Thank you for those book suggestions. I'm going to take you up on them.

I'm going to touch on your comments in a particular order, so it might seem topsy turvy, but it will make sense towards the end.

I'm going to further define intelligence - physiologically - as the degree to which the left and right, and whole brain is connected by synapses. In other words, whether we can see the big picture, as well as the detailed picture.

I have noticed, throughout my life, that people may pass a Mensa test on either the left brain or the right brain, but they seem to be lacking - they either can't see the wood for the tress, or they can't see the trees for the wood. Being able to see both gives one the ability to not only recognize the bigger picture, but to be able to see the detail. This is true intelligence.

I think that type of intelligence is extremely rare, about one in a million people. When Einstein's brain was examined, after he passed, it was seen that he had many different synapses connecting the various lobes of his brain.

Another factor is that there is a direct correlation between being stupid and being a criminal. The greater number of people in jail/prison are not very bright. Of course, one could argue that the clever one's got away. However, there are also several other correlations, and I'm well aware that correlation isn't cause.

Take, for instance, that atheists are more intelligent than theists, Then look at other information about them - they have the least number of criminals, the longest marriages, the least divorce, the most generosity, etc. I am convinced that there is a correlation between benevolence and greater intelligence.

So we come to people like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. I don't think they're particularly bright. If they were that bright, they would be able to see the bigger picture to a greater degree, but they don't. Both Bezos and Musk seem unable to realize that there is no other planet for us. They're overwhelmed by technical information, but cannot make the biological leaps that if the planet cannot provide its own air, and numerous other details, there is no long term outcome on another planet for us. So, they don't have whole brain activity.

Yes, animals are smart. One of my favorite past times is watching videos of the things animals do. I believe they have both heart and intellect. I also don't think that their intelligence is of the same variety as ours. However, at this point, I can't define it because we don't have enough information. At some point, whatever the life force is, it interacts with intelligence.

As a collective, we are supremely stupid, and that is because the vast masses are extremely stupid - in terms of what matters, what doesn't, the long term good, etc.

Have you ever noticed that there isn't a single leader/politician who can project our current situation into potential outcomes before they happen and present a solution to the public, explain why, and then put the solution into practice before it happens?

It doesn't happen. Yet, to me, that is the real essence of a leader.

We may be more intelligent than other species in the sense that we are aware of a bigger picture than our own lives, but that's as far as it goes. When it comes to long term planning, being aware of the great complexity of how one thing affects the other, we are a lost cause.

Through the years, I have written about many of these things. At this point, I have just given up.

There is no hope.

Finally, if I say to someone who is unaware of algebra a+b=c, they will tell me I'm stupid, that one cannot add letters, it indicates that without a certain level of education, one cannot recognize what is feasible or accurate, the same applies to intelligence. If one cannot see the big picture, and someone else can't, we can say they're stupid (e.g. climate change, approaching eco-system collapse, nuclear winter, over-population, etc.)

I could go on. Some people can see it, most can't. Most don't even realize that the solution to climate change is collective action, in immediately stopping the way we live. I wrote a small booklet about it years ago (one of my books on Amazon). We are done for. That's about it.