07.+What+is+Intelligence+(February+2006) - Get a Free Blog

What is Intelligence? 119
And now we are going to give a detailed answer, not on a rational level,
but on the level of emotion, of psychology.
Few or none of us are truly rational beings. To be wholly rational like the
fictional Mr Spock was supposed to be, but repeatedly showed he was
not, is not likely humanely possible.
We have emotions, instincts, passions, and no known human being has
ever demonstrated the lack of these.
Certain beings like Buddha or Christ have apparently had these emotions
and passions wholly under control, but they are so long ago in history or
so rare, they do not come into this discussion.
The real truth is that if a great enough tragedy happens – for some people
it could even be that their share portfolio crashes – we all end up in tears.
If an exciting and attractive enough member of the opposite sex shows us
their favour, we all respond to that with delight and in some cases
passion.
None of us are so different in these emotional and instinctive responses.
But where we do differ is the degree of care, attention and love that is
either showered on us or not so in our formative years.
We have already mentioned that there are two principle types of beings in
society, the givers, the provider or love, and the takers, the ungrateful
stealers of the goodness and generosity of others.
Of course, these are poles, and most of us are somewhere in the middle,
but the takers at this point in human existence seem to be swamping
mercilessly the diminishing supply of givers remaining.
We could quote (roughly) the New Testament if we wished and say:
“the world will grow smaller and more wicked, and men’s love will grow
cold.”
And whether that passage was really spoken by a man who walked on
water or not, or whether it was meant to be applied to a future time such
as now, we do not particularly care, but it seems to be descriptive of a
stage of human development, of a time like now.