Does education make us intelligent?

Education, as we know it, is all about learning about the world around us. It makes us function better in the world, learn skills, get a job and develop our social skills. But does it make us intelligent?

Imagine someone visiting our planet and observing these facts about us — would they regard us as intelligent?

• 1 in 6 of us have an addiction problem.
• 42% of us are obese, and unable to regulate how much food we eat.
• 1 in 5 have a mental illness and struggle to manage it.
• We are destroying our own habitat and seem unable to stop ourselves.
• We cannot live in peace — with ourselves or each other. More than 50% of relationships are strained and there are 32 armed conflicts in the world in 2024.
• We spend our lives chasing wealth and fame, but true happiness still eludes us.

All of the problems mentioned above seem different, but have a common root — they begin in our thinking.

It follows that if we had a better understanding of our own mind, we could connect with our own inner intelligence and avoid and overcome these problems more easily.

What are the hallmarks of an intelligent person?

• Manage their own emotions and mental health.
• Self regulate their habits around sleep, exercise, food, drinks and drugs.
• Have stable and fulfilling relationships with less conflict.
• Solve problems and make better decisions.
• Has an understanding of their own ego.
• Be in charge of their own happiness.
• Deal with challenges without too much stress and anxiety.
• Live without irrational fear — of others, or the future.
• Understand their own prejudices and put them to one side.
• Be able to analyse the facts and make good decisions without letting their fear, their conditioning and their ego get in the way.

Examples of intelligence in action

Here are three practical examples of intelligence in action.

Your best friend buys a new car you cannot afford and you find yourself feeling envious, get angry at him for showing off, and your relationship gets strained. By exploring why you are feeling this way you learn that your mind is comparing all the time and you are not aware of it. When you wake up to what your mind is doing to you, you realise how you are feeling is not your friend’s fault, and you compare yourself with others only when it serves you.

It’s election time and at the dining table you get into a huge argument with your sister about politics — she supports one party, and you another. When you calm down you ask yourself what was going on in your mind to make you feel so angry. You realise that both you and your sister are conditioned by different influences — and that has shaped your opinions which you both have become attached to. It’s the same process for both of you. Once you see that clearly, you let go of your attachment to your opinions, become curious about the views of others, and your conflict dissolves.

You are a father to a teenage son and one day he reacts when you tell him to do something, by telling you that you are always criticizing him. You react and find yourself getting angry and are about to shout back at him when your intelligence kicks in and you pause, and reflect on why you are doing that. You see clearly that being automatically critical is damaging your relationship and you begin to communicate with much more care.

How can education change to help us be more intelligent?

How can education help?

The answer is simple: introduce self-awareness and self-knowledge as a subject in education, to be taught alongside other subjects. Introduce it early and teach young people to understand their own mind, be able to question their opinions and beliefs, think clearly and make better decisions, and be emotionally intelligent.

Here are some of the things that could be taught:

• Understand and question our conditioning influences.
• Understand the nature of fear so it does not operate irrationally.
• Be able to meet challenges with less stress and anxiety.
• Understand the many hidden ways our ego operates, so we can be in charge of it.
• Learn the art of happy relationships.
• Understand the nature of pleasure and the drivers behind addiction, so we can avoid it.
• Learn how to be in charge of our own happiness.
• Learn to understand our hidden prejudices and be able to put them to one side.

By understanding ourselves we can understand others better, and this can improve the quality and depth of our relationships. It can help us live with compassion, because we know that everyone struggles and deep down we are the same human being.

Having worked with young people of all ages I can say with certainty that they all have this inner intelligence that is waiting to be drawn out of them. We can do that by asking questions, helping them become aware of their own thoughts, feelings and actions and understand where they come from.

This understanding is simple, but the impact can be profound. It can help people of all ages live in peace with themselves and others, manage their own emotions and mental health, make better decisions and live a happier and more meaningful life. It can also contribute to our success at work by helping us develop our soft skills, like empathy, integrity, communication and leadership.

The HappierMe emotional intelligence app is available for both adults and teens and helps with all of the above. Created by experts from around the world it can be downloaded and explored with a free trial. The website is happierme.app . If you’d like to get in touch — please email team@happierme.app

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