How Do You Define Intelligence?

I met an incredibly intelligent man once, or so I thought. He graduated at the top of his class from a prestigious law school and went on to start a very successful business. These two things made me think he was intelligent, but indeed I was wrong.

I spoke to him once about a documentary I watched on the reality of how many plastic containers we use that end up polluting not only our own bodies but the entire ecosystem of our planet. Upon speaking to him about this documentary and sharing that I am making a conscious choice to stop purchasing plastic water bottles and instead refill my glass one. 

He immediately got into defense mode, and began to make it very clear that he will NOT do the same. I was not telling him to do anything, I was simply sharing that this is something that I am choosing to do for my love of the planet and all living beings on it. Yet he continued to go on and say, “I will always use plastic water bottles simply because they make my life more convenient.”

In that moment I realized that intelligence is not defined by how much we know, how well we can do on a test, how hard we work to achieve a goal, or how much money we can produce as a result. But true intelligence is the ability to become self aware of how each and everyone of your choices affects you, the world and all living beings on it and actually care enough to make choices that will make the world a better place.

Do you agree?