Saturday, June 22, 2013

Intellect

(Note 24 August 2015: This post has been edited a bit.) 

Intellect is actually a very subjective thing in the human eye. This society, just like all societies, has preconceived notions of what is worth knowing and what isn't worth knowing, and it's generally held that knowing the right things is what makes one an "intellectual". Somebody understands street drugs just as another understands mathematics, both knowing the same of both, yet the one who understands math more is the one that's declared an "intellectual". But isn't the drug user an intellectual as well? "Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid." (Einstein) A mind is trained to believe that certain things are more worthy than others in knowledge. In this society, it's mostly mathematics and science.

The problem is that in this worldview alone, intellect is completely subjective, because all it means is an understanding of something. Following the idea of Creationism, morality and the resulting intellectual ties are made objective through the higher power (God, father of Jesus) defining the truth of this realm, like a video game designer deciding what powers each player's character should have. That's what makes intellect objective - showing us that intellect involves things like love, rather than math; compassion, rather than observation; and so on. However, that's why I said "through the human eye" earlier. Not everybody is going to want to adhere to that worldview, and so, socially speaking, intellect is still undefined. Is math important, since one is forced to learn it for so long in schools? Is it only important because they make it important? Is science important? The physical plane will mean absolutely nothing to you the second you die. Science, as it stands, refuses to accept anything non-physical, and so it stands idly by in empirical evidence. Is knowledge of where to get some drugs important? They will only serve to mess with your mind. Do you want your mind tampered with? Understanding anything will make you an intellectual, but do you know anything worth knowing?

Without adhering to an objective morality, you will never know.

And since that option is there, intellect is basically the most dangerous weapon mankind has, since it has no actual definable form in the eye of many of its own users. Some intellect can help us, and some intellect can hurt us. Information can be used for good or bad, depending on what that information is, and how you wield it, like water. It can be drank and used for nourishment, or it can be shot off at a high speed haphazardly, and can be used to sting somebody. It's possible to swim through it, and enjoy it on a warm summer's day, or you can drown in it, with it surrounding you, overwhelming you, too much of it being there for you to handle. Intellect is a very powerful weapon which those who do understand its inherent objectivity (Christians) must wield with much care, and a weapon which those who don't (secularists, occultists, etc), must take much time and care to learn.

-- NOCTURNAL IRIDESCENCE