Intelligence
“Society has told us our value equates to the education you acquire, and the education will transmute into a level of importance in society the level of importance dictated by your emolument. In return, the purpose for being is lost. Our very nature is manipulated into utilization, and the essence of our individuality dissipates beyond recognition.”-Ashmita Arora
Society has long impressed upon us a notion, that the value of an individual is directly proportional to the education we acquire. Our worth as individuals is measured by how well we absorb the teachings of institutions, by the degrees we collect, and by our ability to conform to a controlled narrative. This education, designed not for the expansion of the mind but for the very containment of it. Knowledge is falsely measured by the memorization of facts. Intelligence, once understood as the capacity for deeper thought and creativity, is now reduced to one’s ability to regurgitate information on command.
We are shaped into beings who learn to store and reproduce, rather than think and expand. We spend our lives pursuing these predefined goals, never stopping to ask whether they resonate with who we truly are. Perhaps it’s unnecessary to look deeper, as what is valuable, we are told, has already been defined.
At some point the value system becomes entwined with financial gain. Our sense of individuality is sacrificed at the feet of financial worth. We are made to believe that what we earn determines who we are, further binding us to a cycle of external validation, leaving no room for internal exploration. In truth we are merely cogs within societal machinery. The deeper we commit to this model, the more importance is placed upon our ability to conform to these rigid structures of thought.
In this pursuit, our individuality slowly dissolves. We become versions of ourselves that do not reflect our deeper truth, but rather, a reflection of what we’ve been conditioned to become. The person we might have been, the one aligned with our own sense of purpose, is lost beneath layers of programming. We still take shape however, not by the infinite possibilities within us but by the limited paths deemed acceptable; a far cry from our true potential.
These systems however that have been built to contain us cannot hold the infinite potential that lies within. To know oneself is to tap into a source that is boundless, to live in a way that honors the unique path we are each meant to walk. This path cannot be dictated by external forces and can only be found within.
We must challenge the narratives that have been imposed upon us. We must seek out the deeper truths that lie beneath the surface. Reclaim the individuality that has been lost. For only when we reject the illusion of value that has been handed to us, can we begin to live in alignment with our true nature. Only then can we realize that the source of all fulfillment, of all wisdom, has been within us all along, waiting patiently for us to turn away from the noise and return to the silence within.
