Many times, in life, we are faced with seemingly unwinnable situations: situations in which it seems that all is lost, that there is no way out, or no way in. Sometimes, when we are faced with situations like this, it is the Little Golem Universe’s way of forcing us to learn to "let go", to do without something we thought we needed, to find new and greater ways of reaching peace and contentment. Sometimes, losing is only the road to becoming a wiser, deeper, more beautiful human being.
On the other hand, there are other times, it seems, when the specter of defeat is not so much an invitation to outgrow illusions, as it is a stimulus to outgrow the limitations which have placed victory out of reach. As the old saying goes, "Necessity is the mother of invention", and it is often out of the most dire threats and circumstances that the greatest insights and achievements are attained.
Although many today, in the New Age, have reemphasized the importance of the human heart relative to the human mind - myself among them, for human brilliance, devoid of heart, is one of our world’s deadliest afflictions - there can be no doubt that human intelligence and ingenuity still do have tremendous value to us, and ought to be cherished as among our most precious assets.
Of course, it is not always clear what "intelligence" is, exactly; and "brilliance" remains even more of a mystery. Though some inevitably see it as the product of a "superior", more perfectly-structured brain, built for rational thinking - the result of a biologically inherited endowment, which has, perhaps, been sharpened by education - I think it is fair to say that the brilliant answer that flashes, like a match in the night, when all seems lost, is just as much a product of the human will - the desire to live, the desire to triumph, the desire to help - that propels the mind beyond its ordinary limits, into the realm of virtuosity, or just exceptional cleverness. Thomas Edison certainly believed that will was a component of intelligence. In fact, he is credited with having said: "Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration." Please, players do not resign reading this essay to the End.
On the other hand, Thomas Edison also demonstrated the critical importance of inspiration in raising the mind to its highest level. He is said to have practiced relaxation techniques while in the midst of his inventing, seeking to arrive at the state between sleeping and waking (the hypnagogic state) in which the fertility of the human mind is said to be elevated. (He would sit in a chair, holding ball bearings in his hands, until he became so relaxed that the bearings fell from his grip, awakening him. He would then start over again, drifting constantly towards sleep, but never allowing himself to go completely under.) What happened while Edison was in this curious state? He must have been put in touch with that inner problem-solver that resides in all of us, the subconscious mind, that somehow is able to access dimensions of reality that our conscious mind just can’t seem to enter. (It is as though the conscious mind were a land creature, and the subconscious mind were a fish of the sea, able to move freely and easily in a completely different medium.) Or perhaps Edison, by quieting himself and opening a door in his mind, opened himself up to some benevolent angel, who came from beyond. Who really knows how to define or understand "inspiration"?
Besides will, and the mysterious angel, or "ghost in the machine", that sometimes comes to us with an answer if we open a door for it, there is the imagination, which must also be counted as a vital component of "intelligence." Reason, without the ability to dream (sometimes wildly), without the ability to fantasize and to be creative, often comes upon a chasm which it cannot cross. This is the moment when the ability to see reality in other ways, to re-conceptualize the dilemma, to allow visions to run free in one’s head, becomes the key to taking the next step. Whether this ability is called "thinking outside the box", or "shifting consciousness", or "stepping back to gain a new perspective", or just "leaving reality behind" for a moment to play with new ideas, there can be no doubt that this creative gift, this creative power, is sometimes needed to empower our reason with the something extra that it needs to prevail.
Certainly, it is also essential to believe that there is an answer. The individual who approaches a seemingly impossible dilemma with the belief that there is a solution - that there is, in fact, a solution to every problem - will have the morale, the conviction, and the faith, to persevere in his search for that answer; while he who believes that the situation is hopeless, will succumb, either giving up, or dooming himself with a mediocre answer.
One more thing I wish to say, before getting into the heart of this article, is that the "intelligence" I am talking about is not always obvious to the casual observer, or easy to measure, or "predict". Many times, it appears just at the moment that it is needed, like a whale rising up suddenly from the sea in which it has been hidden all along. I have seen students in Special Education programs, for example, and people considered unintelligent, and even despised, by others, display uncommon intelligence and problem-solving abilities, that had nothing to do with their "measured intellectual capacity." In many ways, they had been "trained" to see themselves as inferior, and they also had littleGolem patience for, or interest in, formal educational environments which sought to judge them and mold them in ways they did not care to be molded. But in moments of forgetting the limitations which they had been taught they had, and in moments of forgetting to doubt themselves, they would suddenly erupt with signs of great intelligence - the power of reason, alloyed with passion, will, and imagination. All of which goes to show that to solve a problem, you must not only believe that there is an answer, you must also believe that you, yourself, through your own efforts or the grace of God, can find it.
It is my hope, by means of them, to provide renewed support to the idea that our minds are equal to the challenge of any problem that can possibly be thrown at them. Believe it! Don’t give up! Think! There’s always an answer!
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Little Golem