trappings ?

In how many brochures or application forms have you seen written, "we do not discriminate between people on the basis of caste, creed, age, gender, sexual orientation etc etc....etcetra..."

Why on the earth do they dont do that....i think its because we have not got any control over our caste, creed, race or gender. So heres my thought is'nt intelligence out of our control...arent we predestined to have a particular I.Q. Now some may say that I.Q. is not the actual measure of intelligence, and i would agree. But how much can a person imporve his intelligence ? I know this is a unanswerable question since one would never know if the intelligence is increasing or if the person is only utilizing it to the fullest.

In the present age a lot of importance is given to intelligence. From entrance into kindergarten to job interviews. But the fact is intelligence is a double edged sword. A intelligent person could do you harm if s/he intends to. Is'nt honesty, compassion etc better attributes?

Through the ages we have treated intelligence as the scale by which we can proudly say, we are different/better than animals. But what has intelligence done for us. It has definitely made appliances which has made our lives easier, but are'nt these secondary.We would been as happy hanging from trees on our tails. Its the human beings intelligence which is responsible for 'n' number of problems today.

The point I am trying to make is, " intelligence is characterised by the structure of our brains, maybe it is hereditary, but in any case we do not have much control over it." But many other qualities like ability to love others, honesty, etc etc can be imbibed in oneself. Or can they ...I am not sure, what if they are controlled by some genes too....? Then it would closely mirror what hindu philosophy says that" everything is fated." Because whatever we do would be due to rungs of our DNA. So the final thought is are we limited by what we are?