Result of being too bored at work,
27th May 2012, Tampines Safra

Googled 1) short attention span in reading. 2) Why do people dislike reading. 3) What is intelligence. 4) Are iq tests reliable.

Then typed the following on memopad of my phone and decided to transfer it over because I might lose my memos again, because these have always been floating around my head. Lastly, because I dislike voicing out my opinions for fear that they might be 'wrong' and will be judged, I will make myself put up my "completely unpolished thoughts" on the internet. Hah, take that, myself.

(Anyway, upon hindsight I realised my my mind still works in that extremely jumbled up manner haha)

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What exactly is the debate on 'what is intelligence' about, and why is it needed? Iq tests measure intelligence based on society's standards, the form of intelligence the society needs. Maybe there will never be a definition to 'intelligence', because intelligence comes in too many forms. We can continually discover different forms of intelligence, and 'rank' people of such abilities, but is there actually a point?

I shall digress a little. What, in the first place, brought up this debate? If debates arise out of emotional reactions, and the need to voice out arises out of emotional needs, does the 'right' and 'wrong' matter, and isn't 'right' and 'wrong' already biased (since it's kind of, emotional)? Which truth can actually be trusted? Which kinds of information can be trusted? In actual fact, none. There is no truth on earth. More of scientific facts, yes (and maybe). But not our opinions on things.

So the only way to go about, is for people to choose the school of thought they believe in. The purpose of debates, is to give us a chance to be a voice in the world, to find people that agree with us. Also, maybe a debate isn't about 'winning' or 'losing'. If you end up 'buying' someone else's argument, it does not mean you have lost. It means the person has drawn more distinctions you haven't previously known, and upon realising these distinctions, you 'buy' it.

The question is, why do we always want to 'win' debates by wanting others to accept our point of view? So what if they buy our argument and so what if they don't? Winning or losing does not mean anything, following the point made of the previous paragraph.

So what is the real reason as to why we want to debate?
1) Talk to people which will help us draw distinctions
2) Feel satisfaction in knowing we have helped someone else draw distinctions, more satisfaction if they buy our argument.

However, if it happens that the other person really does make more sense than us, most of us would buy the other person's argument. Thus, debates are for BOTH reasons, not just one.

Note to self: why do I always feel like things only have ONE reason, and not a mixture? Why do I always feel the strong need for things to lean towards ONE side? Which experiences have shaped me and which part of my upbringing caused me to think this way?

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I think this is average and really wish I were better with words.