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SEPIA : A New Model of Human Intelligence
PROLOGUE
From the book Kecerdasan Milyuner (Millionaire Intelligence - Indonesian Version only, 2003)
The SEPIA Sun
"... because of our human gifts, we can write down new programs for our selves... That is why the capacity of animals is relatively limited, whereas the capacity of human being is unlimited."
Stephen R. Covey
"Where are the millionaires?
They all do not look like millionaires!" remarks the vice president to a financial institution regarding a group of people subject to a research on millionaires. True, they look like ordinary people, in ordinary outfits, eating ordinary food, acting like ordinary people. Not at all looking like those depictions of millionaires that often appear on television. However, if we further scrutinize them, these are people who are very successful in their respective field, with a minimum net fortune above one million dollars, equaling above 10 billion rupiahs.Many researches on millionaires indicate that their appearance is far from that depicted on television. Television illustrates more on celebrities, seen by the public as the appearance of millionaires. In reality, these millionaires come from various circles, welding contractors, secondhand sellers, farmers, insect exterminators, coin sellers. Most of them live an unpretentious life compared with their accumulation of wealth. Their vehicles are of the standards of common people, not from the latest model. Their homes are in the areas of common people. They also associate with common people. Most of them do not enjoy appearing in front of the public. Yet, obviously, they have one thing in common: they are strikingly financially independent. The story about such millionaires is the survey result of a research on American millionaires and has been beautifully written by Dr. Stanley in his book the Millionaire Next Door.
The Intelligence of Millionaires
Being a millionaire is actually only one of the standards of one’s success. There are other standards for the achievement of success. There are achievements of success in the fields of politics, public services, science, technology, art, military, etc. Being a millionaire, as a financial achievement, is an understandable standard for success because no one is not involved in financial matters. Everyone can sense that becoming a millionaire is a great achievement. Uniquely, those who are financially successful, often have a healthy life in other fields. Almost all of them have been living family life as a couple for decades. They actively take part in charities and societal activities. They have children who are well-behaved, high achievers, and free from drugs. They are financially independent, which also supports them to attain similar achievements in many non-financial fields.
Success is predictable! It is as if you were directing to a destination, as long as you have chosen the right direction, whether you crawl, walk, or ride a vehicle to it, you would certainly reach that destination at some point of time. Only the time taken to reach it differentiates people. Success is the fruit of attitudes; hence, if we possess the attitudes of a successful person, we will certainly be successful one of these days. Attitude is the fruit of habits. Habits begin from stance. Stance is influenced by faith. Furthermore, faith is influenced by knowledge. Thus, the starting point is knowledge. Everyday, knowledge abundantly flows around us. The capacity to grasp knowledge, to sense it, to appreciate it, and to translate this into actions in order to reach a purpose, is notably influenced by intelligence.
These millionaires, as predicted, have quite high intelligence. Furthermore, they have balanced intelligence. At average, they studied well in school. If they did drop out from school, it was because of the economy of their family, not because they were not bright. Thus, these millionaires have good intellectual quotients or IQs. They are also people who are tough, endurable, uncomplaining, able to control themselves, and with other qualities that prove they have good emotional intelligence or EI. All of them also agree that spiritual life, devotion, and alms are very important matters. Most of them contribute 10 percent or more of their gross incomes. They believe in God as the cause of their welfare, their silent partner. This indicates that they have very good spiritual intelligence or SQs.
Far more interesting is that these millionaires have more than merely IQ-EI-SQ!
Studies on millionaires and very successful people indicate that they have other striking natures. First, they have great dreams, definite goals, and they hold firmly on such dreams. Second, they do not work alone; they are able to benefit from the power both within and without their selves. Therefore, they have developed other kinds of intelligence as complements to their IQ-EI-SQ. They have developed what is called as Aspirational Intelligence and Power Intelligence. These are the secrets of millionaires and successful people; they have developed five different types of intelligence in balance!
***
Since born, we humans have been bequeathed extraordinary gifts: the joy to learn and the joy to quest. In return, these are what have made humans able to engrave brilliant civilizations. The Ancient Egyptian civilization constructed pyramids, Ancient Indonesia erected Borobudur, and modern America built a world based on the technologies of information and computers. Many deem that the eastern culture contributes to a culture of wisdom, whereas the western culture complements intelligence to the culture. Hence, man will infinitely continue advancing.
Within the inner side of man, there are divine gifts that make us unique; yet, unfortunately, such gifts are often unearthed by everyday business. Such gifts are actually the core of the sun of our selves -the sun of our humanity. The most important gift is "the freedom to determine". To such gift, other gifts are mutually related. Man is equipped with gifts of self-conscious, imagination, conscience, and freewill. It is with such gifts man may continue advancing infinitely.
The gift of process, namely the joy to learn and to quest, combined with the gifts of self-conscious, imagination, conscience, and freewill, complete man with mighty wings to soar and attain perfection. Man is capable of perfecting the life of society in business, education, law enforcement, nuclear technological advances, discoveries in informatics technology, and so on. Within his inner side, man is also capable of perfecting his comprehension regarding humanity, the meanings of life, self-sacrifice, and heroism.
The SEPIA sun is an effort to once more arise the sun inside of us, the sun of our humanity, the sun of the ‘millionaires’ within us.
Aspirational Intelligence
In the very beginning is the gift of self-conscious. Man is capable of being aware of his existence in this world. With such self-conscious, man may detect his demands and wishes. Man is in demand for food, a comfortable life, taking pleasure in nature, creativity, achievements, and grasping the meanings of life. Self-conscious eventually motivates the first gift of intelligence, namely human capability of dreaming, as well as setting goals and ambitions. Man is capable of aspiring. Thus is the Aspirational Intelligence, or the intelligence to set ambitions.
Aspirational intelligence among human beings exists at different degrees. Therefore, there are people holding lofty ambitions and there are those who have such simple ones. Studies carried out by experts on human desires illustrate that there is group of people holding high ambitions and continuously able to renew them. This group, known as the Climbers, continues to strife for attaining much higher ambitions. Meanwhile, there is another group of people less motivated to renew their ambitions so that they easily stop at an achieved ambition. This is known as the group of Campers, or those who camp out in the middle of the way. Furthermore, there is another group of people having high dreams but low ambitions inasmuch that they have the least desire to realize their ambitions. This group of quitters is those who are not determined to hold high ambitions and switch them into very simple ambitions.
Researches on the comparison between millionaires and ordinary people usually indicate that aspirational intelligence is one of the prominent features that differentiate the two. Most people do not dare thinking big and dreaming big. For such reason, most people do not attain great achievements: …they are not brave enough to dream great achievements!
In the route to attain ambitions, man is then aware that attaining an ambition or success is very unlike attaining happiness. Gaining success is a measurable goal for man. Man can be held for being capable of attaining a small part, a large part, or all of his ambitions. By having goals, success becomes measurable. However, happiness itself is actually very subjective, indeterminate. Man may be happy before achieving an ambition and, on the contrary, sorrowful a while after achieving it. Thus, happiness is not identical to the success of realizing an ambition. Happiness reveals itself in different ways.
Spiritual Intelligence
Actually, as eventually realized by man, happiness is a subjective feeling determined more by the feeling of being meaningful -meaningful for other fellowmen, nature, and ultimately for the Almighty recognized by man, God. Man quests for meanings. Hence, this is why even in agony and pain some people are still able to smile, for happiness is created by the feeling of being valuable and not identical to achieving ambitions.
Awareness of the source of happiness motivates the second gift of intelligence, namely Spiritual Intelligence. This is man’s intelligence to value. People with a high level of spiritual intelligence are more likely to be content and lead their lives rather than those with lower levels of spiritual intelligence. In a grave and undesirable condition, spiritual intelligence will be able to lead man in his quest for meanings.
Spiritual intelligence is unlike religion. Apart from religion, man may value through diverse forms of faith. There are those who have a meaningful life by saving seals. Others feel valuable by creating beautiful paintings. Still there are others holding themselves worthy by facing danger and taking the pains of climbing the highest peak of Everest in the Himalayas.
Since man may feel valuable due to various matters, religion guides man in his quest for a more visionary meaning -being meaningful in face of God. This is the truest value guided by religion, for other sources of meanings beyond God are immortal sources.
There is a wrong impression that millionaires are unreligious because the mass media often expose criminals with ‘illusory’ wealth, such as corruptors, frauds, greedy conglomerators reaping wealth through indecent measures. Such people become headlines due to behaviors disadvantaging the public. Since these criminals ‘appear’ wealthy, most people get the idea that the haves are evil and greedy, repressors of the haves not. The public forgets that many among the deprived are evil and greedy as well. Evil and greediness do not relate to classes. True millionaires who yield wealth through decent measures are, in contrast, very religious. They spare a large portion of their wealth for charity. They erect hospitals, orphanages, research centers for cancer, and almshouses. In addition, most of them avoid publications.
Many studies point out that true millionaires contribute at least 10 percent of their gross incomes for charity, even since before they became rich. They realize that their wealth is merely the entrustment of God, their ‘silent partner’.
At last, through spiritual intelligence man is capable of creating values for their goals. The result from aspirational intelligence, which takes form of goals, is given its values by spiritual intelligence. Through aspirational intelligence also, human is capable of remaining content in the journey to achieve her ambitions.
Intellectual Intelligence
Urged by desire to attain his ambitions, human employs her third intelligence, namely the intelligence relating to the process of realization, the process of creativity. The popular term, IQ (Intelligence Quotient), is very different. Some people are better at mathematical logical ability. Some others are inclined to art and language. Even some other people tend to like physical processes. All of these relate to the abilities to learn and create. Those superior at mathematics such as Einstein understand mathematical problems and problem solving more easily, and even define mathematical problems more easily. The strength of Einstein lies in his learning ability and creativity concerning mathematical problems. On the other hand, a Michael Jordan is an individual with talents in sports. He can easily control a basketball game (learning ability) and give an extraordinary performance during a game (creativity). Michael Jordan takes a different form of intellectual intelligence from Einstein.
Man realizes that God confers different gifts to ever individual. All gifts of creativity intelligence have equal potentials; it returns to the concerning individual to employ such gifts in achieving his ambitions. In the end, we may perceive that people gain success through various ways; some through technological creations, some through sports, and some through artistic creativity.
Millionaires are obviously seen as good learners. They learn and continue to learn. They hunger for new knowledge. They are open-minded and continuously self-improving. Intuitively they are conscious that God has given different strengths within every soul. Therefore, they do not mind even if they are not good at mathematics. There are numerous other different gifts. In addition, since they believe in God the Supreme Just, they trust in the talents uniquely gifted by Him in gaining their success.
If it is true that human beings are granted the same potential to gain success, why is it so that some people succeed in realizing their ambitions while others fail to do this? It turns out that in the process of realizing an ambition, creativity requires considering a different factor aside from talents: emotions.
Emotional Intelligence
Studies indicate that emotions actually play a more important part in reaching goals than talents do. Eventually, another form of intelligence is recognized, namely Emotional Intelligence, the human ability to detect and manage emotions within and without themselves. The group of people capable of gaining success is actually people who are able to control their emotions and emphatize with other people’s feelings.
It is easily understood if human is an emotional creature. Hence, emotions hold an important role in supporting success. When facing challenges individually, human needs to manage her emotions in forms of fear, apathy, and lack of self-confidence and alter them into courage, diligence, and self-confidence. Since in the process of reaching goals we indeed require other people, empathizing with other people’s feelings contributes to one’s success. One needs to develop the ability to be tolerant, emphatic, mutually motivating, and respectful of others, having integrity, and so on. All mentioned above relate to the ability to recognize and manage emotions. This is the role of emotional intelligence.
Studies on millionaires show a similar characteristic: the ability to delay gratification. They tend to save and invest, as an attitude requiring strong self-control. They recognize their emotions and are able to control them. They resist their fears, anxieties, rashness, self-indulgence, and low self-esteem to win, eventually, the personality of courageous, endurable, patient, modest, and independent people. They are also capable of detecting other people’s feelings insomuch that they can associate with other people, work cooperatively, and are inclined to help others. Undoubtedly, true millionaires possess strong self-control.
Emotional intelligence drives humans to be proactive, which is the ability to choose a response. Animals, on the contrary, are reactive organisms. An animal directly responds to external stimulants. When being beat, for example, it directly responds by running away alarmingly or by attacking back angrily. Human is different. Through her emotional intelligence, human can manage her responses. When being beat, a human may also feel afraid or angry, but can also choose a different response. She can pretend to be fearless although truly afraid or show pleasure by smiling. Due to emotional intelligence, human may choose her responses. In addition, the more emotionally intelligent is an individual, the better and cleverer are her chosen responses.
Power Intelligence
Human latterly realizes the existence of the fifth intelligence, namely Power Intelligence. This is the human intelligence to recognize and manage powers within and without one’s self.
Power intelligence determines one’s level of effectiveness and efficiency in her efforts to reach her goals. Human intuitively comprehends that by using tools she can work more efficiently. Human used pieces of rock for knives. With such knives, human beings could hunt more efficiently and effectively. Human also understands that working with other people may make work easier. Human combines the power of her talents, drawing strategies, collaboration, inventing tools, and even sharing a common dream (goal). All of these are signs that human is bequeathed power intelligence.
Some people hold larger power intelligence than others. This explains the phenomena why some people succeed earlier than some others do. Those who are powerfully intelligent do not merely rely on the types of power within themselves, but also intelligently manage the kinds of power without themselves. The power of nature, fellowmen, animals, and abstract manmade instruments such as currencies and law; these are the powers that are cleverly managed by millionaires in order to reach their goals.
Characters and Competencies
All of the five human intelligences, of which traits are found in the personality of true millionaires, hereafter are referred to as the SEPIA Intelligence (the spiritual, emotional, power, intellectual, and aspirational intelligence). The five forms of intelligence illustrate two major matters within one’s self, namely Characters and Competencies.
Characters relate to human attitudes. In former times, characters were the major standard for individuals. Thus, old stories highlight gentlemanlikeness, trustworthiness, endurance, patience, etc. Slightly different in the early 20th century, or the industrial era, competencies were the major standard. Competencies, which relate to creativity, became important because industrialization had demanded for higher competencies. Since human was able to create much better systems (machines, paying systems, penalization systems, etc.), characters had been fairly neglected. In this era, the standard for one’s success was held perceivable from her IQ level that inclined to point up potential human competencies.
Views on human have returned to equilibrium since the end of the 20th century with the abundant research findings regarding the role of characters in one’s success. In the late 20th century, the EI (Emotional Intelligence), AQ (Adversity Quotient), and SI (Spiritual Intelligence) have become a public discourse. Remaining unrevealed are the Power Intelligence and Aspirational Intelligence. What is sure is that human is viewed again to have two basic elements, namely characters and competencies.
At this moment, characters and competencies are considered equally important. If applying for a job, for instance, a person will be tested for both his competencies and characters. Those believed to have succeeded in their work usually have the required competencies and characters, such as honesty, diligence, patience, respect, etc. One having advanced skills but characteristically dubious may be dangerous. She may be smart, but irresponsible, corruptive, deceitful, bullish, etc. On the contrary, an individual who merely possesses characters but without any competencies is also in vain because she is unable to create values. This individual may be honest, industrious, respectful, but without having the required education and skills, she may incite much err, inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and may even cause harm due to erratic labor. Employing people with good characters but without competencies is just as dangerous as employing competent people without characters.
Characters and competencies are as night and day, as yin and yang. Both are required at the same time, influenced mutually, and in balance. Without one of the two, human shall be incomplete.
The SEPIA Sun
In order to be successful and happy, human requires developing her five forms of intelligence. Success here is in its broadest meaning, concerning financial, career, family, health, self-development matters, and all objectives valuable for man. The five types of intelligence are the reflections of characters and competencies. Aspirational, spiritual, and emotional intelligence represents characters. Meanwhile, intellectual and power intelligence represents competencies. The relations among all of the aforementioned types of intelligence are well illustrated through the SEPIA Sun.
the SEPIA Sun
In the middle of the Sun is the equilibrium between characters and competencies symbolized as C-C (Characters-Competencies) in the form of a Yin-Yang circle. The strength of characters radiates through three types of intelligence, namely aspirational (A), spiritual (S), and emotional (E) intelligence. On the other hand, the strength of competencies radiates through two types of intelligence, namely intellectual (I) and power (P) intelligence.
Balance
Nature has been created in balance. All the same, human intelligence requires balanced management. Managing merely intellectual abilities is not being in balance. Thus, only focusing on spiritual values is also not being in balance. The entire SEPIA intelligence requires balanced management, development, and employment. Being in harmony and in balance is the key to success and happiness.
SEPIA Intelligence model was developed in 2001 by Ir. Khairul Ummah, MT, Dr. Ir. Dimitri Mahayana, MEng, and Ir. Agus Nggermanto from Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia. email: sepiamailbox[at]yahoo.com
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