I have always thought that there are different types of IQ. The one that people know well basically covers the scholastic abilitites & suits teachers especially to stream children. It is handy for those career selection processes where they need to know if you have that ability suited to the job. Hence normal IQ suits modernity & keeping the industry system moving. We then have formed the idea that if you are especially good at maths, science or engineering then you are basically smarter than other people. If you were smart at art or creative thinking this doesn’t sit high on the pecking order. This is despite the fact that there are reliable tests for creativity. Also reversing this I have experienced professors at University with obvious high IQ that were low on awareness & consciousness. In working with them I saw them as ‘intelligent idiots’! In many ways they didn’t see the whole of life that was obvious to me & just seemed virtually dumb! Probably very good at statistics though!
However, what of people who are more aware than others? We hear that a footballer has good awareness & they sure do. It’s frustrating when one of your team gets caught with the ball when another clearly always perceives there is someone in their vicinity- 360 awareness. Some people seem to be very socially aware, picking up on nuances in others behaviour or meaning. We dont credit them however, having high AQ (awareness quotient say). This is also to distinguish between the better known EQ or emotional intelligence, which also sits low on the pecking order.
Can we nail down what awareness is? Well I’m not referring to text or research here just observations. I think that we can have a basic awareness, eg your aware that a new person got on the bus & sat down the front and that’s the end of it. That’s not it though is it? If we say that the footballer has an uncanny sense of quick delivery of the ball when people are bearing down on him then this implies an astuteness that others don’t have. Awareness is that ability to see things others don’t. There is a type of superiour ‘smartness’ that isn’t correlated with IQ, but we like it. Consciousness I see as different again.
Once again you can be just plain conscious. You’re not asleep, you see things, you notice things but some people seem to have higher consciousness & we don’t mean awareness. When we refer to a person that is very conscious they seem more wise. They probably also have AQ but it is different again. When I have met people that I see as highly conscious they seem to understand life deeply. They seem to be more mature with it & age does’nt come into this. They most likely have a capacity to see deeply into human nature AND they have the ability to not just say these things but can act them out as well. They meet the tests of life better than others. They just seem more conscious of what’s really going on in life at large.
I see this as different to awareness. Our footballer for example may not be wise elsewhere than the oval. Nor a person who picks up on social nuances at times. So I’m saying the conscious person has consolidated awareness. They have incorparated it into a life style. It is a pleasure to talk to such people they just know ‘stuff’. They are low reactive & just seem to be more laid back about life. The things that infuriate others they take in their stride. (See Poem IF) Yet they never seem aloof or detatched, far from it. If anything more alive. That’s my take on CQ!
Hmmm why am I hearing someone say “yes but can you develop these”? I think you can. I think some seem born deeper than others but still I think there are those that have had life experiences that have changed them & those who have a committment to real individuated spiritual & personal growth. I think this then develops over time.
