What is Intelligence?  –  Part 1

The dictionary definition of the word Intelligence – the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.

What is the dictionary definition of the word Knowledge?

1          Information and skills acquired through experience or education.
2          Awareness or familiarity gained by experience.

So we are being told that to be ‘Intelligent’ we need the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and one way to get that knowledge would be Education and no surprise it is on the agenda from when we are born.

Our parents want to make sure we go to school and learn and in most cases they want us to do “better” than they did. I know for my parents it was a big deal as they could not speak the English language and had to rely on others to read letters to help them out. I was writing cheques for my Dad from a very young age and reading his letters and responding to them.

  • What if the formal education system does not work for you?
  • Does that mean you are not Intelligent?
  • Who defines and confirms the dictionary defintition?
  • Are we classed as ‘not intelligent’ if we have no formal education?
  • Where is the Authority that governs words and their meaning?
  • How do they live their life everyday? Has anyone studied this?
  • Is the dictionary definition the true meaning of the word Intelligence?
  • What is the meaning of Truth?
  • Is there another form of Intelligence?

Have we stopped to answer these questions or do we just bop along and accept everything that we are told because it comes from a book or someone who is formally educated?

The good news is the dictionary says that “experience” counts just like education.

Really?

Not in my world as if you do not have the Accreditation or the correct Qualifications which come from formal Education, then it is dismissed. Try getting a job now without the exam results and certificate.

I worked in a bank 30 years ago and with ‘experience’ we could work our way up the ladder from cashier clerk to supervisor and then management. Today they look for those with university degrees and then ask them to be a cashier/admin clerk, so there are no advantages for having all that education as you start at the bottom.

Does a formal university education make you a better bank clerk than a young person who does not have the qualification but is feeling alive and passionate about a job they know they can do well and serve the people but they could not sit formal exams as their mind could not do memory recall?

I know many young students highly educated with a university degree but not able to get their ‘ideal job’ in the field they have studied. So they take any job given and resent having to work in something they feel is not their choice but they are forced to as social benefits say they will no longer pay them.

So the question is – Is this Intelligent?

What Quality are we the customer getting if the person doing the job is resenting working as it is not what they studied for or choosing for a career?

As the dictionary says (which is followed by the mass as the correct way for defining any word) you need ‘experience’ which of course requires time. As a young adult you will be dismissed if you have no experience so you are back to square one.

So my simple understanding here is if you are not formally educated and have the right qualifications then getting a job is going to be difficult and with no experience you got no chance.

You are therefore not classed as Intelligent because the only other way is experience and you cannot have that as you have not lived the years required to be classed as someone with experience.

But what about the rest of us who for whatever reason did not go through the formal education? Does that mean we are not Intelligent and society will dismiss us?

I was in the ‘grammar stream’ in secondary school. At the age of thirteen, I was one of four in the whole school to be asked to sit GCSE ‘O’ level so that is three years before the other students. So on some level my English teacher thought I was intelligent.

I was taken out of school and married just as I turned 17 years old. My circumstances changed as did my education. I ended up working and never having a career like others. I no longer fitted in and was of course doing jobs with minimum effort no matter what task was given to me. Of course on paper I had a few ‘O’ levels but that amounts to nothing when trying to get a decent job.

I took the risk of going part-time, which meant less money to pay the bills but it felt right at the time. It was a miracle to have the bank manager say that I had ‘potential’, even though I had nothing on paper to show I was qualified for the job.

I worked my way up to management but left because it was all about profits not people. I could not sell a long term policy to an old pensioner just to make our branch figures look good.

I had a compass inside me that would not let me live a life that I knew was not Truth. I left the bank and at the same time left my marriage.

Not having a formal education came with a society stigma as I could never prove to any employer that I was worth employing because I did not have the intelligence on paper. So I went self employed and earning money became easy and effortless, but I knew that this formal education was the only way I could move on and be something that others would recognise and approve of – mainly my father. So at age 34 I went to university. I left because I felt the struggle to study in this way was only to please my father and be accepted in society as someone who is intelligent.

So if you have no formal Education then you do not have anything of real value to offer society. Is this true?

I had no education but over time I got experience but nothing worth talking about as it was not in any field in particular. It is dismissed because I do not have the education which is the qualifications to confirm that what I am saying has value.

My experience was not taken into account and what we endorse, pump up, value, recognise, identify and foster in our world is anything that can be measured on a line and if it does not fit then you are not Intelligent as the line told you so.

I do not fit in any line or in any box. I am outside the box so to speak so does that mean I am not Intelligent?

In my simple world I know what is right and wrong and what feels True and what does not Feel True.

I know that anecdotal evidence is readily dismissed for research purposes and yet I have hundreds of testimonials saying I know what I am talking about and I do make a difference to people’s lives.

I do have the number 2 of the dictionary definition above – the awareness and familiarity gained through experience.

But what if the experience you have is not in the line?

in other words – the world does not recognise it even though all the people who benefit from it confirms that it clearly works.

  • How do you make something formal that does not require this form of intelligence?
  • Do you give up or do you find another way?
  • When will we wake up and take into account that what we have to say from our own experience is valid and important?

When will our measuring ways of collecting data change to true ‘qualitative’ data instead of the current way which is ‘quantitative’. Get the mass numbers then its real and nothing else counts.

I was listening to an amazing scientist – Dr Dianne Trussell who said that modern science bases experiments on objectivity and de-bases subjectivity which is feelings, intuition and anecdotal observations.

So this means my pilot study of almost 4 years with anecdotal evidence is dismissed because it is not classed as something that can be measured. So my question is – how can we ignore, negate and pretend that this does not count? These are actual people stating facts about what has happened to them but because it does not fit the formal education way of measuring evidence that will be accepted, it is thrown out without even being studied.

Could it be possible that if I had a PhD then my study may be considered because my formal education qualification states that I know what I am talking about?

Is there another form of Intelligence that very few have discovered that takes into account all people equally and really truly takes care of people first and that means taking on board and validating what they say as important?

I am a current statistic in that I do not hold a formal education and have spent my life “winging it” so to speak. However, I was able to study a one year teaching course in four weeks. Is that intelligent?

Or was the real Intelligence behind this something else?

Was I given access from another form of intelligence that allowed me to study intensely without any stress so that I could continue working in the field I have chosen?

My circumstances meant I did not become a doctor as I planned but 35 years later I have no regrets as what I have to offer is Equal to that of any profession because it comes from a life lived that is parallel to any formal education. What is interesting is I have friends in medical and highly academic professions who confirm that what I have to offer this world holds value even though I don’t have the letters before of after my name.

When are we going to question the current form of Intelligence as it is not bringing our world the real change that is now needed if we are to ever evolve out of the mess we are in?

It does not require any form of intelligence to know that sickness and dis-ease in the body is going out of the roof, drugs and alcohol abuse is out of control and crime is at an all time high. This is to name a few of the current problems going on in every part of our world.

My final question to you the reader to ponder on –

What drives us to Accept our current form of Intelligence and dismiss something that science is starting to discover – that our heart has a form of intelligence and the lab can prove now that the heart sends an impulse before the brain thinks what it thinks.

  • I am no scientist, medical or academic professional in anyway.
  • I am just a normal everyday law abiding citizen with no formal education.

Inspired by the life and work of Serge Benhayon who continues to be a living example of what real intelligence truly is.

 

 

 

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Comments 67

  1. Wow, there is so much in this blog that I will be returning many times to comment further but first up I wanted to do physiotherapy when I finished my year 12 but my marks fell just short, according to the so called rankings at the time. Hence I was not deemed intelligent enough to get into this course. Since this time I have seen people work in jobs because they got the so called marks but are terrible at what they do, no passion, no real interest and no connection with people. I have seen people work in various areas excel because they love what they do and make their jobs all about people – people first. The marks they got or how they got into their courses/jobs or how well they did during their training is not what is important or even significant. How they are with people, how they listen, communicate and relate is what is important. I didn’t learn how to relate and work with people in any of my studies and yet this is what is needed. Sure, I can do very well performing any task or job required of me but what does this mean when the teams I work within are in disarray, unhappy, disgruntled, not harmonious and not well functioning?

    1. Yes Sally this is a WOW blog and there is so much on this subject hence why it is Part 1. There is more..
      I agree with you that we are never taught at any stage in education how to truly communicate and relate to others which lets face it we need in life and in particular our work in the world.
      Intelligence in the way most of us are taught this leaves out so much of the human aspect of who we truly are. So much focus is put on intelligence and the academic who has mastered a subject yet we take little if any note of how they are living day to day.
      It really is time to re-write the books so to speak and allow those who may not have memory recall as their most acquired skill but nevertheless have something else that may be EQUAL to another when working. As you have stated in your comment you can get someone who fits the bill but has no people skills.

      1. I like how you mention looking at how people are living day to day as this is not really considered within our spheres of education and intelligence. In fact even if someone’s private life is looked at for a particular reason we still hold a belief that there are aspects of their lives that are private. But is this true? Are any aspects of our own lives truly private? Has the intelligence we have all been bought up with presented to us for consideration that nothing is ever private and that everything we do, say and think affects not only us but those around us. No it has not.

        1. Correct Sally Scott – nothing is ever private even if we like to think it is to suit our own needs. So lets use the example of doing porn privately and thinking you are getting away with it.
          Are we really?
          Think about it – surely that behaviour does not just switch off just because you close down your computer or hide your magazines or whatever else it is you are doing?
          How would you feel if you knew the world was going to find out about this secret you have?
          How would you honestly feel if you kids found out what you were up to in your private life?
          Do we care?
          Are we aware or are we ignoring this because it suits us?
          Are we seeing this as an irresponsible way of living?
          Do we stop and ask what type of role model are we for humanity?

        2. Another example of intelligence is when we see what it is clearly NOT. I was just reading about the health crisis in 40-60 year olds http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38402655, with 8 out of 10 (8 out of 10!) people in the UK being overweight, drinking too much, not exercising and not taking care of themselves. The coverage quotes “we are living longer, but are in poorer health because we store up problems as we age.” How is this intelligent?

          Watching some news coverage with people in the street interviewed about their health and why they think this problem exists, it is clear we all have the intelligence inside but we override/ignore it because it is more convenient to do so. Those interviewed shared how we are all just eating ‘whatever we want because we can’ or ‘because everything is so easy nowadays, you just go to the supermarket and buy your ready meal and sit and eat it in front of the TV’ and ‘it’s much more effort to make a meal from scratch or go to the gym’.

          8 out of 10 of us not bothered enough about ourselves to make a healthy meal or take exercise, and it’s making us ill and loading the health system. And what proportion of those 8 out of 10 go to work in environments where their job is to help other people?

          Perhaps when we are ready for a re-set on intelligence, we could start here, with these basics?

          1. Great that you share some current news headlines here JS which affects us all.
            What kind of intelligence are we under when we think it is totally ok to eat whatever we want and when we want and not give a hoot about the consequences?
            This is crazy if we just stop and think about it.

            What also seems to be extreme is this science based evidence stuff being the one and only way.
            Reading about a study on mice and seeing how their spleen reacts to stress may not be quite the same as a human. Just with common sense approach we know we do not live like mice so surely we need to widen our scientific knowledge and make it more anecdotal and more human as we are ALL a living science. That is a fact.

  2. Simple Living Global this is so true, the world revolves around accolades and reward to confirm a form of intelligence that on many levels does not support ‘everyone’ that is the whole of humanity. My experience is that at school you are constantly fed the notion that if you do not get certificate X or Y then you are going down a different stream and will be ‘left behind’. The clue is this rather insidious version of education that actively promotes study in order to get a high grade to prove you can ‘survive’ all of the stress and workload given as well as to satisfy the teaching faculties that they are doing the right thing.
    The interesting thing is as mentioned even university graduates leave and cannot find work. I was fortunate enough to witness this for myself when I had a brief tenure at a University and observed that some students had left a year or two before but because they could not find work they were still coming to the University to use facilities and meet up with their friends who were all in the same boat. This is regarded as the best University in Australia and it is so interesting that on the surface they pride themselves on the number of graduates – yet scratch the surface and there are many who leave and certainly as described above end up in work that does not fit the picture they were sold and thus become resentful.
    It’s almost like they we are all sold a picture of intelligence and work really hard to emulate and follow this – day after day yet at crunch time it feels and looks nothing like we thought and indeed wanted it to.
    So what is intelligent for us all – is it that we stop all of this nonsense and no-one studies – or is it that we address the fact that the education system grades people on a strict definition of intelligence that is actually false. Is it possible that this needs to be addressed the world over?
    There is much to be broken down here and I look forward to part 2 of this blog.

    1. What is all this university stuff really about? We all know the majority leave with student debt and a body even more exhausted from living on less comforts as the bank of mum and dad are not on tap and they feel duty bound to attend all alcohol events. This is well known in the UK and then they come out unable to get employment. How dis-heartening it must feel and then they get desperate and take what they can and as you say Lee there is resentment and understandably so because they were sold an image. A picture of how life after University could be and then it falls short. What part of this is Intelligent really?
      Come on – is it not time we started to teach our kids the real value of living a life that is true so they get to express how they feel and are not force fed images of who they should be or what they should be when they grow up.
      In answer to your final question – it is not about stopping all studies but our approach to education has to change if we are to ever evolve as a race of beings. There is zero intelligence in the way we are currently using intelligence to educate our kids. It is time to see the whole and not one part and champion it above anything else.

  3. Correct RP, no degree or any qualification defines who you are.
    If you ask me – we have lost the plot with this intelligence stuff. You take a close look at some of our well read scholars and they don’t look a bag of health and vitality so where is the intelligence in that.
    How intelligent are some of our Doctors in the caring profession if they don’t take deep care of themselves on a daily basis? Not saying this applies to all but boy oh boy you have to be blind freddy if you haven’t seen our exhausted healthcare staff who are working longer and longer hours as the demand for patient care increases.
    How intelligent are we as a race of beings when illness and dis-ease are on the rise and we are spending billions to see if we got life on another planet. Maybe we should focus on this earth life and get it right first before we try and attempt what is going on out there. This will be expanded on in the blog called What is Intelligence – Part 2.

  4. I still have night mares about high school [I am 65]. It was a waste of a most precious time in my life. When i was 16 i could have left school, but i was told i needed a college degree to make something of myself. I basically ignored all the signals that was telling me to do something different.

    When something is not working, Do something different.!!! Thank you for bringing this important subject to light.

    1. Well Ken it sure would be worth dealing with whatever is there if you are still having nightmares about high school.
      Thank you for confirming that this blog was a subject that is important to talk about.
      We each have a choice to go onto the internet and talk about whatever we want but what is the actual quality of what we are putting out there? I see no point telling people on social media or a blog or comment what I ate for dinner or posting holiday snaps. What I feel would be of benefit to humanity as a whole is to write stuff that may get people thinking or questioning about what is actually going on in our world.
      I feel one would change nothing and the other would at least offer us evolution. Is that intelligent? pun intended.

  5. Working in Human Resources for many years, I’ve read hundreds of resumes of people who want to work at the company. Many of them did not have the formal education and qualifications we were advertising for. I can remember several cases in which we interviewed and hired the person anyway, and boy oh boy was that a wise decision. Some of the hardest workers and the people who were most trusted and most influential in the companies I worked with did not have formal degrees. Some were college dropouts, some were young and had very little experience, others had resumes that looked like they were all over the place and not focused in a particular field. None of them were ever any ‘less’ to the company because they did not fit in the box. I do have a college degree and HR certifications, and despite these, I can honestly say I’ve learned a ton about life and work from the people who didn’t fit my image of intelligence.

    1. This is a great sharing here Julie Goodhart coming from your HR background. When are we going to ever stop judging others and think that intelligence comes because you were able to do memory recall better than others and pass exams or get to University or College.
      You have confirmed yet again that there are people with no formal education who have another type of intelligence and that needs to be equally honoured and then you get great workers. We have lost the plot if you ask me when it comes to education and we have so many set beliefs, images and ideals about formal education and what intelligence actually is.

  6. You make a lot of great points here Simple Living Global. I have always wondered about the education system in that there is so much pressure put on people to go to university and gain a degree and then after a minimum of three years of study and most working part time jobs, being in thousands of pounds of debt and finally getting your degree, there is no guarantee that you will be working in the field you have studied for or even remotely close to that field. You are now working in a job that you don’t really want to do, paying off your debts for something you may never potentially utilise. I am sure most people going into university are aware of this potential situation, so why is there so much drive to get a university education? Is it something they want? Is it something their parents want? Is it seen as a rite of passage? Society says that a university degree is the only way forward. You made a point about memory recall. If you have the capacity to remember a lot of information, you are classed as being intelligent. But memory recall doesn’t mean you have common sense. It doesn’t mean that you wake up excited about going to work. It doesn’t mean that you are right for the job. Intelligence is subjective. We humans are supposed to be the most intelligent species on this earth but I don’t see any animals waiting around when a natural disaster is about to happen. The animals obviously don’t have the benefit of a university education so is it possible there is some other kind of intelligence out there?

    1. A stupendous comment Tim and well said. So why is it that society wants us to all have a college or university degree? What then drives the student to follow that path?
      Why is it that so many feel ‘less’ or not enough because they simply do not have the memory recall of those who do study and can get that bit of paper that confirms they are intelligent. Who defined Intelligence?
      The bit that really struck me is when you say ‘memory recall does not mean you have common sense’. This is worth stopping and pondering on.
      I know heaps of academics who pay little attention to the health and well being and yet their heads can reel off facts and figures on their specialist subject.
      The brilliant thing you say here is you never see animals hang around before a natural disaster. How come? What intelligence are they aligned to?
      Could it be possible we have another intelligence and the world of education has not accepted that this could be the real thing?

  7. Brilliant blog Simple Living Global. Thank you for asking these much needed questions with the immense pressure that is put on children, at a younger and younger age, and adults in education.. to have letters, certificates and qualifications. Why have we put intelligence into such a small box, it is this and this only. Your lived example shows there is so much more to intelligence, truth or not truth, how it feels, from the heart. If we have letters or certificates but no care for each other, the ability to listen and understand this is merely just box ticking, as you so clearly presented here.
    I had to take the 11+ twice to get into a grammar school, I was not academic so failed at most of my exams and O’levels whilst I was there, I could not wait to leave school. Because of this I believed I was not good enough or brainy, for many years. I now know that listening to my heart is the greatest intelligence and connecting to this brings it forth with an effortless flow.

    1. You make some great points here Ruth and well worth the reader taking note of what we expect from our children.
      I have first hand experience of where the parents are illiterate and they want their kids to be excelling in everything and the pressure to be in a job that society deems as intelligent is the only goal. They want to be proud of what their kids end up with but at no point is the child questioned and asked what he or she wants.
      I have always known I was a sharp cookie but circumstances meant I did not follow any career path and then 4 decades on I have no fixed job title. But just applying common sense and reading the blogs on this website thus far, confirms I am not dumb or un- intelligent just because I don’t have a university degree or letters before or after my name.
      In fact, I am a living science proving that academic education in the current formal system is not the only way we can define who is intelligent and who is not.
      It is a form of reductionism if you ask me.

  8. It’s like a big conspiracy theory except we’re all playing our part. We’re raised to revere science and only trust things that can be proved. However, it wasn’t so long ago we thought the earth was flat or that the sun orbited the earth. More recently, quantum physics research has shown that particles can behave as waves in contradiction to previous ‘received wisdom’. There is so much we do not yet know and certainly cannot prove and yet we seem to cap our awareness by what the ‘authorities’ or scientists tell us. I have had many personal experiences that show me I have access to a different form of intelligence and it has nothing to do with what I studied or read. For example I am realising I can ‘read’ people very clearly beyond what they are saying and can tell a huge amount about what is going on for them from their movements and demeanor. Many of us would say the same – so what is that if it is not a type of intelligence? I often know when something is about to happen with my kids – without looking at them, I can tell that someone is going to drop something or that the energy has shifted and someone is about to get hurt. For me that is a form of intelligence. Why do we discount it?

    It is actually not so surprising to read here that “science is starting to discover – that our heart has a form of intelligence and the lab can prove now that the heart sends an impulse before the brain thinks what it thinks.”. There is so much science will in time show to be true and we will look back as other generations before us have and see how naive and perhaps arrogant we were. So I’m sticking to what I KNOW, even if can’t yet be proved.

    1. WHY is it that we seem to discount this innate intelligence that you are writing about in this comment JS?
      How many of us can openly say what you say in your last line?
      You are choosing to honour what you KNOW even if it cannot yet be proved.
      What would happen if more of us started doing that?
      What if in the future our world will not be bound by and restricted with this science based evidence that is robust and tested and tested to prove something?
      What if we discovered that there was a greater form of intelligence available to us ALL EQUALLY?
      What if there were people on earth today aligning and working with that form of intelligence and living the future now so to speak. In other words they are able to be and do what we will all be doing in the future?
      What if that for of living requires that word RESPONSIBILITY?

  9. So I’m realising reading this blog that I got trapped by society’s view on intelligence and I’m at risk of passing that on to my children. I realised young that I could get recognition by being ‘smart’ and getting good grades. That was held in very high regard in our home and it came easily to me. But at the same time, I was losing sight of what I wanted or how I felt. Sport came after, with the same pattern: being good at everything gets results in this society. So what if you are freezing on the hockey pitch or have hurt your ankle in netball or have your period and don’t feel like swimming today – you do it anyway, right? Looking back that doesn’t sound very intelligent to me, to put the results before the body. And what about the quality of my work to get those grades or the long, long hours I worked in study and in work, well into the night and sometimes all night. Where was the intelligence in that? And if all that is madness, why is it important what the teacher thinks about my kids’ abilities today? The answer is it isn’t. Knowing this more and more brings a whole new dimension to the school experience and also, e.g. to parents’ evening. At the last one, I could see how exhausted the teacher was when it came to our turn and that is surely more important to address than whether my 6 year old needs to work on his fine motor skills, and we did, and what a conversation opened up – human connection and a real conversation, not just ticking the boxes. Yes, kids need to learn the basic skills, we all do, but what about all the other stuff we are missing? To put the skills above the human is to turn out little performing robots to impress us all, but to what end? Isn’t it time to celebrate kids for who they are and not just what they do? I’m working on living this myself first so I can show rather than just tell: starting to appreciate that what I do is far from all of me. Thank you for this blog Simple Living Global, there is so much here for all of us.

    1. You make some great real life points here JS. How many of us clock at a young age that doing well at school and getting good grades will get us the recognition we want?

      As you say it was rewarded in your family and the price you paid was you did not get to honour what you truly felt or wanted in life. How can that be classed as intelligent?

      Messing up our natural sleep rhythm to study through the night may look like it works but at what cost to our precious body? What is the quality we are producing in our studies if we are exhausted and not in our natural state of being?

      This bit really sticks out when you say “to put skills above the human is to turn out little performing robots to impress us all, but to what end?”
      We forget that whilst education is needed the way we are going about it seems to be spelling something out to us. If we have exhausted teachers then how on earth can we expect our children to be deeply inspired. If these are the role models of society then we need to raise the bar and bring in a dose of honesty and Truth which needs to be lived.
      When Pythagoras said – “If it is not lived in our body, it is impossible for us to impart it.”
      Could this mean that we need to live what we are presenting or teaching and that is what will be the game changer?

  10. I have done carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, designed and built new structures, been an engineer on a commercial fishing vessel, designed and installed solar electric systems, a father of three children, fixed automobiles and boats. I have done all these things without any formal education in these areas. I learned by doing.

    We all have a natural ability to do certain things . I feel the job of parenting and education is to allow the child or student to find what it is they want to do in life. Once you have found your passion, education just happens and so does your life. Follow your heart and everything else will follow.

    1. WOW Ken that is a big list of skilled jobs you have done in your life. Just reading this would make anyone wonder how on earth is this possible without the formal education in these particular specialised fields?
      You are living proof Ken Elmer of what is possible with our ‘natural ability’ as you say.

      In our world today there is so much emphasis on this type of intelligence and it negates anything and everything else. Real life evidence is easily dismissed and yet it holds so much value. We seem to be fixed on science based evidence as the be all and end all and this is not cutting it. You only need to read the blogs on this website to know something is deeply wrong in the world today and the intelligence we so hold and regard as the only way.

  11. I have ignored it plenty in the past but the intelligence of my heart is something I will not ignore any longer!

    What we have been doing has never worked so it is way past time that we all try something different and that is to make life about Love.

    What does a life of love look like?
    For starters the bottom line in how we do business or run anything can not keep being $money$ when it could be about putting ‘people first’…

    1. Dear Jo
      Can you imagine in the future that the Intelligence of our heart will be studied?
      This comment may sound a bit way off and whacky for most right now but science already knows this and with more research and digging deeper they will change their focus.
      We will all be living in a way and moving on the earth with the intelligence of our inner most heart like a compass directing us.
      Bit of a prediction here – not really. Others have said this so it is not really hot news.

      Next – If you go to our Code of Conduct on this website the list is long and the last one says PUT PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT.

      That speaks volumes and it confirms that Simple Living Global are making it about humanity, for humanity, from humanity and on behalf of humanity.
      In other words, we speak to the people, about the people, from the people and on behalf of them.
      Making money where others lose or it is not true simply will not work if you are running a business with true integrity and true RESPONSIBILITY.
      This whole website has a thread weaving through it with that R word that just keeps being presented – RESPONSIBILITY.

  12. Humans are considered the most intelligent species on earth. Is it because we can communicate with words better than animals? I feel that this is not a true marker of intelligence. I have not trusted what people say because many times what they say is not true. Is this a intelligent way to communicate?

    Watch a flock of birds flying together, it is amazing how they communicate with each other so they fly in harmony. How do they do that? We feel that animals are not as smart as us, but do animals lie to each other? Our natural world is in constant true communication with everything. That is how it functions so well.

    Babys have an amazing ability to communicate, a way that can not lie. To me this way of communicating is true intelligence, and we all still have that intelligence, we just have chosen to forget it.

    1. Great point you make here Ken about our animal kingdom and natural world.
      You never see an animal overeat and throw up. You never see a dog demand a pint of beer and drink it. We tend to think our dogs hoover up and eat anything. They don’t.
      Give them alcohol and they know it is poison and choose not to go near it.

      Nature has a rhythm – a natural order and flow in the way things move.
      How much could we learn from nature with the intelligence of our heart?
      As you say – “Our natural world is in constant true communication with everything..”

      If we so called intelligent species on earth had some real decency and respect for our enhousing planet, we would live another way that starts with not harming ourself and then our environment. Just by that alone it becomes difficult to harm mother earth.

  13. Hello World

    Have any of us heard of CES?

    The annual Las Vegas event that they call the ‘craziest week of the consumer electronics year”
    https://www.extremetech.com/computing/242293-ces-2017-highlights-photos

    Ultra-thin televisions, autonomous cars and home-hub robots are just some of the highlights of the Consumer Electronics Show 2017.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/01/05/ces-day-one-highlights-60-seconds/

    Heaps of gadgets and gizmos to entertain us and bring us even more.

    Artificial intelligence that now let’s us have a robot that recognises members of our family.

    So we can all agree this is great advancement but how on earth does this help our humanitarian global crisis?

    We have wars going on.
    Famine continues after all the endless charity work.
    Major emergencies.
    Drug wars that never make the headlines.
    Obesity on a global scale.
    Diabetes statistics off the scale.
    Cyber abuse with no real policing laws.
    Prisoners rioting because they are treated in worse conditions than most animals.
    Doctors suiciding because of the pressures.

    So we all love our gadgets and the luxury it brings us in our comfort life but is there more?

    Could it be that all this stuff has no place when a natural disaster strikes and it’s close to home?

    Are we really dazzled or are we feeling like something is missing when we see the news headlines showing the state of our desperate refugees?

    Do we like being the ones known for our gadget home?

    Do we like showing off our prize artificial intelligence made bits and pieces?

    Do we like the buzz it brings us from our boring everyday life?

    Do we like the stimulation of entertainment that we believe keeps advancing us?

    Are we really advancing as a race of beings on earth or are we staying stuck because this type of intelligence is taking us away from our innate human intelligence that can be found in the inner-heart of every man, woman and child?

  14. I too grew up in an environment that formal education was placed with more value than common sense.

    I struggled with education over the years and had no support from any of the family members – they were in the same position and there was no such thing as getting after school private support, we just didn’t have the money, this was for the rich and we had to get on with it.

    It was only 10 years ago I studied Masters in Medical Education and despite the struggles got on with it and passed. It looks really good on my CV but I am no further in my career and thats fine too because I know what I have to offer to students, staff is more than the Masters ever provided or prepared me for – wisdom/common sense skills that no amount of modern education can ever teach us.

    What was interesting was the belief within our family (and no doubt others) that good education meant the parents had bought us up well and attached was this status and the typical comparison conversation with the aunties:
    ‘my daughter/son got such and such grade and going on to study such and such career’. And when it was anything to being a medical profession – well the heads would swell and everyone in town knew about it.

    There is so much wisdom within us all and it does not come under the umbrella as O’level, A’level, HSC’s, Degrees, Masters or PHD’s. Like the author of this blog I too found inspiration by the work of Serge Benhayon.

  15. I love and appreciate this reality check from Simple Living Global which asks us to look at why we put such focus time & energy into techno. gadgets when we have countless major issues around the world and in every home which represent a huge deficiency of well-being not to mention a lot of suffering.

    What if we made a commitment to consistently spend some quality time with our selves, our family and took the care to be open and honest with people we meet? What might happen if we honestly looked at any escapist activity we may be indulging in?

    What if we went to bed early every night knowing we are getting honest about what is not working? Is it possible that (eventually) the anxiety of knowing we are avoiding and/or adding to the problems would be replaced with a sense of purpose and well-being when we know that how we live is part of the solution; a part of bringing us all out of an invisible impoverishment?

  16. Artificial Intelligence… this speaks for itself to me. Where is the heart in a robot? a screen? the latest phone? where is the sensitivity, the care, the understanding for our friend, neighbour, community… humanity?

    googles description of..
    Artificial – made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally, especially as a copy of something natural.

    Intelligence – The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.

    So if science is starting to discover ‘that our heart has a form of intelligence and the lab can prove now that the heart sends an impulse before the brain thinks what it thinks’… How far away is this taking us from the unity we crave deep within that would start to heal the disharmony, imbalance and separative-ness so prevalent in our world today?

    Why are we putting our focus on artificial intelligence rather than connecting to our heart where true intelligence is abundant and equal for all and can be brought to our unique skills and abilities?

    1. Ruth, I appreciate your reflections on our choice to shift our focus from living in a way that we can easily access the abundant intelligence of our heart to be more of a focus on artificial intelligence .

      Along these lines I have noticed that mothers can now turn to an App (AI) to get advice on caring for their babies.

      When we are riddled with insecurity because we do not trust ourselves, because we have given our power away to everything outer and have not been nurturing our natural connection to all that we know from inside… this is devastating.

      Is it possible that we have developed an over dependence on technology at the expense of staying in touch with ourselves (and therefore, our babies as well)?

      Is this not a step back from the great science that is our ever truthful body in constant communication with us, us who drive it with or without it’s input?

      This statement is a simple example of the two kinds of intelligence we all know well:
      There will never be an App, book or scientific manual, no matter how well researched, that can take in the smells, sounds and heart-felt feeling of our baby and know just what is needed for that baby in that moment.

  17. I read an article that really gave me pause for thought on the subject of intelligence.

    A gentleman called Peter Godfrey-Smith has written a book about his study of octopuses and it presents some astounding findings. He concludes the octopus to be a highly intelligent creature, despite its intelligence being so far removed from our own. Its 500 million ‘intelligence’ neurons are suffused through its body, not concentrated in its brain. In fact, its body is what gives it sentience.

    Doesn’t this just turn upside down the ‘received wisdom’ about intelligence and the supremacy of the human brain? Doesn’t this open up the possibilities?

    What are our own bodies communicating that we might not have tuned in to yet?

    Here is a review of the book in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/27/books/review/other-minds-peter-godfrey-smith.html?_r=0

    1. Wow, cool scientific article JS; I have always felt and observed nature to be a naturally Divine teacher, intricately and endlessly reflecting truths about life (in every possible language and variation needed), about the universe, about ourselves and how it all works…

      …so what is the octopus showing us by having its 500 million ‘intelligence’ neurons all throughout its body?

  18. I love science. Physics, chemistry, and biology were my favourite subjects. They explained how the world works. But I recently realised that our science does not talk about the most amazing concept in our lives. The concept of life force. What keeps us alive? What do we lose when we go from living to dying.

    Why has our science, that has produced all the amazing advances in our world, avoid talking about what keeps us alive?
    Many scientists would agree that even with all the knowledge we have we still know very little about how life works.

    So maybe our intelligence needs to be open to another way of being intelligent.
    The state of our world might suggest that our current idea of intelligence is not producing a world that we want.

    1. I like what you say here Ken that maybe our current intelligence is not producing the world that we want.
      Not sure what people want these days as there just seems to be so much choice and what I see on the streets these days is not a great picture postcard –
      Mental health
      Obesity
      Alcohol and drug addiction
      Swearing
      Teenagers smoking
      Kids in pushchairs eating sweets
      Everyone looking exhausted
      People of all ages not walking upright
      That is a snapshot, a microcosm and it is seriously saying we are not doing well.

      So is this the world we have created but not what we truly want?
      My question is how intelligent are we really if this is all going on in our communities?
      No point pretending it isn’t because it is happening and this website alone is showing us some ugly statistics confirming the mess we are currently in as a world.

      I say it’s time we wake up and smell the rot we have a hand in – all of us.
      No point blaming anyone or anything.

    2. Great point Ken, maybe it is time to be pry ourselves away from our current form of intelligence and be open to another way of thinking.

      To me it is clear that the kind of intelligence we have all been relying upon has not created the kind of world we all can say is what we want.

      It makes sense to me to live in a way that sets a social standard or societal environment where people are safe to be sensitive and gentle. We can live in a way that builds a world where we can just be who we are (not play false roles) and really connect to one another.

      My statement below mentions the two kinds of intelligence we all know well:

      There will never be an App, book or scientific manual, no matter how well researched, that can take in the smells, sounds and heart-felt feeling of our baby and know just what is needed from us for that baby at that moment…

  19. I feel that the belief that humans are the most intelligent species on earth has totally restricted our ability to see what is really going on.

    It seems like we just assume that everything that we do is OK, without checking if the outcome is really making a positive overall difference in the world.

    The rising rates of illness and increasing levels of violence in the world should indicate to us that something is wrong. Yes we have produced some amazing things in our world, but is our overall quality of life something that we are proud of?

    I feel everyone deep down knows we are in trouble, but we do not know what to do about it, so we just blindly continue doing what we are doing. I feel it is time to do something truly different.

    Einstein said that you can not change a system with the same knowledge that created it.

  20. Everybody has a natural level of intelligence that we are born with. It is an amazing intelligence when you look at all the things we can do when we are born, and we do not have to learn any of it.

    When I applied to be a substitute at a school, I was asked to write about what I thought education was all about. I feel the role of a teacher is to expose the child to many aspects of life, and then support that child to pursue what interests them. All the reading and writing skills will naturally and easily be learned.

    My son had a computer class when he was 12. The teacher noticed he loved to draw on the computer. This teacher supported my son to work on his own exploring a computer software program. Because of my son’s interest, he basically figured out how to use the software on his own.

    He eventually decided he wanted to do more ‘computer generated images’ stuff and found freelance work when he was in high school. Then figured out how to go to art and design school. Did the application process, figured out the financial stuff, went there, and now has worked in London and Canada on movies like ‘Harry Potter’.

    I feel this process is what true education is all about. Learning about life by experiencing it.

    It is interesting that my son said that he did not really need the degree from the art and design school, he could have found work anywhere in the world with his hands on experience, that was inspired by himself.

  21. The Conversation – 10th April 2017

    Article on the huge increase in the number of students who will graduate from university in China. The figure quoted is, 8 million will graduate in 2017, which is ten times higher than it was in 1997.

    In 1997, higher education in China was something that a rare few, elite had access to but in 1999, the Chinese government brought in a program to ‘massively expand university attendance.’

    Since 2013, it has got harder for graduates to find jobs. Most find work BUT 6 months after graduating 1 in 4 Chinese students have a salary that is below the average salary of a migrant worker.

    The high cost of living is also cited as the cause of graduates living in very poor conditions.

    Three years after graduating the top 15% of graduates in engineering, economics and science earn more than double the average salary of other graduates.

    http://theconversation.com/inside-the-worlds-largest-higher-education-boom-74789

    There can be so much pressure to go to university. When I was 19 I went to university to study a course that in truth I did not really want to do, but because I was comparing myself to a friend I thought this was what I should do. Not long into the course, I felt disappointed and eventually I deliberately did not pass the first year and dropped out.

    After I left university I started working full-time and really enjoyed it. 20 years later I haven’t chosen to study a degree and at this stage in my life have no regrets.

    We most certainly do need specialists and we do need people to study but are we to start questioning more whether we are studying because we really feel this is what we want to do or because we think we should?

    As the author of this blog demonstrates, we are not just intelligent because we get a university degree. True intelligence is much more than that.

  22. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/apr/28/headteacher-and-deputy-send-resignation-letter-to-parents-longparish-primary-school-hampshire

    28 April 2017

    This news story talks about a couple working as headteacher and deputy head who are quitting because they are so disillusioned by the direction of the education policy.

    Is this the start of more of this or are there other teachers who simply have not made the headlines?

    If we laser the story they said the primary curriculum has a ‘narrow’ focus on reading, spelling, grammar and maths. They talk about the increased stress and potential for mental health issues that are the result of placing pressure on young children by these tests.
    Add to all this the government cuts on funding and current government policy they say this is “socially, morally and educationally wrong”.

    There is more but let’s just focus on what has been expressed here.
    Are the parents of this outstanding school going to do something or do nothing?

    We all know that nothing changes if we say nothing and do not make our voice heard.

    So here we have two valued members in our education system given up because of the direction of our education policy.
    So who is accountable?
    Where is the Responsibility
    Who is the current intelligentsia that dictate without looking at the bigger picture?
    Who dictates this kind of world that simply does not work?
    Who are we blaming about all this going on?
    Are we aware that these children are our future adult generations?
    What are we doing to them that mental health issues are prevalent in young children?
    How on earth can we call this Intelligent?
    Where is this Intelligence coming from if this is the harm it is causing?

    Is there another way?
    https://simplelivingglobal.com/is-there-another-way/
    Maybe worth reading our first blog.

  23. I ask do we want intellectual education at any expense, at the expense of emotional and social development & quality of life?

    Referring to the raising of children on ‘screen-time’ and the rise in social media addiction; the ease of the virtual world is a tough competitor for real life once we have become so disheartened…

    …but can technology ever give us the intelligence we really need to live a true life?

    Will it ever be able to substitute the learning and love we get from social interaction let alone being fully engaged in real life ?

    Can social media, in truth, quell the anxiety or inner ache we use it to avoid being aware of?

  24. An article on the BBC Newsbeat, 25th August 2017, talks about how a “celebrity bodybuilder has died aged 46.”

    He collapsed two weeks prior to his death and had to be put into a medically induced coma.

    He had been a bodybuilder since the age of 11 and was competing by age 15. He won the Mr. California title last year as well as various other competitions.

    More controversially, he also described what anabolic steroids he took and how often he took them while other bodybuilders pleaded with him to stop injecting himself.

    He recently admitted to spending thousands of dollars a month on anabolic steroids.

    He said that he took anabolic steroids on and off for over 27 years and advised his followers against the same unhealthy routine while also saying…“But if you want to become a professional bodybuilder, guess what? You’re probably going to have to f***ing do them. You’re not going to have a choice. That’s the boat I was in.”

    He goes on to say, “If you have the choice to do steroids or stay natural, stay natural. There’s no reason to do steroids, you’re only hurting your body and hurting yourself.”

    In an interview with another magazine he talks about how he got hooked the first time he tried steroids, “I actually got pretty dramatic results. That was my first cycle. I have to be honest. The truth is, I was hooked man. I was hooked because my body just grew in front of me. It was growing and my strength was exploding.”

    “I was going to be one of the top bodybuilders of the world and I was not going to stop. I was hooked and I knew I was hooked. At this point, I knew this was all that mattered to me.”

    So what are anabolic steroids?

    Anabolic steroids are synthetic variations of the male sex hormone testosterone.

    The proper term for these compounds is anabolic-androgenic steroids.

    ‘Anabolic’ refers to muscle building.
    ‘Androgenic’ refers to increased male sex characteristics.
    A ‘Steroid’ is any of a large class of organic compounds with a characteristic molecular structure containing four rings of carbon atoms. They include many hormones, alkaloids and vitamins.

    Some common names for anabolic steroids are Gear, Juice, Roids and Stackers.

    Health care providers can prescribe steroids to treat hormonal issues and can also treat disease that cause muscle loss, such as cancer or AIDS, but some athletes and bodybuilders abuse these drugs to boost performance or improve their physical appearance.

    People who abuse steroids usually take them orally or inject them into the muscles. These doses may be 10-100 times higher than doses prescribed to treat medical conditions.

    The short-term effects of anabolic steroid abuse may lead to mental problems such as:
    • Paranoid jealousy
    • Extreme irritability
    • Delusions
    • Impaired judgment
    • Extreme mood swings – angry feelings and behaviour that may lead to violence

    The long-term effects of anabolic steroid abuse may lead to serious, even permanent health problems such as:
    • Kidney problems or failure
    • Liver damage
    • Enlarged heart, high blood pressure and changes in blood cholesterol, all of which increase the risk of stroke and heart attack, even in young people.

    Anabolic steroid abuse commonly causes severe acne and it causes the body to swell, especially in the hands and feet.

    Although anabolic steroids do not cause the same high as other drugs, they can lead to addiction

    Here we have a top bodybuilder saying not to follow in his footsteps and use anabolic steroids at the same time saying that ‘if you want to look like me’ you HAVE to use them.

    This is obviously giving a double message to any young impressionable mind.

    What is the drive in us that makes us risk our lives in pursuit of the perfect body?

    Is losing our life worth the risk for the sake of looking good at the beach on in photo’s?

    This bodybuilder was preaching to others, to do what he was not prepared to do, and with the visible and tangible benefits that using anabolic steroids can bring, anyone with the drive to achieve the ‘perfect body’, will no doubt take the risk.

    What sort of intelligence drives us to take such risks with our lives?

    What sort of intelligence is it that knows something is not right but carries on regardless?

    What sort of intelligence puts up with all of the pain and suffering inside just to look good on the outside?

    Is this true intelligence?

  25. As the author of this blog, it feels important to share that I just received a certificate with a grade of A+.
    That means I was able to deliver what I was asked at the highest level – correct?

    Next – it tells me I am entitled to use the letters ‘S.A.C. Dip (Qualitative Research Methodology)’ and I have been entered on to College Guild of Graduates Register.

    All sounds very intelligent to jo public on the street if we ADD the fact that was my 10th Diploma and my age is 55.

    But let’s not forget this person was dismissed at school age for not being able to gain any formal qualifications, that could lead to a decent job.

    Society and the current education system are designed in a way that does not allow for us ALL to be equals. Some of us may be able to study, others not and others may have EQUALLY valuable skills or like myself find a true purpose later in life that leads to studying and finding the whole thing quite easy.

    I know if we do commit to life and see what it is we can offer humanity, then anything is possible.

    Never did I even contemplate or think that I could study at this level and become a prolific writer on health and well being topics that can bring more awareness.

    This website is dedicated to bringing truth to humanity, but once upon a time when I was lost and had no direction in life, I thought that was my lot for life.

    Today I can honestly say my world is forever about learning and understanding and GETTING ON WITH IT.

  26. Listening to an Australian news channel – Australia Plus and hearing about calls to raise the bar in the teaching profession.

    Comparisons being made to Finland where you do a masters degree in teaching and a discussion about how intelligent you need to be to be a teacher. Calls to attract ‘smarter candidates’ to the profession.

    One experienced teacher had a counter view. She said ‘you might be bright at maths but you could be a hopeless communciator’. And she pointed out it is not an easy career, saying it requires a lot more than IQ.

    I’d take this even further. What if the teaching profession is about connecting with kids, above all else. That grades are an irrelevance if you can’t connect and can’t see and draw out a child’s true qualities and potential.

    If that is even in part true, then we have got this ‘smart’ business messed up in our heads and on our priority list.

  27. This is so true Jacob.

    Why have we created a world where most of us are fighting to have letters before and after our name, so we study and study and study to get that PhD or Dr. title.

    I actually know people who have spent years studying, only to end up jobless, have no skills to run a home, lack total responsibility for their lives and who run from any whiff of taking responsibility.

    Could it be possible that those study years are just a waste of time if they produce someone who is unable to live and attend to the basics of life, such as self-care?

  28. The Week – 1 April 2017

    Fish Oil won’t boost baby’s IQ

    Taking fish oil pills during pregnancy is promoted as an easy way to get a smarter child – but it doesn’t work according to a study in Australia.

    After 7 years, researchers tested the children born to these women and found no evidence that taking the supplements had any impact on their intelligence.

    What sort of Intelligence is spending resources to test out stuff like this when a dose of common sense could cut it and save all the time and money and put it to good use as let’s face it, our world is currently in a big mess?

    What we need to ask is WHY do we even want a smarter child?
    Who is this for and WHY?
    Who sets the bar, the notch that says this is smart and this is not?
    What is it about us humans that is putting value into this form of Intelligence?

    As the author of this blog, I would say society confirmed I was not a smart kid because I could not, for personal reasons achieve the ‘qualifications’ that are needed to fit that category.

    Without the need for any supplements, I can now say that at the age of 55 having studied 10 Diplomas, I am no longer ‘not intelligent’ in this world.
    ADD to this – this website with valuable content that is growing daily, I have made my mark that I am not the un-smart child from the past but way beyond all those words that are mere labels.

    What if the current form of Intelligence that we all subscribe to is not it and that there is so much more and one day all of us will know and live by a completely different Intelligence?

    Is this way off and too whacky or is this the Intelligence I am currently choosing that supports me to live opposite to what is popular intelligence today?

  29. It is very important to question our current education system and what we herald as intelligence.

    In The Week – 2 December 2017

    They are reporting on a poll by Able Skills/Forbes which found that:

    67% millenials who went to university think they did not benefit from their studies.

    35% wish they hadn’t gone to university.

    48% believe they would now be earning more had they not gone to university.

    Are these statistics telling us something?

  30. This is a bit of Citizen Journalism as I call it – on the street observation and reporting.

    At the launderette over the past few years, I have seen all ages, all different nationalities and be it a man, woman or youth – most people are really clueless about how to wash and dry clothes.

    WHY are we never taught the basics at school?
    WHY does education miss this fundamental aspect of our life that would serve us well in years ahead?
    WHY do we get our mothers to do our ironing when we are grown up adults?
    WHY are we still taking our washing to our parents house as it’s easier than learning?
    WHY are some of us not willing to learn about the basics like cleaning a toilet?

    If we think about it – teaching the basics to our kids mean they have a sense of Responsibility to carry out basic everyday tasks. Growing up this means it is needed and not left to parents to do in the household. Once they leave home they would be equipped and be able to pass on the valuable learning to their children.

    We call ourselves Intelligent but what Intelligence forgets to teach us how to cook, clean, make our bed and do the laundry?

    Is there something fundamentally missing in our education as we champion and ra ra all the other accolades, whilst paying zero attention to the above basic stuff in life?

    This blog and this website are questioning our Intelligence of today.

    What we are all choosing to subscribe to?

  31. An article in The Telegraph, 3rd January 2018, talks about how professional sportspeople will push through any and all pain to achieve their goals.

    A professional cricketer talked about how his shoulder hurts even when he brushes his teeth and that there has not been many occasions, when he has bowled pain free but because he didn’t want to miss a game, he played through the pain.

    Sportspeople are taking pain drugs like ibuprofen at the start of matches just to get through with one saying the doctors are good at putting your welfare first and are always on the cautious side with medication and injuries.

    Mankind champions the fact that we are the most intelligent species on this planet.

    What intelligence lies behind the fact that, even though something can hurt us, we are willing to ignore all the signs our bodies are giving us and hurt it even more?

    What intelligence lies behind the fact that a doctor, another championed intelligent person who knows about the human body and is trained to care for and protect people, allows others to harm themselves in the name of sport?

    Is it possible that we humans are not really the intelligent mighty beings that we think we are?

    Is it possible that we have to truly ask ourselves what sort of intelligence we have, if we are prepared to suffer the many years of pain and discomfort for a few years of recognition?

  32. The Week – 24th February 2018

    Letters Page – Overeducated, Unwanted (p.25)

    This is an interesting letter on the rates of young people going to University in the UK.

    The writer states that 50 years ago 5% of school leavers went to university.

    Today he said, this is almost 50% and he is querying whether this is actually needed as the British economy may not actually be in a better state because of young people going to university and getting degrees.

    I was also reading another article today about the nursing profession in the UK and how much it is seriously lacking staff and that these days nurses have to study for three years before becoming qualified, whereas years ago they learnt on the job.

    The writer of the letter speaks of Germany where the numbers of young people going to university is approximately 27% and there is more of a focus on apprenticeships and focused work training for youngsters.

    He says that despite having degrees many graduates have ‘poor basic numeracy, literacy and critical reasoning skills.’

    The letter ends by the writer saying:

    ‘Our obsession with access over quality has led to such a bloated higher education sector that we have the absurd situation of universities competing for students.’

    It all sounds like a real mess to me and considering the number of reports that we have of young people experiencing mental health problems, suicidal thoughts, committing suicide and having eating disorders whilst students at university – is it time that we started to admit that this world of striving and academia that we have created is not working.

    Is it time for us to stop and treat each and every person for who they truly are rather than placing the focus on what one can do and achieve?

    If we lived life simply from our inner-hearts, is this not something we would naturally do?
    A way of living and interacting with others that cannot be found in a textbook, but that lives inside each and everyone of us naturally.

    1. This is great to mention as very few of us would be aware of the facts you have shared in your comment Shevon.

      I recall going to university at the age of 36 and it just all felt wrong but I wanted to make a point and prove to my dad that I was not dumb. I left after the first lesson as the signs were loud and clear for me that university was simply not the truth.

      Next – talking to a high paid what society would call ‘top job’ successful employee of a multi national company who said that they constantly live in anxiety in the belief that they are still not a high achiever, as that is what the father wanted. This person is doing well according to the world, but not really as the need to please a parent remains there daily in the background, pushing and driving to the point of ill health.

      Back to the comment above – I agree with the writer of the news story that the British economy may just be in a better state with less at university.

      We cannot ignore what Shevon is saying about the current state of our youth at university, where it is now public knowledge they are drafting in help for mental health and this is not just in UK.

      Something is not right and it is high time we started questioning our Education systems and the current form of Intelligence that ensures we do not challenge anything, even though I am certain, most of us know something is just not right.

      I call myself a living science and claim that there is another way and as the writer of this blog, it is clear I have no ‘formal’ qualifications after leaving school to speak of.

      Yet if I was truly studied, any scholar would clearly see that there is another Intelligence here because this person with zero letters before or after their name has this website, which is strong and steady and delivering consistently, well researched content and common sense.

      Add to that the study of 10 Diplomas, most of which are recent.

      Add to that an age of 56 and the mind will need to start questioning how come, why and what is going on?

      Is it possible that something is clearly not right with our current form of Intelligence?

      Is it time to at least start to question this now, as our world is not doing great if we are to be deeply honest?

  33. Talking to a professor of law this week, he shared a recent experience he had of intelligence.

    He said someone had asked him a question and he paused. He said an answer then came to him but he didn’t know he knew it and he didn’t know it was correct from his head. He kind of had a sense of its truth and he could feel how powerful and useful it was for the person receiving it.

    He said he realised this is what wisdom is and you could feel his humility with that.

  34. An article in ‘The Week’ magazine, 26th August 2017, asks if University education has become a Ponzi scheme.

    Firstly, what is a Ponzi scheme?

    A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investing scam promising high rates of return with little risk to investors. The Ponzi scheme generates returns for older investors by acquiring new investors. This is similar to a pyramid scheme in that both are based on using new investor’s funds to pay the earlier backers. For both Ponzi schemes and pyramid schemes, eventually there isn’t enough money to go around, and the scheme unravels.

    A reporter from the Observer says it has been a buyers market for university applications this year since the A-Level results were published, colleges have been scrambling to attract students to fill unclaimed places on their courses.

    Apart from fewer 18 year olds taking A-Levels, which has led to a drop in university applications, it seems that many students are now questioning why they should go to university to amass average debts of £50,000.

    According to a reporter in The Daily Telegraph, successive governments have sought to expand university participation in the belief that it benefits everyone. But the fact is, with increased graduate numbers, there has been no improvement in the UK’s productivity and many students have been left with little to show for their degrees. He said: “Studies show that there are entire universities where average graduate earnings ten years after study are less than those of non-graduates.”

    It’s thought that more than three quarters of graduates will never fully repay their debts. The system of tuition fees has become “an unsustainable and ultimately pointless Ponzi scheme, and young people know it.”

    The most recent research shows that graduates do, on average, earn more over their career than non-graduates – £168,000 more in the case of men and £252,000 in the case of women.

    If you take those figures and divide by a conservative average working life of 45 years, that equates to male graduates earning £3,733 per year more than non-graduates and female graduates earning £5,600 per year more than non-graduates.

    With the interest rates being increased this year to 6.1%, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), calculates that students, on average, will have accrued £5,800 in interest charges before they have even graduated.

    In the meantime, university administrators are paying themselves huge salaries.

    So how is this working?

    The universities pay themselves huge salaries.
    They get the money through student loans.
    The students come away with a huge debt and the possibility of not earning more than those that didn’t go to university.
    The degrees are not worth as much these days.
    The students decide it is not worth going to university.
    The universities go on a publicity drive to drum up business saying their university will give you what you need.

    It’s clear to see how this way of doing things is not sustainable.

    The universities are promising high rates of return with little or no risk to themselves and the only ones that suffer are the students.

    Looking as an outsider, where is the intelligence in racking up nearly £50,000 of debt and potentially paying it off for the rest of our working life or having the potential of never paying it off?

    Is it possible that universities don’t really care about what you earn because they know there will always be new students (investors) next year?

    Like any scheme that promises to make you more money, is it possible that we need to apply real intelligence in how we approach them?

    Is it possible that we leave our real intelligence at the door when money comes into the picture?

  35. I remember when I got my ‘A’ level results it felt like the worst day of my life. They weren’t what I’d hoped for or what I was capable of, but the marks reflected the work that I had put in which was not much.

    I was devasted and the only thing that really mattered to me was getting into the university of my choice. I did get in, but I lasted about 3 months in the course.
    By Christmas time, although I was physically present in the classes I had given up.

    The interesting thing is I never found work hard and always enjoyed it. Eventually I left the university course and started working. That was at least 20 years ago and I have to say I really do enjoy work.

    I worked with a team recently where 9 out of 10 people had a degree, except me, but we were all doing the same job. I am not saying that degrees are bad things and they are most definitely needed for some jobs, but when I look back and see how devastated I was, it was unnecessary. Today my life is a success, even without the grades, as I have never studied a degree since.

    Why is my life a success?

    Because I feel richer inside and more content and confident than I could have ever imagined. This has come about by making supportive lifestyle changes that mean I live a much healthier life and that includes taking care of me. I have a value and a regard for myself today, that was not there when I was aged 19 and was going through all of that university stuff. I have learnt a lot about life, myself and others and that understanding really contributes to that rich feeling inside as there is much less judgement of myself and others.

    No piece of paper or qualification could ever have given me that.

  36. The Week – 22 September 2018 Issue – 1194

    The Guardian journalist reports about the learned journals that rip us all off and calls it ‘one of the biggest rip-offs of the modern era’.

    He is talking about the world of academic publishing, which uses one of the most ‘ruthless business models of any industry’.

    What it does is take work created by scientists (invariably with taxpayer backing) and peer-reviewed for free by other scientists; repackages it; then sells it at a vast expense to academics and libraries.

    This means the taxpayers shell out twice – first for the research and then to see the work they have sponsored.

    Scientists need to be informed about all significant developments in their field.
    Every journal that publishes academic papers can establish a monopoly and charge outrageous fees for the transmission of knowledge.

    The trade is dominated by 5 big companies and between them, they publish half of the world’s research.

    However, owing to piracy and growing political demand for the democratisation of knowledge, these lucrative monopolies are starting to lose their grip.

    So what we have here is the intelligentsia of the academia world being exposed for what goes on, which they have allowed.

    The whole thing was pioneered by a famous media giant in publishing and this is of course about money.

    How Intelligent are we really if circulating this knowledge is costing us vast amounts of unnecessary money?

    How Intelligent are we if we have been fooled for this long and just simply accept the costs?

    WHY have we allowed publishers to charge extortionate amounts to regurgitate knowledge in the name of science and evidence for research?

    Having EQUAL access of knowledge may be a start but is there more here to consider?

    Is knowledge the real Intelligence we seek at all costs and dismiss the anecdotal stuff that is real life and lived science – in other words a human experience that matters and counts because it is living and not tested by way of current methods e.g. double blind, closed conditions?

    Is this news story the start of the end of our world of knowledge and how we subscribe to it, thinking it is the one and only way?

    Could it be possible that we are yet to discover what true Intelligence is and how we access that form of Intelligence and where it comes from?

    Could it be possible that true Intelligence is all about people equally and our enhousing planet and every sentient being and all other matter that lives and breathes on this earth plane and beyond?

    Is this type of Intelligence the one that will confirm to us all one day that back in the early 21st century the championing of the current form of Intelligence was deviating humanity away from its source and natural origins?

    Questions to the ready – scholars to study one day in the future.

  37. Our education system is broken.

    I see graduates recruited into posts because they have the degree and the analytic ability, but I also see broken people.

    What have we set as our priority?
    Grades and educational attainment, over the true health and well-being of people?

    In many professions, long gone is the ethos of people starting at the bottom and learning from experienced staff and working their way up. Often people are thrown into positions at the deep end and are expected to swim, without learning the basic strokes.

    It makes no sense to me as on what foundation are they then building?

    If we do not give people the foundational tools needed to do a job and support them to care for themselves, somewhere down the line they will break down.

    Is it possible that there is too much focus on targets, rather than the quality that work is delivered in and the quality of the people who are carrying out the work?

    I feel that there is a call to take this very seriously.

    We have people who are new in posts feeling very anxious as they have no support and guidance, relying instead on knowledge to get them through.

    On a daily basis, we are reading about people in academia – students and professors being ill with mental health conditions and that some are even ending their lives through suicide.

    Just today, in one leading newspaper in the UK there is a report about the extent of bullying in academia.

    https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/sep/28/academics-uk-universities-accused-bullying-students-colleagues

    Something is not right here

    Our education system prepares the workforce of the future, but from all that has been said above – we are in a crisis situation – and if we are honest, we do not have a workforce and young people who can deal with the demanding pressures of employment and life today.

    How long can this ill way of education continue and what will it take for there to be a fundamental change?

    1. I have just read the news story you mention in your comment Shevon.
      It was well worth reading as this is going on and no doubt has been for a long long time.

      https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/sep/28/academics-uk-universities-accused-bullying-students-colleagues

      Reports of what goes under the radar
      How staff are paid off to shut up and never talk about the university
      Extreme pressure where some would falsify data

      There is so much more in this news article, but for the purpose of this comment I feel to focus on the bit about falsify data.
      What does this tell us and how can we rely on data knowing this is going on?

      WHY is there such a pressure for our researchers and how un-natural is all of this?

      We have become a world so reliant on evidence based this and that – it makes me question – are we really reporting the facts or are we under the control of those who fund the study and the results they want?

      Are those who lead in their professor role making it about results, or is the bullying simply a result of the pressure they feel to deliver, as it’s what gives them the recognition they need?
      In other words, they seek to get what they want and will do what it takes.

      As a non academic and the author of this simple honest blog about Intelligence, I have come to realise in my mid 50s that we really do need to question things and question at every level.

      Being scared or fearfull of those in society that we class as people who hold power, is not going to help any of us. We must bring an end to any form of bullying and in fact anything that is harmfull to our fellow brothers, regardless of another’s position in society.

      I for one did not end up staying at university and today I am thankfull.

      What if I was studied by scholars in the future, who would clearly know that not having the current academic qualifications of the day, did not stop me from writing consistently, to the point where it far exceeds what could have been achieved on a university course?

      What if I am presenting another way and another form of Intelligence than most have yet to realise?

      What if my job is not to champion and promote how amazing it is to become a prolific writer with no letters before or after my name, but to simply GET ON WITH IT in the knowing that one day those who are ready will find the writings of Bina Pattel that made sense; at a time when the world was geared to subscribing to a form of Intelligence that needed to be challenged, as man was not really evolving?

      What if each and every one of us are the same as me and have EQUAL skills that need to be valued, that would bring about Truth in our everyday lives and knock out the ill way most of us are currently choosing to live?

  38. The Week – Issue 1170 – 7th April 2019

    Spirit of the Age

    It is been reported by the National Education Union that small children spend so much time on tablets, reception-age pupils have been spotted trying to turn book pages by “swiping left”.

    The news comes after a paediatric occupational therapist blamed technology for the fact that some children are starting school having never learnt to hold a pencil.

    These children are our future.

    Not knowing what age reception-age children were, I found out that pupils in reception are usually aged between four and five. They start school either in the term or in the year in which they reach five, depending on the policy of the Local Education Authority. Reception is the final part of the Early Years Foundation Stage of education.

    Is it possible that we are doing these children a disservice by allowing them to go through their early stages of life without any grounding in the ‘real world’?

    What sort of real world intelligence are these children going to have if all they know is a screen?

    What sort of intelligence do we adults have in allowing our children to be so grossly immersed in this virtual world?

    Never holding a pencil or trying to swipe a page in a book may seem inconsequential but if they are missing out on this, what else are they missing out on?

    Of course technology is important and it can help our lives greatly, but at what cost?

    Having a knowledge of computers is a beneficial skill but if we can’t function in a normal social setting, where is the intelligence in that?

    Exactly why are we allowing our young children to spend so much time on these screens?

    Do we think that this is the most important thing for our children or do we allow this simply to keep them quiet?

    Is it possible that, in allowing our children all of this screen time, instead of increasing their ‘real life’ intelligence, we are actually burying it?

    We are a race of beings that champion intelligence.

    What intelligence are we instilling in our children if they think they can ‘swipe’ a page from a book?

    Is it possible that, allowing children to have their heads stuck in these screens for hours, is not that intelligent?

  39. The Guardian – 17th August 2019

    Marketing Push Pays Off As Record Third of British 18 Year Olds Apply to University

    Almost a third of all British 18 year olds have applied for university this year, spurred on by an aggressive marketing campaign.

    Some universities are resorting to unusual tactics to advertise their course with one university putting slogans stenciled in pink, white and black paint on buildings, which included a listed building. The university claimed that the signage would be removed, but the local authority was unimpressed and threatened to fine the university for what it said was graffiti.

    Other universities have been using incentives such as bursaries offering applicants discounted tuition fees, help with accommodation and travel and a reduced entry tariff.

    Marketing gimmicks are not new: in previous years universities have offered potential students free laptops and tablets as well as financial incentives.

    The increased competition follows changes in 2015, which removed the cap on places that individual universities in England could offer, leading many to expand rapidly and use marketing campaigns to attract and recruit more students.

    This has resulted in counteracting the number of 18 year olds applying to university, which has risen to a record high of 30%.

    Universities have also redoubled their efforts to recruit more students from disadvantaged areas. Both England and Wales have reported a higher proportion of students from low-participation areas accepting places, with the rate in England hitting 18%. But in better-off areas the participation rate remains much higher, with nearly 42% of 18 year olds going to university.

    Is it possible that this shows many 18 year olds would either not go to university or they will go to university when they are older, when they have had the time to weigh up whether university is truly meant for them?

    Is it possible that the only drive for universities now is to get as many students as they can in through their doors?

    Is it possible that, with the increased numbers of students, it will reduce the quality of learning?

    Is it possible that increased numbers of students mean that those that may need extra help can’t get it now because teachers will not be able to give individuals as much attention?

    Is it possible that not all of us are designed for university education?

    For me personally, I consider myself to be fairly academic but I know I would struggle with doing a degree course.

    Is it possible that this marketing campaign just encourages people to go into debt, which may never be paid off?

    Is it possible that it will encourage some to make a decision to go to university, even though they normally wouldn’t have gone?

    Here we have a wholesale sale of intelligence that will put pressure on some to go to university when they don’t need to or even want to.

    Is it possible that this wholesale sale of intelligence is not that intelligent really?

  40. The Guardian – 19th October 2019

    University Pays for Police Patrols after Complaints about Student Parties.

    A university is paying for night-time police patrols in areas around its campus after years of complaints from residents about disruption caused by its growing number of students living in rented houses.

    While many universities already subsidise police activities to safeguard students, this area appears to be the first university to pay for police to protect residents from students.

    The university says it is paying the police force concerned £25,000, which includes dedicated patrols until 2am on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

    A police spokesperson said the move was “a response to issues of antisocial behaviour reported by residents in areas with a significant university student population.”

    Those living in the worst affected areas around the university say the university has failed to rein in the behaviour of its students living in private accommodation and appears to be more interested in deflecting bad publicity than in tackling the problem.

    Until 2002, this area had fewer than 10,000 full-time undergraduates. In 2012 there were 14,000 and this year there are close to 20,000 and 6,000 postgraduates. Almost all of the university’s own accommodation is taken up by first year or international students, leaving the rest to find housing in the private sector.

    A resident that had been living in the area since 2006 said the problem had been acute for the past five year’s as the university had expanded. He has set up a dedicated website for local residents to report the worst cases. He went on to say: “These are not spontaneous events, they are planned. In some cases students hire an events company to set up big speakers in their living room and have bouncers and doormen.”

    The university’s pro-vice-chancellor for student experience said: “The university takes very seriously its responsibility to be a good neighbour and manage the impact of our students on the community.”

    The university said it also had a dedicated community liaison team working with local residents and community groups, and it helped students prepare for moving into private rented accommodation, including giving advice on how to be considerate neighbours.

    It said it received about 230 complaints in the last academic year. Many cases were dealt with by warnings via email, but 10 groups were fined £150 a person, while 15 households were required to attend “impact awareness” classes and 27 had to write letters of apology.

    I can see the necessity of why it would be relevant for the university to want to help students prepare for moving into rented accommodation however giving advice on how to be considerate neighbours, that, I cannot see.

    Assuming the students haven’t been living on an isolated island by themselves, surely they have already been neighbours and know how to conduct themselves?

    In this day and age, what is the meaning of a university?

    Is it a place where we go to study a high-level education to obtain a degree or is it becoming synonymous with alcohol-laden parties, binge drinking, drunkenness and general bad behaviour?

    I am pretty sure that all or almost all of these students would not have been allowed to act this way while they were living at home with their parents – so why start now?

    And what about the residents in all of this? All this stress and suffering because a few people want to have a good time.

    These students are going to be our future. They are the next CEO’s, politicians, bosses, leaders, innovators and inventors.

    They are supposed to be the so-called ‘intelligent ones’ among us.

    We like to think we are the most advanced and intelligent species on this earth.

    Is this really the best way to use our intelligence?

  41. Just talking to a waiter today who has been telling me how fed up he is after spending £31,000 to study Business Management and no job after.

    Where is it that we think Study = Top Job of our Dreams

    Do they really exist?

    These jobs are pictures in our minds that leave us convinced that this is what we want.

    This guy is resentful and bitter because life has not dished him out what he wants, as the reality is far from the big bucks he wants to earn from having studied.

    How many of us are even aware of how expensive studying actually is?

    Is it worth it or is there another way if this type of story is quite normal – no job after the studying?

    Where is this intelligence that tells us to spend money we do not have in the first place to study and then we have a big debt that needs paying off and our job cannot cover it as we have living expenses, etc., etc., ?

    What would common sense say to us?

    Not to spend money on something if we do not have it
    OR consider and be honest about WHY we want to study in the first place?

    What if getting into debt soon after studying is not the real and true answer?

    What if there is a plan for us and how we can serve humanity and it is not studying and accruing debt?

    What if all the intelligence in the world does not give us the wisdom our inner heart already has?

    What if our so called intelligence of today is not helping us to be who we truly are, as it is designed to move us away from our essence – our innate being-ness?

    In other words, we cannot be the real and true us inside as the head dictates and the body is saying this is not the truth.

    Back to the bartender waiter who we could say has given up on life and most certainly on fellow humans. He spends his days in comparison and is jealous of those he thinks have more than him based on material acquisitions.

    We had a chat and I put him straight and told him to focus on the great things in his life like his young family and the fact that he is very articulate and has a great way of communicating with the general public.

    My take is and I told him that too much emphasis was put on getting the qualification above all else and this is why he is feeling awful now as it did not deliver the goods.

    In other words, his sole motivation and goal was a top job with a high salary.

    I wonder how many more of us in the world chase the dream in our heads and then follow it through only to be disappointed, living in regret thereafter.

  42. Independent – 22nd June 2020

    ‘The Poo Lagoon’: Farmers Dump Slurry at Quarry to Deter Lockdown Visitors
    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/blue-lagoon-buxton-quarry-slurry-poo-harpurs-hill-tourists-a9578821.html

    Farmers have been forced to spread manure around a disused quarry in Derbyshire to deter thousands of tourists who believe they are visiting a “blue lagoon”. They descended on the village, near Buxton, during the recent sunny weather, attracted by pictures online of a sparkling sky-blue pool.

    But the water’s pH is high enough to cause skin damage and the pool is full of rusty metal from wrecked cars.

    Despite attempts by the borough council, the fire brigade and the police to keep away, they still came amid what a local councillor described as a “perfect storm” of the UK’s coronavirus lockdown and exceptionally good weather.

    The councillor said that some had driven up to two hours to see the so-called lagoon, which sits on private land.

    Now residents have persuaded farmers to spread a mix of cow and pig waste around the pool to make it less attractive. A local news reporter wrote that “the foul stench of slurry hits you as soon as you reach the first gate”.

    Residents subsequently dubbed the site “the poo lagoon”.

    The residents’ group wrote a post on a social media site saying: “Action has been taken after a huge amount of visitors trespassing and travelling from all over the country to see the quarry, also an allegedly illegal rave was planned for this weekend. And with locals receiving abuse and continued drug use, and visitors also leaving huge amounts of litter residents have had enough.”

    The councillor said: “The problem has been rumbling on for more than a decade” and he could understand the residents frustrations. “From the resident’s point of view, it’s not a tourist attraction; it’s a disused quarry. There’s no facilities there, no shops, no car parks, no toilets. They feel as though they’re under siege, to an extent.”

    He added, while most visitors are reasonable and merely curious, others left behind burnt-out barbecues, nitrous oxide canisters and other waste.

    At the end of May, the council poured black dye into the water to make it less ‘Instagram-worthy’ and put up new signs warning of how dangerous the site is.

    When I read or hear stories like this, although I shouldn’t be, I am surprised about the intelligence people show in these circumstances.

    I heard something quite a long time ago:

    ‘A person is intelligent but people are dumb’.

    I feel that this is only partly true – yes, when people come together, all bets are off the table as to what a crowd of people will do but, ‘people’ only become ‘people’ by each individual person making that choice to go somewhere or do something.

    So, is it possible it could be said like this?

    ‘A person can be intelligent but people can be dumb’.

    Leaving the issue of litter and waste aside, what would actually compel someone to go to a place where there is nowhere to park, no facilities, no amenities, the water that they are probably going to swim in is full of rusty metal and the pH of the water level could cause skin damage?

    Then we have all the inconvenience to the local residents, the extra traffic, the extra noise, the extra pollution, the inconvenience to the farmers, the inconvenience and cost to the council for cleaning up the site, the involvement of the fire brigade and the police.

    All of this time, money and resources simply so we can ‘have a nice day out’.

    Knowing that we know all of this and we know this because it has been clearly advertised as such, we still, consciously, make a decision to visit this place.

    Why?

    What intelligence is leading us to make these decisions?

  43. Dr. Max Pemberton, an NHS Psychiatrist gives his take about the government being on a mission to recruit 20,000 new police officers who have graduate degrees.

    Dr. Max is saying police officers should not be required to have a degree and the idea that those with one are somehow better equipped for policing is a fallacy.

    He goes on to say that the same principle was applied to nursing but when it comes to working with people, there are things that you simply cannot learn from a text book, like care and compassion or how to de-escalate a situation.

    We have lost the hands on approach and practical application with over-professionalising of vocational jobs and ended up with more people with debt who go “by the book”.

    I can talk from lived experience in my days within the banking world. Some people at the top decided that graduates could come in and just learn fast and take over with zero experience. They came in at grade 6, which was Assistant Branch Manager. They were expected to appraise staff, carry out mortgage and investment interviews and basically become a know all, as their next job was as branch manager somewhere in the country and be expected to move, regardless of their personal family situation.

    They had people like me who worked up the grades and been around for 10 years helping them out as they really struggled to grasp what we had which was called “experience”. I can distinctly recall a posh just left university guy, who lacked social skills and found it super uncomfortable addressing older women who were staff members. He even confided and told me he really had no idea how to carry out his new role and that his degree in music had nothing to do with financial services. Before you knew it he was off to run his own branch up North and in comes another fresh graduate, even more clueless and so it went on.

    Senior management would never admit that they had got it all wrong and instead they saw long term staff members like myself, who knew the job inside out just leaving, as the next position was taken by a graduate with no experience. After leaving the job, I kept in touch as I had many friends in different branches and this recruiting graduates went on, but eventually they realised the mess they created – experienced staff gone and what they call “intelligent” staff running branches not really grasping or knowing what was needed.

    The question is – what is the Intelligence that thinks recruiting graduates is the answer?

    As Dr. Max summarises at the end of his article – “to think insight is deemed of less value because one does not have a certificate is ludicrous”.

  44. Daily Mail – 14 November 2020

    A drugs kingpin in the UK learned his trade from dealers living in university halls of residence, has now been jailed for running the country’s largest “county lines” operation.

    A drugs runner for 2 men who studied at the University in the North of England, he went on to set up his own operation and flooded the town with drugs in 2018. After the deaths of 14 people over a 6 week period, police launched a major investigation and as a result 29 people have been sentenced resulting in more than a 100 years in jail.

    At the age of 22 he gets a 9 year jail sentence.
    Then what ?

    Will he change or will he have time inside to find a way to continue his lucrative business as the demand for drugs is on the rise with no signs of change, other than more demand?

    Will he learn the lessons or will the temptation of a lifestyle that comes with drug dealing continue to attract him?

    Will he find other drug dealers to hang out with in prison life?

    Will he get out in half the time as the UK justice system has a way of shortening sentences for good conduct etc., ?

    Dear World

    An important question to ask and appropriate for this blog –
    What so-called intelligence is running the show here?

    We call people who go to university Intelligent and yet in our premises of higher education we have drug dealers operating the largest county lines operation in the country.

    Do we need to question our current form of Intelligence or ignore it because the masses still want to think this form of so-called Intelligence has all the answers?

    WHY do we avoid the obvious – the common sense aspect in any given situation?
    WHY do we accept what we are told when it comes to people we think are Intelligent?

    Worth pondering on these 2 questions as what we do know is something is not right.

  45. A university in the UK has defended their decision to offer training sessions to help students who have become involved in sex work.

    The University bosses said they were acting “responsibly” by offering students advice on how to stay safe in sex work, after the Minister for Higher and Further Education stated they were “deeply concerned that any university is legitimising a dangerous industry which thrives on the exploitation of women.”

    Apparently, the minister continued to say that “this course seeks to normalise selling sex, which has no place in our universities. It is known that this sector can target young women and students and trap them in the role. Universities should be focusing their energy on raising awareness of the dangers of this amongst their student body and supporting women”.

    Dear World

    SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT – we all know and can sense that.

    We say we are intelligent but we never question where on earth our intelligence is coming from?

    Has university life become difficult financially and so sex working is a fast and easy option or is there more at play?

    Is there a demand for young women as the majority of females at university are going to be – is this what the punters are asking for and the girls simply supply to the call?

    WHY do young students need sex work in the first place?

    Do they see others making fast money and getting what they want in terms of having more and that appeals to them?

    Are they feeling the lack and internal poverty and this sex work stuff feels like a ticket out of there, but they have not considered how it will all end?

    Is this in some way telling us that it comes at a price – a cost to the body of the woman who sells it for money to get a return, which could be the funding of fees, illegal substances or online shopping – we don’t know exactly.

    What would their granny have to say about this, if we are to be honest?

    If a country’s official government minister is not in agreement with adult sex workers training sessions for university students and the university considers itself to be responsible – where do we go?

    What if our universities stuck to their day job only and did the teaching on their curriculum and left all other areas to the experts in their given field?

    For example, employ a well-being consultant to present on well being and how to live human life, away from home (perhaps the first time for many) and then direct them to the appropriate resources for other symptoms like anxiety and depression, which seem to be at high levels in places like higher education.

    Fostering, endorsing or aligning to sex working in any form is abuse and we do all know that. Whilst we may not be able to directly stop it, we can find another way to get to the root of WHY any young woman would want to be paid for sex. There has to be a lot more going on beneath the surface that needs to be investigated and explored so that we do not end up fuelling a new type of sex industry – university students.

  46. University College London – 29 September 2023

    https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2023/sep/increased-risk-depression-and-anxiety-when-higher-education

    Increased risk of depression and anxiety for young people in higher education, according to a new study led by University College London researchers.

    This study is the first to find evidence of higher levels of depression and anxiety compared with peers of the same age who are not in higher education.

    By the age of 25, the difference had disappeared between graduates and non-graduates.

    The association persisted after adjustment for potentially confounding factors including, socioeconomic status, parents’ education and alcohol use.

    “In recent years in the UK, we have seen an increase in mental health problems among young people.”
    Dr. Gemma Lewis – Lead Author UCL Psychiatry

    “This increase in risk has not been found in studies in the past and the author states that if the association has only recently emerged, it may be related to increased financial pressures and worries about achieving high results in the wider economic and social context.

    We would have expected higher education students to have better mental health than their non-student peers as they tend to be from more privileged backgrounds on average, so these results are particularly concerning.”
    Dr. Tayla McCloud – First Author UCL Psychiatry

    Dear World

    While we wait for more research as that is usually what is said at the end of every study as there is always more to understand, can we consider a few important points.

    Firstly, if we expect a certain cohort – in this case those society class as ‘privileged’ then we are going to find out that they are actually no different to those who are classed as ‘under privileged’. Our ‘expectations’ are going to set us up to have a certain image, perception or picture of what we want, but we are falling far short of this when we take a reality check.

    If we ‘expect’ better mental health because those that are ‘privileged’ end up in higher education then we need to examine closely how these youth were raised and how they are living life everyday.

    Lifestyle choices are not suddenly made the moment they enter higher education. They would already be in place as a regular behaviour. For example, late night most nights, no regular sleep routine or rhythm, screen time throughout the day, social media checking and or video gaming, eating junk foods, drinking alcohol ‘socially’ etc.

    Not taking deep care of the body or being sensible about spending money or actually how to budget and live within their means would all be too much for most in higher education and adults in general.

    Not feeling equipped to deal with what life is asking us to deal with and instead living loose and that means distractions and other wayward behaviours, which are irresponsible means we are going to withdraw away from life and this could give rise to that jitter we feel in the core of our body every day when we wake up and we do everything to not feel it and if that means more distractions, caffeine, copious amounts of sugar, alcohol or whatever everyone else now sees as ‘normal’ then that is what will happen.

    Not feeling great about the choices we are making, not seeking support or using apps to get through our days instead of talking to someone could give rise to a withdrawal from engaging with others and this could set us up for depression.

    The above is not talk from a medic or expert but a common sense elder in the community who is the founder and author of this website.

    We call ourselves intelligent species and of those that make it to higher education, many will continue to even more education and yet we seem to have an increased risk for anxiety and depression. How can this be if we are supposedly the most ‘intelligent’ as we are in higher education?

    Do we need to question everything about ‘higher education’ as it is not delivering students with the much needed basic 101 tools to equip our youth of today with how to live daily life?

    On that note – let us be reminded of physician burnout and physician suicide.
    Something is not right when our most highly educated intelligent caring profession has burnout and suicide and both are increasing.

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