Why Intelligence Isn’t the Only Thing That Matters
And how to use your intuition to guide every decision-making process.
Intelligence is commonly defined as “capacity for logic”, “skilled use of reason”, or “cognitive ability”. This is a useful trait when it comes to making sense of the world, people, and businesses. Ever since the age of enlightenment, rational logical thinking has given birth to science, technology, doing away with medieval superstitions and shaping the world as we see it today.
While there is no denying how much of a gift intelligence is — it has inherent limitations. Being overly reliant on purely logical thoughts reduces access to other faculties, restricting our true potential.
Narrative Fallacy
Intelligence helps link various data points into a cohesive logical story. The human mind makes sense of the world and phenomena around it through these clear narratives.
However, often events are arbitrary with no rational explanation. Since the brain is conditioned to process logical information, it force-fits all facts into a clear logical flow, even if one does not exist.
This act of “forcing a link between a sequence of facts” is referred to as narrative fallacy by Nassim Taleb in his book The Black Swan. This happens because the mind has limitations and cannot process and store the huge amounts of raw information it is constantly receiving. So it finds a shortcut by connecting various unlinked data points to create a story that is easy to digest, store and recall when needed.
This feature of the mind is automatic, always active at work and play. If a friend does not smile at us, we think we’ve done something wrong or she is having a bad day. We do not put this down as a random act with no explanation.
At work, some of us connect unrelated data points to push forward a conclusion that sounds convincing, often coming back to the same data points for a completely different conclusion.
The implication is that clear, logical and rational explanations do not necessarily represent reality. If our decision making is only based on logic, we may not be making the best decisions.
Neuroscience
Furthermore, neuroscientists have discovered that logic does play a role in decision making. Instead, it’s used to make sense of the decisions we choose.
In a series of experiments measuring activity in the brain via fMRI studies (which changes in blood flow), neuroscientists have concluded that when a brain receives a stimulus, it responds first and then, after a few seconds, creates a logical sounding explanation.
The left hemisphere of the brain is the storyteller. In some interesting (and naughty) “split-brain” studies, the right hemisphere of a person’s brain is exposed to nude images, which leads to an embarrassing laugh. When asked to explain the laugh, the left hemisphere, not yet aware of the right brain’s processing of the nude images, makes up a story (because your face is funny) to explain the laughter.
So when we spend days and nights thinking about which job offer to accept, we are, in essence, thinking of a story to convince ourselves of a decision we’ve already made. Isn’t that mindblowing?
This counter-intuitive model of the brain implies that decisions are made independent of rational explanation. We need these explanations to justify decisions to ourselves, friends and families.
Beyond Intelligence
Something beyond intelligence naturally guides us. This could be intuition, inner wisdom, our subconscious and/or our emotions. In being over-reliant on intelligence and logical stories, we tend to ignore these critical faculties.
In everyday life, most of us have accidentally experienced this wisdom first-hand. Sometimes during a quiet beach holiday, we have an epiphany in the form of a deep conviction that leaves us with no doubt on what we need to do next, unleashing energy greater than any intellectual realisation.
Tony Robbins and other coaches have spoken about this transformation being a flip of a switch versus a structured, drawn-out awakening. As we undertake significant changes in our life, access to this switch can ignite belief in our cause and move us forward.
In major life-defining moments like healing from a tragedy, understanding our life purpose, finding meaning in life, etc, this faculty is even more useful. The deeper the topic, the less relevant linear thought. It’s our inner wisdom that can help “find one’s calling” or “make one’s peace”.
Accessing Inner Wisdom
Given the hustle and bustle of city living and life on earth in general, accessing this inner wisdom or consciousness isn’t easy. We need to be deliberate, making a conscious effort to pause and create space. Experiences like quiet holidays, me-time, meditation, being with nature, sitting alone in a coffee shop, and even a run can help.
These, incorporated into our weekly/monthly/annual routines, should be approached without any agenda or expectations.
When we have a breakthrough, we should try not to use words to explain it to ourselves and others — it will lose its essence. Instead, we should have the confidence to follow this wisdom without the need for approval.
As we approach the end of the year, it’s a great time to start practising self intimacy and introspection. We can surrender ourselves into this space of discovery to see what emerges.
Apart from intelligence, we have been gifted with multiple faculties. By becoming aware and more in touch with these, we can use them whenever appropriate.
Living a life that utilises our entire suite of superpowers will enable us to live a purpose-driven life unleashing our full potential.
