Everybody Is Intelligent, No Exceptions
It’s no secret that higher education gatekeeps the future and financial burdens of its students. We can see this through the demands of millennials which are growing out of sync with the traditional expectations of education as we inch further into the digital age. Higher education is an interesting yet arbitrary world full of tough but unnecessary obstacles
Many universities prioritize reputation and having a degree on paper instead of the accumulation of self-growth, learning, and honing the skills of their students to better adapt to post-graduate life.
I cannot speak for others but those who graduate with a computer science degree often feel unequipped with the necessary skills to find a job. As stated in this amazing outline of 95 problems with education, there is a problem with students obtaining the degree without the education vs. obtaining the education without the degree. Which would you prefer?
This dilemma causes many students to doubt their own intelligence or potential. If this had not been true, imposter syndrome would not be so rampant among much of us and pushing so many of us back.
For those unfamiliar, impostor syndrome is a complex where a person feels that they are not truly an expert in their field and that they’re a “fraud” who would be “outed” sooner or later. In that sense, the person doesn’t see themselves as legitimate in their success or anything they do.
In my experience, friends of mine — and myself included — have experienced impostor syndrome as computer science students where we consistently felt insufficient and deemed ourselves “fake coders.” If we had only 2 months of programming experience under our belt, then why should we ever cooperate with those who have been programming since they were 9? It took a while until I realized that comparing yourself — a newbie — to the level of more experienced people, gives you a false sense of stagnancy and does not allow room for growth.
But what if I told you that impostor syndrome is fake, and your mind has crafted that self-degrading complex in response to a demanding society? It took me a while to learn that impostor syndrome and your level of intelligence are both mutually exclusive.
Impostor syndrome comes as a result of the now rather than the could be.
What does it mean, then, to call ourselves “intelligent?”
In today’s society, intelligent people are painted as extraordinary people whether they be prodigies, influencers, or charismatic public speakers among others. This, to me, is a patronizing and inaccurate way to categorize people as the “intellectually superior” over the “intellectually inferior.”
All over again, it is the categorization of people based on their perceived worth—a practice too innately human that I’m wholly against.
But what if you did not have to be exceptional to be intelligent? What if, by nature of being human, your nature and unlimited potential alone equip you with the tools to unlock your highest potential of “intelligence?”
The dictionary defines intelligence as: “the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying reasons.”
In my definition, intelligence encompasses having a certain passion, social + emotional awareness, and degree of reaching self-actualization. And that definition of self-actualization is yours alone to define — a vision of your future self which grants you the maximum amount of happiness and purpose.
If somebody’s definition of happiness means being a painter over an engineer, then they are fully intelligent in their own right. (Yes I’m looking at you, fellow condescending STEM people!)
In my view of humanity, everybody is intelligent — and I’m not sorry when I say there are no exceptions.
Within everybody lies untapped potential. The degree to which the person has self-actualized to unlock their potential determines how far they have reached in honing themselves to become the best version of themselves.
Every human being is a complex organism far beyond our own comprehension, and the generation of thoughts in our own brains comes with the rapid firing of neurons and intricate communications between neurological systems.
If you are reading this text, it means you have learned to read at some point in your life, and simultaneously you may have put conscious effort to learn the English language. If you can scan this text with your eyes as you scroll down this article to read, your visual receptors are attaining and retaining information which is translated into familiar concepts, thus giving a sense of comprehension. In addition, you’re unconsciously batting your eyes to scan this article from left to right, up to down, and if you’re holding a phone, you may be passively watching your thumb scroll. You and you alone are performing all of these intricate mechanisms at the same time for the simple task of reading an article.
We have learned all of those movements from such an early age that we just do them without thinking. By that definition alone, then, you are intelligent — because you have learned, internalized, and utilized what you learned.
Just as we learned to walk as toddlers, “intelligent” people are simply people who were passionate enough to master their skills to the point that most of them have already become unconscious. Therefore, just because you mastered the skill of reading to the point that you cruise over words and letters without much effort, you are already intelligent.
If we can learn and replicate what we learned unconsciously, then who says you cannot do the same with your desired knowledge and skills?
It doesn’t matter what your goals are ambitions are, it matters how you are self-actualizing to achieve them. And that alone defines the kind of overall intelligence you have.
Who says that a charismatic speaker or singer can’t struggle with social anxiety that they worked to overcome? Why can’t a quiet introvert be a leader, even when your level of extraversion and leadership abilities aren’t mutually exclusive? Who says that you, when equipped with the same amount of passion, ambition, and thirst for action, cannot also be intelligent and thus become the best version of yourself?
I have the strong opinion that nobody on Earth is stupid. Everybody on earth has unimaginable potentials for the goals and visions they set for themselves in their lives — and I don’t care who you are or where you come from.
Of course, there are people who severely lack some critical thinking skills, people who have never been pushed to question what they were taught their entire lives, and those who make huge and irresponsible decisions. But all these people have 1 thing in common: they come as a result of not being encouraged to challenge and confront themselves. These mishaps, whether they’re a result of the person by nature or nurture, still come as a direct result of the failure to put your future perspectives in an objective way that isn’t anxiety-inducing or ego-crushing.
Self-confidence is the key to unlocking your fullest potential. A lack of self-confidence detracts you from a clear overview of who you are and acts as the ultimate barrier between you and the path to self-actualization. I know that “increasing self-confidence” may seem too abstract, but I kickstarted my own path by directly confronting my insecurities and finding more ways to be productive in my own time.
One fundamental thing I have learned is that, as paradoxical as it may seem, building self-confidence can be one of the most ego-crushing things you can ever do, and that is because you’re forced to confront yourself and answer scary questions you never posed for yourself in the past. But crushing your own ego is also one of the most rewarding things you can do for yourself since it’s a muscle that you need to destroy in order for it to regenerate even stronger.
Oh and don’t forget — having a big ego isn’t the same thing as having a healthy ego.
Everyone’s brain works differently, and it is up to nobody to dictate whether a person’s synonymity with the conventional standards of intelligence is “correct.” Intelligence is a skill you can develop, and not something that only special people are innately born with.
And it does not matter who you are or where you come from.
Everybody Is Intelligent, No Exceptions
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