Think Outside The Box: Fluid Intelligence And The Ability To Question Your Own Beliefs

The ability to change, to inspire others and to seed ideas that will contribute to make our planet a better place, are very close to those reading these pages. Sharewood and my idea of helping independent publishers stems from the very desire to help others, helping them become their own bosses and agents of change.

Photo montage: Robin Good - Image sources: Thesupe87

A few of you may already know that the key reason they are now here is to change agents ushering the rest of us in a new paradigm for humanity.

I think that change starts from each one of us and from the simple actions and choices we make daily.

To change the world you have got to start from yourself. If you can't or you are unwilling to question and change your own assumptions and beliefs, then you should not expect the rest of the world to be so open to your passionate crusades.

Fluid intelligence has little to do with IQ or "book" intelligence. Fluid intelligence is "the ability to step outside of our beliefs and consider information which does not fit into our previously accepted view of reality."

Given the level of social, cultural and media conditioning we have all unconsciously received, this is a information-computing trait of your brain that would be worth cultivating for mere strategic reasons. If you can't step outside your own computing box or you can't question the very assumptions that determine the way your perceive life all around you, how can you ever expect to make change happen?

Fluid intelligence is all about not getting stuck with one set of ideas for life. Maintaining in good health the flexibility of your reasoning and mental computing system, today is as critical as periodically changing the oil in your car engine.

Questioning reality, being critical of mainstream media reporting and news, asking deeper and uncomfortable questions about the truth why of some of our major problems can only lead you to know more and to be able to cope with more.

Taking reality for granted, as a given objective "thing" sitting out there, is the equivalent if signing now your testament to life and your surrender to realize yourself, as a true participant, in the wonderful game of life going on on this planet.

Cultivating, understanding and nurturing open-mindedness is the greatest safeguard to the very threats and possible disasters we are running into head on at this very time. The enemy is us.

Intro by Robin Good

Fluid Intelligence

by Fred Burks and the WantToKnow Team

In exploring personal and global transformation, it is important to talk about the concept of fluid intelligence in relation to the ability to grow and expand our awareness.

Fluid intelligence has little to do with IQ or "book" intelligence.

It is rather the ability to step outside of our beliefs and consider information which does not fit into our previously accepted view of reality.

Your deepest beliefs and conceptions about life and the world are to some degree conditioned by your childhood experiences, your education, mass media, and various other external influences.

An individual's level of fluid intelligence can be determined based on the degree to which he or she is able to let go of previously held conceptions on encountering reliable information or experiences which show these conceptions to be mistaken or overly simplistic.

At the other end of the spectrum from fluid intelligence is static intelligence.

When those with a high degree of static intelligence encounter information which seriously questions the established paradigm, they attempt to discredit the new information using laws and principles previously agreed upon under the old paradigm. If they fail at this, the new information is then deemed not worthy of study and discarded. At worst, the new evidence is actively attacked as being irrational or unscientific, even though it may be easily verified.

Scientists with a high degree of fluid intelligence who are attracted to study matters outside the current paradigm are often labeled kooks or wacky by those operating with static intelligence. Yet history shows us that it is often these "kooky" scientists who go on to make the most astonishing discoveries which pave the way for entire new areas of study which were once considered nonsense. Einstein, Galileo, and Pasteur were all ridiculed at times by adherents to the old paradigm of their day for their amazing discoveries which ushered in entire new branches of knowledge.

All of us are sometimes resistant to letting go of old beliefs, while at other times we are excited to explore new ways of thinking and being.

Static intelligence and fluid intelligence are but two ends of a continuum, and each of us may shift to varying points on that continuum over time.

In recent years, many key pioneers have been successful in operating within the modern scientific paradigm with a very high degree of fluid intelligence. These courageous individuals have used accepted scientific principles and careful research to challenge old paradigm beliefs.

Below are a few shining examples of this pioneering group:

• Stanford University's neuropsychologist Karl Pribram and his in-depth studies of the holographic qualities of consciousness
• University of Connecticut Psychologist Kenneth Ring who completed breakthrough studies of near-death experiences.
• Dr. Hal Puthoff and Russell Targ (see his excellent paper and web site) of Stanford Research Institute in their copious studies of remote viewing and nonlocality.
• UCLA's Valerie Hunt in her systematic studies of human energy fields and measurable psychic phenomena.
• The pioneering cell biology research of Dr. Bruce Lipton showing that contrary to popular belief genes do not determine life, but rather our perception of the environment controls gene activity.
• Princeton's PEAR Laboratory (now closed) which established the ability of consciousness to interact with physical matter.
• Robert Monroe, founder of the Monroe Institute which teaches methods to achieve out of body experiences and remote viewing. (See his landmark book Far Journeys.)

The many pioneers of quantum physics who are finding that for deeper understanding of our world, it may be impossible to separate the physical world from consciousness.

Two classics which challenge static scientific paradigms using reliable, verifiable research from hundreds of scientific studies are the books The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot and The Field by Lynne McTaggart.

The paradigm-busting film What the Bleep Do We Know!? covers similar territory in a very fun way.

I highly recommend these engaging books and film for those who are interested in exploring the work of scientists who are promoting greater awareness of ourselves and our universe, and helping people to develop more fluidity in consciousness.

In the old paradigm, static intelligence generally does not acknowledge the existence of a non-physical consciousness apart from a brain.

In the new paradigm, quantum physics is increasingly acknowledging that consciousness may be the most critical factor in what determines reality.

Static intelligence places high priority on stability and security.

Fluid intelligence welcomes change and even chaos as potential vehicles for personal and global spiritual growth.

Originally written by Fred Burks and all of the great WantToKnow.info team and first published as
Transformation and Fluid Intelligence.

Explore these empowering websites coordinated by the nonprofit PEERS network:
Reliable, verifiable information on major cover-ups

Every person in the world has a heart
Building a Global Community for All
Strengthening the Web of Love that interconnects us all

The entire WantToKnow.info website provides an abundance of rich material which challenges you to explore more expansive and integrated ways of living together through stretching beyond your old beliefs and conceptions.