I am totally shocked.
I have written so far thirty six praises and just realized , this very minute, that one of the most important of them all is not in that list.
I am talking about INTELLIGENCE.
Let's tackle that difficult subject.

I say difficult because I realize how hard it will be for me to think, speak, write about this subject. For, to me to do so, one must have some maturity of mind.
And this may be the reason I hesitated writing about intelligence, not being so sure I have enough of it.

Whereas some people may think of me as being intelligent, I for one , insist not being so, for if I were, maybe my life would be different. And what is intelligence if not the ability to understand, to discover relationships between facts and things. I am referring to this attitude to understand easily, to act with discernment.

And sadly, when we see how our governments act at times, we wonder if they are guided by these norms. For we all agree that we have several problems and are unable to fix them. Who else than Bertrand Russell to remind us that you cannot be intelligent merely by choosing your opinions. The intelligent man Is not the man who holds such and such views but he man who has sound reasons for what he believes and yet does not believe it dogmatically .

Who won't agree that intelligence is the ability to solve problems? What we call intelligence is the result of education, opportunity and experience.
John Kennedy used a famous saying at a dinner in the White House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. His statement was:
´´This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson died alone ´´

Yuval Harari raised a novel question : Which of the two is more important, intelligence or consciousness ? It appears that the answer is straightforward:
Intelligence is mandatory while consciousness is optional.

Darwin did demonstrate that intelligent life can evolve on this planet, that it is not a speculative possibility. We find ourselves joined a cross the distance if stars, traveling this long journey of time. Yes, we will emerge from our existential shock.

It was Rumi who said :" Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today, I am wise, so I am changing myself. By employing some if these techniques in our everyday lives, we can improve ourselves, and naturally have a positive influence on tge world around us.

And indeed, when we look around us, we always end up judging people. This one is intelligent, but this other one, God forgive, is an idiot. His comments have no sense and no common sense. And now the word sense has all its meaning, all its value. Can it be associated to intelligence? Why not? But let's remember that Common sense is the most widely shared thing in the world..

Some may remember that George Berkeley regarded himself as the great champion of common sense. He proposed a solution that seemed obvious to him and which dismissed all the dangers at a stroke, banishing both sceptical and atheistic concerns. The same goes for the opinion of every man that all sensible objects have a natural existence.

Intelligence comes under many forms, one of them is found in Proverbs X,19:
He who speaks much can avoid sin, to curb his lips is to show intelligence.
What I find sad today is what we call Artificial Intelligence (AI). As it looks, it announces the disappearance of the individual and the end if the human species. The future is worrying. How can one be happy?

It truly bothers me to bring up this sentence from General de Gaulle. " In general, intelligent men are not courageous. This was found in Eric ZEMMOUR book:France has not said its last word. I rather prefer these words of Albert Einstein :"The advantage of being intelligent is that you can always play the fool. The opposite is totally impossible."

And of course, to finish, we can ask ourselves why we give so much importance to intelligence? Is an intelligent person happier than me?
Scholars argue that the importance of information is the survival and prosperity of nations, because without it, a nation can be attacked or encroached upon by surprise, when if it had known, it could have avoided it. The survival of a nation depends on the protection of its national interests. And here information is mixed with intelligence.

Rather than elaborate on artificial intelligence, I would rather say a few words about emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the ability to control our emotions and to express them in a relevant way. Although the word "intelligence" is linked to memory and cognitive ability, other areas of the brain are being studied.
We act in our daily lives by first feeling something and then reflecting on that feeling.