In modern history, human Intelligence started to get ranked through the I.Q., or Intelligence Quotient, around the early 1900’s. At that time, science was interested in how to measure/test for I.Q.s, what caused higher I.Q.s and could higher I.Q.s be stimulated in children and other test subjects. Here is the early Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of I.Q.
A great deal of heads were literally opened up back in those days (upon their demise!) to examine the brain to look for clues as to where higher intelligence could be found. Shockingly, the brains were not much different from people with "ordinary intelligence." They never found a clue!
Much research was conducted into how to stimulate the brain’s development and lots of progress has been made. Too much to be listed, but everything thing from water births (significantly less compression on the brain!) to introducing multiple languages, music, swim and dance to very young babies are easy to see examples.
Decades later, through Sociological, Psychological studies and general societal advancement, the E.Q. or Emotional Quotient evolved (Wikipedia says… "Refers to the ability to perceive, control, and evaluate emotions. Some researchers suggest that emotional intelligence can be learned...") and was generally considered a break-though as it addressed the very need for emotional intelligence, things that leaders, educators, therapists, etc. found immensely helpful. Out of the E.Q. Movement, lots of emotional connections were formed and the notion of following your bliss, listening to your heart became main stream.
Perhaps most importantly, though, was the emergence of teachers of E.Q. as this was a series of skills that could be taught, practiced and applied for more successful relationships. Couples counsellors thrived, and communication skills were generally upgraded to acknowledge the other person’s point of view, from business board rooms to bedrooms. Yes, I am generalizing here, and yet it is obvious that things changed from the 1960’s to the 2000’s in exactly the way I am mentioning.
This is not to say that things weren’t getting worse on many levels, they were, and continued to.
At the time that I am writing this, fall of 2022, we find our humanity in a level of devolution and self-destruction in spite of these so-called advancements in human intelligence. Logically, we must deduce that how we measure, test for, acknowledge and teach intelligence is way off-course!
Even coupling I.Q. with E.Q. (which we have been doing since the 1990’s) is still generating a modern culture of chaos and destruction, from economies of entire countries to pandemics of chronic illnesses and obesity, etc. So we have to question the very essence of what we think intelligence actually is and what it isn’t. Because, as they say, something is very rotten in the state of Denmark (Hamlet quote) and we need to collectively decide that the jig is up. The readout is what is happening to humanity and it is decidedly unintelligent in many fundamental ways.
But first we must have a better filter for what is intelligence, what does it look like, feel like etc. and what IS A DECENT DEFINITION of intelligence, as I.Q. and E.Q. were simply building blocks along the way, not the final platform for advancing consciousness.
Here is the Miriam-Webster definition of Intelligence
What we can see here is that we may be defining it in an OK way, but the real challenge becomes APPLYING intelligence on-the-go, in each moment, and that is where we fail. We buy into the cultural notion that "Under stress we regress," instead of the actual laws of Life which say, "Under stress you must progress or start to perish." Yes, it is true! Life has to evolve under stress. All of us had to evolve under certain stresses, or we wouldn’t have even survived our births. So why are we still buying into the con?
In Nature, it is quite basic: either the being survives the challenge/crisis or is eaten, killed etc. If it survives, it has a new adaptability for its future. A Human being, however, particularly adults, can survive something and NOT grow from it, not actually manifest the lessons learned. If their perspective doesn’t allow for a higher order interpretation, they will simply keep repeating patterns until death.
An example of this is how easily in this culture we place blame on others, and fail to see our part in how we manifest something or we co-manifested something. Here is a quick story of mine: years ago, I was part of a team launching a very large Holistic Health Clinic in Austin, Texas. At that time, I was a newly separated single doctor Mom, under enormous pressure on every imaginable level. I was driving in my car to a meeting about our launch, and noticed that I was running 3-5 minutes late. I felt a little guilty and anxious about that, and as I approached an intersection where I had the right of way, a car approaching from the left slowed down to honor their Stop sign (I was not speeding!). What I didn’t notice, because my mind was racing about being late and how stressed I was, was that he didn’t actually stop; he slowed and accelerated right into me! It was a major collision.
After the wreck was cleared and I checked out OK by the paramedics, a cop drove me home as my SUV was totaled. On the way home, it all came to me: this happened because I was anxious and fearful, and I would have to forgive myself for that mindset. It was a lesson that would take years to complete, primarily because I had not met my brain training teacher so everything took a lot longer to work through! (Click Here, for more information on Brain Training)
Not that the other driver wasn’t breaking a law, he was, and was found guilty of that in a court of law. However, his guilt did not alleviate me from my responsibility of my MIND SET. This had been me, under stress and REGRESSED. A focused Jessie would have been able to avoid the incident or at least maneuver better than I had. I say this as a former downhill skier, a small craft sailboat competitive racer, an athlete with gymnastics skills etc. We know when our mind set is off. We know when we are in the Zone. We KNOW that drops in focus and/or energy will ruin our race or create potential injuries! The question is, how do we stay in the Zone?
How many of you would have had the mental edge to see what I am talking about? You see, my story underlies how HIDDEN the Actualization Quotient might be. The obvious I.Q./E.Q. interpretations would be very different from the one I walked away with. They would include, ""Poor me," and "What a jerk that guy was," etc. But how would this foster more aliveness? It would not. It would simply reinforce "Victim consciousness," a real death sentence over time.
The A.Q. interpretation says, "Hmmm, this happened for a reason and that reason is for my personal growth, my character development."
In other words, I ACTUALIZED (manifested) that accident so I could wake up further, and take more responsibility for my state of mind.
Fortunately, a couple of years after that, I met a master of human potential and character development, which really helped.