SDS 430: Intellect and Intelligence

(00:15):
Welcome back to the SuperDataScience podcast, everybody. Super excited to have you back here on the show. In a couple of previous episodes, I mentioned that I will be stepping down as the host of the SuperDataScience podcast and Jon Krohn will be taking over starting from January, 2021. 

(00:34):
Something I’m very excited about in terms of you hearing more from Jon, I really believe in him and I’m a big admirer of his character, but I haven’t addressed the question on why I’m making this step down. Why this change? What’s going on? And I would like to talk a bit about that today here. 

(00:59):
But before we dive into that, I want to address the topic of intellect versus intelligence, because it’s important to understand the whole reason why. 

(01:17):
So intellect, intelligence, there’s lots of definitions out there. I’m going to share a definition that my coach shared with me, and also a definition that is accepted in spiritual circles. Bear in mind, spiritual doesn’t mean religious; it just means understanding yourself, understanding meditation, understanding peace and calm and things like that. 

(01:48):
So, intelligence and intellect. Intellect, and this is the way I interpret it, this is the way I understand these two concepts: Intellect is when you use your brain, your mind, your reasoning, your logic, all those things. Intelligence is when you don’t use any of those things and you just have the answer. It’s hard to imagine, but I’m sure every single person listening to this podcast has had a scenario, an episode like that in life when you just know. You can call it intuition, you can call it guidance from the universe, you can call it intelligence, you can call it an inner knowing. But in a certain scenario, you know what you need to do, or you know something about… Something is true. Right? You know that something is true. It’s just an inner feeling. And you can reason in a way, you can explain it, try to explain with logic, but even if you don’t apply any logic, any intellect, it’s still there. It’s just there. 

(03:00):
That’s maybe how you met the love of your life. Maybe you knew that you need to walk down this street and not that street. Or maybe that’s how you avoided a accident or maybe saved your own life. Maybe you knew that you should stop at a certain point and then a car passed really fast in front of you or something fell off a roof right in front of you. Or maybe you knew that you need to call somebody and you didn’t know why, but you call them, and then they were in trouble and they needed your help. 

(03:37):
If you think back in your life, we’ve all had events, episodes like that in life. And that’s an example of intelligence at work; this inner knowing or this guidance that just has nothing to do with our logical reasoning, our brains. We can reason all we want, but it’s impossible to get to those conclusions because they just don’t exist in the realm of intellect. 

(04:09):
And for example, the way to think of it, a metaphor for this, and this one comes from a video I just watched by Sadhguru. It’s called Intelligence and Intellect. You can find it on YouTube. And basically, if you take a foot-scale, or basically a ruler, a ruler is a good instrument for measuring your height, or maybe measuring clothes that you’re creating if you’re a tailor. But a ruler is not a good instrument for measuring the ocean. Right? You’re going to be frustrated every time. You’re not going to get any results because simply, it’s not the right instrument. 

(04:47):
Similar thing here. So intellect has a time and place. It’s a very powerful tool, conscious mind, conscious thought, reasoning. That, in a nutshell, is intellect, and it’s a very powerful tool for us as humans to use in certain circumstances. But at the same time, it’s not the right tool to use always, all the time. And I’m sure we have all also, listening to this, have encountered situations where you’re using your intellect to rationalize something, but even though it makes sense, it doesn’t work out in real life. Or, it feels wrong or it keeps being more and more frustrating, again, because we’re using the wrong tool for the wrong job. 

(05:36):
A way to imagine intelligence, it can be hard. For me, it’s hard to think about it often. And a way to imagine it, it was also a comment from the same video towards the end. I’ll just actually read the quote, here: “Open a window and simply look. You will see life the way it is and not the way you think it is.” Too often in life, we get caught up thinking about things and the way they are, rather than just seeing them for what they are. And that is the difference between intellect and intelligence. 

(06:13):
And this is a good segue to what I started this episode with, the reason why I have decided to step down as a podcast host of this show. And from an intellect perspective, if I think about it, I should continue to be the podcast host. I’m getting quite good at it. I’m trying really hard. I enjoy it a lot. I know the podcast can grow more. I meet exciting people. I really love serving you in the audience and bringing insights and great ideas and thoughts. I love sharing all these things. And I have all these logical reasons, all these intellectual reasons why I would want to, or I should want to continue to be the host of this podcast. 

(07:09):
But deep down inside, I feel that I’ve had a good run, and that it is time to move on. I have some personal goals that I want to fulfill, and I feel I’ve learned a lot about myself in doing this podcast. I’ve grown, I’ve explored different spirituality paths, I’m keen to maintain my momentum. But those are, again, logical reasons. I can come up with lots of logical reasons, lots of intellectual reasons of why I should not continue being the host of the podcast, and I should move on, and what I will do with my time, or the reasons why I will be moving on. 

(07:51):
But really, it’s not an intellect decision, it’s a feeling. Just deep down inside, I developed this feeling a few months ago, I think, or a few months ago it was, that it’s time. That’s it. As simple as that, that it’s time to step down as the host and find a replacement. This decision, unfortunately, I know it would make things much easier if it were easy to explain with logic, but unfortunately it is just a feeling. It’s just an inner knowing, like a confident, grounded, inner knowing that I have right now. 

(08:31):
And moreover, another interesting application of this intellect versus intelligence, when I decided that, when I accepted and I recognized this inner knowing, I thought of who … Who should I ask to be the host? Who should I invite? And without thinking, it just came to me like that. Out of, again, nowhere; maybe it took a day or two, but just by observing, listening, I just knew it should be Jon Krohn. I don’t know why. I don’t know what the extent is. I can come up with logical reasons; that he’s got some experience with podcasting. He is an educator, I really like his character. He’s a nice guy. He really wants to help people. A lot of logical reasons. 

(09:23):
But again, I can come up with a lot of logical reasons, intellectual reasons why I should have not just jumped into inviting Jon, and I should have considered at least three different people and looked at three different people’s backgrounds and listened to three different people’s podcasts and chosen from all these options and so on. 

(09:46):
But that’s, again, intellect. And in this case, I had and I still have this inner knowing that it should be Jon, and I don’t need to consider other people. I don’t need to look for options. I don’t need to make this an intellect decision. I don’t need to use a ruler for measuring the ocean. This is not the right tool right now. And so, yeah, as soon as I knew that, I just asked Jon to get on a call. We chatted, and I offered him this role as the host of the SuperDataScience podcast. He said yes, and haven’t looked back since. I am super happy with how things are going. 

(10:29):
I’m sure he’ll do a fantastic job. In fact, I’m not just sure; I know. That’s the difference between intellect and intelligence. And I know he will do a fantastic job. I know that people will love the podcast. And maybe at the start, some people, some listeners will not be happy about the change, but that’s life. Unfortunately, sometimes things change. And that’s why I would love to ask you if you can have some patience and listen to Jon and allow him to take over the podcast and really open up as a great host, which I’m sure he will become over time. I mean, he already is, but I’m sure he’ll become even better. But again, that’s a decision that every listener needs to make for themself, and I wish for you to make that decision from your intelligence rather than intellect, and see how you feel about the podcast after this change. 

(11:30):
Yeah, so that’s intellect versus intelligence. I’ve noticed in my life that I have started, more and more, allowing myself to follow intelligence and follow this inner feeling rather than focus everything on intellect. And it’s removed a lot of pain and frustration from my life. In fact, the more I listen to my inner feeling, the less hesitation, the less looking back and second guessing, the less stress I have in my life, and it’s been really nice. And I’m going to continue following that, and I wish for you to try to explore that, as well. 

(12:14):
I think as data science professionals, we can get really caught up in thinking that we can logic our way through absolutely anything. And it is true you can logic your way, but sometimes you just know the answer; you don’t need to logic through, and sometimes logic will deliver the wrong answer. Which, it might be hard to see that intelligence delivers the right answer right here and now, but in the long run, there’s a reason for it. 

(12:43):
So that’s my two cents, and that’s on intellect versus intelligence. And again, I’m not an expert in this by any measure; just my interpretation of it. I’m sure there’s lots of sources. You can find a bit more about it online. And of course, we’ll link to the video I mentioned in the show notes. And that’s also the reason why I’m stepping down from the SuperDataScience podcast as the host. I wanted to say, there will be one more episode. Yeah, there’ll be one more episode with my learnings from 2020, which I’m excited to record in the next few days. 

(13:19):
But right now, I would like to say a huge thank you to you if you’ve listened to 100 episodes, or if you listened to one episode, if this is your first episode. I just want to say a huge thank you for being here, for sharing your time, for listening to my conversations with guests and also these individual episodes, these FiveMinuteFridays, which in most cases go over five minutes. And thank you for that, for staying here. 

(13:49):
As I mentioned before, I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’ve explored so many different things while being the host of this podcast. It’s been an incredibly fantastic and rewarding experience, and I am forever grateful to you for listening. I’m grateful to the guests for coming on the show, but I’m also grateful to you for listening, because knowing that you’re listening has helped me push myself and keep going and invite guests and record these episodes. 

(14:27):
So, yeah. Thank you very much, and I’m very excited about Jon taking over this podcast. I’m sure you will love him. I’m sure you will learn a lot from him, and he’ll give this podcast also a fresh new voice, I really hope for several years, at the very least, where you’ll be able to learn from Jon, you’ll be able to understand his perspectives, and you’ll also witness his growth as a podcast host and see where he will take the podcast and where he will take you. 

(15:04):
And on that note, I look forward to seeing you back here next time. Until then, happy analyzing.