intelligence—ARROGANT FOOLISHNESS

This will bruise your ego.

But, for good cause.

Intelligence can be detrimental. A fruitful tree of over-estimation and complex phenomenon of arrogance and foolishness. Where, the brilliance of your mind traps you in an endless loop of overlooked opportunities and sabotaging systems. Of course, explainable. Because, intelligence arrogantly presents well-decorated narratives of falsehood—explaining away the criticality of an idea with the creativity of what seems like insight but isn’t.

My presentation in this essay publication thus, is to examine intelligence as arrogant foolishness, it’s complexity and systems for reverse-engineering. Because, intelligent people tend to fail more stupidly and achieve lesser than others. It’s a glorifying curse and a complex evil that needs pest control.

Which is the goal of this essay.

Nothing stops an intelligent mind like it’s intelligence. The ability to move beyond yourself, master your ego and show up in a way that is usable, right now for the now-future is a skill every smart person must master.

Intelligence isn’t supposed to be a curse, but is and shows up in 3 different ways;

Articulation 

Ever been bogged down by fear, confusion or anxiety yet rather than admitting this to be the case, you intelligently articulate your situation in a way that it makes sense, projects you as smart but causes you to set up your own gallows of failure? Yeah, that’s intelligent articulation.

You can be so keen in intelligent articulation that you stay fixated on a path. Philosophically, you may seem to make progress because of the lie you tell yourself via articulation but fail to make any tangible progress because theory that isn’t usable is futile.

You can’t see the picture when you’re in the frame. Hence, your ability to articulate your situation or give perspective to an idea intelligently may go un-noticed. It could be the ego shielding you from imagined harm, defending your identity.

The ego is the constructed self formed through prejudices and confirmed biases. It’s your sense of self-identity, self-importance, and self-esteem. It’s the part of your mind that “thinks you’re a snack” in a way that can be detrimental due to its fragility in identity framing.

In intelligent articulation, the ego overcompensates with false confidence and a sense of governance and immutability over ideas and perceptions. This is largely unconscious and may not be seen as as such due to the consistency at which you have embodied this trait. It becomes a scheme for self-preservation.

Hence, making you negligible to change. Where, any conversation or idea that seems to give you alternate perspective or guidance for execution seems like an insult to your true worth. Where, you begin to erroneously believe that what you seek to create in this world is such an impossibility, deeming yourself special and suggesting an escape from execution because to you, nobody can get it like you.

Of course, that’s a relevant debate —especially in a world that is set up for sameness. The question though is, are you simply clouding your confusion, fear of being fallible (going beneath the established ego), and the lack of knowledge of what step to take with intelligent articulation?

You should think about that. Make it a journal entry.

Detour

If you almost find yourself in a space of waiting, it’s not smart —it could be an intelligent detour. Where, you compensate for your lack of direction and inaction by making a posture that massages the ego, making you feel smart and important.

The detour is a point where the intelligent mind seeks to sit at a junction of transition, oblivious of what steps to take and knee-deep in scrutiny, thus, causing him to take a detour - usually as a coy for wisdom when infact, the reality is a nagging need for a blueprint.

Seasons of waiting, obscurity and all of these things are great and necessary for the human experience so, it becomes a safe space for the seeming intelligent. Where, these seasons and postures seem awe-inspiring to others but is easily a beautifully decorated comfort zone with diverse excuses and reasons (smart ones!) to keep you in the zone.

Failing to realize the importance of engagement as a tool for discovery and mastery because growth happens with the double edged sword of silent obscurity and bold emergence. Not one or the other but one AND the other.

Easily using a detour as the card for growth is arrogant and foolish. Now, the key word here is “easily” because detours are necessary but can become your comfort zone. And, the infrastructure of life is engineered for those who are skilled at living on the edge –building resistance + endurance and putting themselves under the pressure of growth. To see and to seize.

When detours become your escape from reality into the solace of knowledge acquisition and familiarity, it rapidly becomes an excuse for movement. Where, you seem to always be waiting for something or seeking something more.

Which is great, in fact.

But, is it?

You won’t find wisdom in fighting this idea but in paying attention to your patterns and determining for yourself if detours have been an escape for you.

You won’t get this answer from asking yourself once or even twice because, hello ego?

So, enquire..

Pay attention..

Investigate..

You’ve got the blueprint. Do not intelligently escape your redemption.

Is your constant desire for detours an assertion of superiority? A desire to prove your worth and showcase perceived arrogance? Think about it.

Now, is that desire wise or foolish?

Indecisiveness 

Or should I call it –the curse of intelligence? Analysis paralysis is a thing stemmed from depth of insight of nuanced perspective thus, stalling decision-making process. Indecisiveness is to be undecided; to stand at the brink of your next, unable to make any move because of the possibility of consequences for every likely move.

Indecisiveness is expressed in two ways; analysis & avoidance.

Analysis is poking at every likely action and weighing it’s possible outcomes which can then make you stuck within the process of decision-making. Where, analysis becomes paralysis. Too many options, diverse outcomes and even more varying consequence.

This is why confusion is never a statement of no-knowledge but the reality of too much knowledge creating multiple options. Only intelligent people get confused because you cannot be confused if you are not seeking to make a decision between more than one option. It’s different when you have no option and feel formless because, in this state, what is required is a renaissance not clarity. Clarity is simply playing a game of trade-offs with the center piece as congruence.

Hence, analysis happens when you are very well aware of the various options available as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each option. Usually, it becomes paralyzing when you are emotionally invested in either an option, your ego or a bias. This is a constant struggle for multi-potentialites and ardent learners. They establish comfort in indecisiveness because it saves them the trouble of choice.

More like, the devil you know is better than the Angel you don’t, yea?

Now, that’s arrogant & foolish.

It is assuming that without decision you have autonomy when you don’t.

Avoidance happens when rather than analyzing to reach the most probable option, you avoid the conversation altogether.

It’s like a girl in a relationship spanning years wondering when her man would bend the knee. He never does and rather than enquiring to know whether the ship is sinking, she goes with the flow and avoids the conversation completely. You know how that ends? Of course you do..

Avoidance creates a web of missed opportunities, mediocrity & unnecessary fatigue that may resemble inflection points.

The unfairness of life is such that the world never belongs to the brilliant but to the bold. Everyone you celebrate, no matter how outstanding aren’t the best in their fields. Rather, they are the BOLD who through wise decision and willful execution showcase their brilliance to the world.

30 under 30, Forbes? Of course, that’s a list profiling the bold not the brilliant.

The brilliant tend to overanalyse so much that they underachieve.

Do you know what’s even more dark? The intelligent mind has the ability to still articulate intelligent excuses, creating a box for themselves that establishes their ego by curating narratives that are self-serving and idolatrous to their ego. They make accolades of no repute not because it is a way to consolidate their ego.

Which do you find yourself doing more? Intelligent articulation, detours or indecisiveness?

Intelligence ≠ Infallibility

Regardless of how much you know, you’d experience setbacks. Hence, it’s essential you reckon that intelligence does not equal infallibility. Your brilliance cannot shield you from the necessity of your humanity. With intelligence, you’d mitigate avoidable errors but, there’s a huge difference between the world in your mind and the world that actually exists. So, you’d have to get over yourself and go beyond established ego.

When you lead trying to mitigate risk, get it all right and show up without blemish, you end up under-achieving, if you achieve at all.

You are fallible.

It’s normal.

It’s necessary.

How to reverse-engineer foolish failures;

The anecdote “the cobra effect” was one that piqued my interest. It dates back to the British colonial administration in India in the 19th century. Cobras were on the rise and loose, wrecking havoc. Hence, the government decided to give incentives to anyone who could kill a cobra. More like, for any cobra you kill, there is a fee attached.

This seemed like a brilliant idea to curb the spread of Cobras and it looked like it was working, but something interesting happened. People began to breed Cobras to receive the incentive. It became a full-blown business for a number of citizens.

The government found out about this because rather than decreasing the population of the cobras, it was increased. So they discontinued the reward system. The cobra breeders then had to release their cobras because they had now become worthless. Thus, exacerbating the problem.

The idea of the Cobra effect was to emphasize how well intentioned objectives could create unintended consequences.

The “how” of decision making is to get over yourself, be reasonable and objective, evaluating all possible occurrences and outcomes of various options then choosing the option with an outcome you can live with.

I would have said “just start” or “just decide” but, that would be robbing Peter to pay Paul. It would still breed new levers of foolishness hence, to reverse-engineer foolish failures, you must;

1. Identify your options or create them

2. Understand the consequence (worst case & best case scenarios)

3. Make a decision to execute

4. Always match theory with practice.

5. Fail as quickly as possible

6. Do the “ego work”.

7. Show up at the tables you can illuminate your intelligence.

Listen, it’s not enough to be brilliant; go BOLD.

Ensure your intelligence isn’t arrogant and foolish.

Remember, in a world where you can be anything..

Be Genius.

- Faith Ohio

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