Age does not give intelligence || Acharya Prashant, with youth (2013)

Question: Sir, at the age of ten, one has a particular intelligence level, at the age of twenty-one has a different level of intelligence. Do you think it is possible to be intelligent without getting exposed to external influences?

Acharya Prashant: No, you don’t gather intelligence from outside. Biologically there comes a point, in human beings life, when his brain is ripe enough. It comes around at the time of puberty. Twelve years, fourteen years is sufficient for the brain to ripe. That does not mean that what you gather after fourteen is coming to you as a result of past processes, past influences. No.

Brain is the seat of intelligence. For intelligence to find expression, a certain development of the brain is required. That you gather by the age of fourteen, that is sufficient.

Intelligence is not information that you can gather from somewhere. Intelligence is not information. Intelligence is not knowledge-ability. You have it, and a mature adult has it. It can be layered, covered and all that, but you have it. You don’t gather it.

Others, they give you knowledge, knowledge is totally different. Knowledge is information and information will necessarily come from outside, which is alright. Let it come from outside. You don’t have to become an encyclopedia. Let information come from outside.