figment of consciousness, the way we perceive intelligence has some major differences with philosophical and psychological definitions of the former. Intelligence is a restrained quality, easily understood, defined, and quantified. It is more in tune with our materialistic world whereas consciousness pertains to the spiritual realm. The IQ of a person can be affected by the environment around them and their upbringing but the actual intelligence is of that particular individual only. Consciousness is distinguishable from a person’s behavior and level of understanding though it does govern them. Intelligence is easily compartmentalised and categorized into different types and levels which is not possible with consciousness. When it comes to consciousness, it is either present or not. Thus, it has a dual nature with only two possible outcomes.

“What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so.” ― Mark Twain

Many may argue with and deny this next statement but intelligence is the way to arrogance, consciousness is the path to humility. Intelligence or IQ or logic per say makes us declare everything as absolute in nature. That’s where the arrogance comes in. Our consciousness rather makes us believe in abstracts and undefined concepts where there is no right or wrong or total. It is like the ‘perfection in imperfections’ idea. If we consider the conscious state to be an elevation from the level we normally are at, there is no concrete evidence to support or discard the theories we have about this higher level of the mind. From history, we can conclude that this higher stratum of the mind exists as was seen in Buddha and several other sages from the Indian subcontinent. Many are of the opinion that this state can be achieved by meditation and penance. IQ isn’t a state or disposition one can shift to. Someone with a high IQ will most certainly always maintain that level of IQ. There are several quizzes and mind exercises one can do to even increase their IQ.

Unlike IQ, consciousness may never be fully understood. Maybe the knowledge we seek has been long lost and forgotten with the coming of new ages or we are too blind to notice it right in front of us. It is debatable whether that loss of information is detrimental or not but this article hopes the reader will ponder on the differences discussed and arrive at their own theories. The only way to conclude and summaries is by accepting that the intelligence quotient limits us while consciousness liberates us.