IQ tests are getting criticized more and more. A team of researchers from Western University in Canada led a study in 2012 of more than 100 000 subjects from around the world which questions the very existence of the construct of intelligence (Hampshire & al.). Still, this idea of a single, general, unitary intelligence persists. Indeed, I myself thought, about five years ago, that I was not intelligent. I mean, I was not the worst student in my class, but I was far from the best. I saw no hope, really, in my future career, and I felt disappointed by what life would offer me.
Around the fourth year of my high school, I failed my math course. I couldn't really think properly at that time. I didn't have the “flow,” if you know what I mean. My mind was slow and heavy and it was hard to reason; everything seemed so difficult, so complicated. Everything took me time…so much time that I often gave up my task not to look like a fool. “This is not for me!” was my mantra. Hence, my seemingly nonexistent abilities pointed directly to my sense of purpose.
If I have potential for nothing, then why am I here?
I was, in a sense, a prisoner of my own head, of my own mind. It is him, this other “me,” this autonomous entity that thought and acted for me, that was responsible for this state. He made me believe he was me, though, and that’s why I couldn't see him. What a Machiavellian being he is! Indeed, how to best hide yourself than making the other believe you are him? As ironic as it may sound, my mind kept me from seeing and thinking clearly or properly, and consequently, from succeeding at school. I did pass my math course in the end, even though I had to take a summer course. Meanwhile, because of a combination of weird synchronicities that would be too long to explain here, I started to develop a sense that everything was connected; it opened a world of possibilities, and it gave me all the strength I needed to give my 100% in life. This process furthermore taught me about the workings of the mind, that is, how thoughts directly influence our mood and clarity of mind.
After months of effort, I achieved what would be the beginning of all my success: mastering my mind (well, to some extent!). Every time a negative thought appeared, I replaced it with a positive one. With time, I was able to do the transposition faster and faster, until I could “intercept” a negative thought before it was born! More precisely, as soon as I was feeling negativity as a sensation—i.e., before that negativity took the form of words—I would shift my attention to the present (e.g., my breath) or to a positive thought. I could then filter all thoughts that I considered helpful or unhelpful. I was thus free! Free from myself (but, was it really myself?). Free to lead my life how I wanted to (and not how my uncontrollable thoughts wanted to). I felt my mind was now unlocked. It was fast, efficient and surprisingly intuitive. I thus continued on this high for all of my secondary 5 and later on and had excellent grades. Although I never actually passed an IQ test, IQ is correlated with academic success, and success is what I achieved. Not only has it allowed me to expand on the academic level, but I also developed on the physical, social, mental, and existential levels. Everything seemed to be too good to be true. And, honestly, it has been pretty stable since. So, after all, I didn't get a mathematics career or become a “genius”, but still, I am now at McGill in psychology, have a respectable GPA, and am able to use statistics—at least for my psychological tests course—all of which I could not imagine doing some five years ago. That’s why I say I became intelligent. But wait, didn't we say intelligence didn't exist by itself? Well, whatever the numbers, on the practical level, my life was improved. And even though Hampshire et al. (2012) dissected intelligence as short-term memory, reasoning, and verbal aptitude, all of them were radically improved following my “transformation.” Indeed, in contrast to my “old me,” I now remember things better, reason easier, and the right words often come to mind naturally and effortlessly.
Unfortunately, I will never be able to confirm this hypothesis “scientifically,” as I did not pass a standardized IQ test at the time. I still wonder, like The Lost Cause, if that would have been a good thing though. How would my life have been affected by my result, had I done the test? Would my destiny be fixed? Would I have lost any hope of improving, and thus, any motivation to train harder? Would I have exploited all of my potential? This, I cannot answer, but there is one thing I am sure of: had I have taken an IQ test in my “heavy mind” phase, I would have “failed” it. Hence, I would be stuck with the corresponding belief: low IQ, under the mean, poor intelligence. On the one hand, it would be a false belief. But on the other hand, I wouldn't know it. And, as I briefly suggested previously, the functioning of the mind does not make the difference between truth and belief; it only follows your instructions (your thoughts).
So, in the end, for whom is this really useful? Even for someone who is in the 98th percentile, it may not be at all positive. Nor would it be auspicious for developing one’s potential. Smarti’s story, though anecdotal, relates one example of how IQ tests may impact your life:
“At the end of the day, I do not know whether being called gifted worked in my favour, or put me at a disadvantage, but I can definitely say that it had all kinds of unintended consequences on my identity, motivation, and performance.”
All things considered, what approach to intelligence should we adopt? Danah Zohar, a thought leader, physicist, philosopher and author, elaborated a new interesting form of intelligence: spiritual intelligence. For me, this form of intelligence is the most important one because it works in synergy with the other forms of intelligence, allowing them to flourish. In addition, it is centered on the blossoming and self-realization of individuals, an important clarification. To measure this intelligence, Cindy Wigglesworth has created and successfully tested the SQ21 Spiritual Intelligence self-assessment for validity. Examples of the 21 skills that the test measures include courage, wisdom, authenticity, compassion and peacefulness. For me, the light is green: we can start using this test, on the condition that we do not fall into the same traps as for the IQ tests. At last, it is my hope that, by following this path, other people may have their mind and spirit liberated like I have.
