A rudimentary intelligence

We are old men trying to sing the loves of children; we are wingless bipeds trying to understand the gods. But the data of the immediate are hardly human; it is probable that at that level all sentience is much alike. From that common ground our imagination can perhaps start safely, and follow such hints as observation furnishes, until we learn to live and feel as other living things do, or as nature may live and feel as a whole. Instinct, for instance, need not be, as our human prejudice suggests, a rudimentary intelligence; it may be a parallel sort of sensibility, an imageless awareness of the presence and character of other things, with a superhuman ability to change oneself so as to meet them. Do we not feel something of this sort ourselves in love, in art, in religion?

George Santayana - Winds Of Doctrine Studies in Contemporary Opinion


Awareness is a rum aspect of life, we all know what it is but can’t easily be aware of how aware we are. Santayana’s take on it highlights the animal nature of awareness, how it has always been an aspect of what we are, that rudimentary intelligence we had before we were even human.

awareness
noun
1. the state or condition of being informed or cognizant of something
2. concern about and well-informed interest in current developments


We divide it down into social awareness, political awareness, physical awareness, spatial awareness and so on. Yet all these overlays tend to obscure how basic it is, how simply noticing something or not noticing it sits below those layers of interpretation. Often enough, awareness doesn’t extend to those layers of interpretation perpetually skating across the surface of what we are. It’s just awareness, that ancient rudimentary intelligence.

We’ve all seen a uncountable examples of awareness and lack of awareness, in numerous guises. It’s a complex, familiar and basic aspect of daily life. The person in the supermarket who blocks the cheese display, trolley held at arm’s length while gazing at the cheese as if hoping to watch it ripen a little more.

The car in front where the driver is obviously chatting away to a passenger and isn’t fully aware of other traffic, road conditions or the blue flashing light hurtling up behind both of us.

The UK Prime Minister who isn’t aware of his own abilities and how they don’t align with the requirements of the position, the expectations of those around him, the views of his voters and the promises he both made and implied.

Starmer’s inadequacies could be recast as inadequate awareness, particularly awareness of himself. Words such as dishonest, mendacious, ideological, bureaucratic, evasive, indifferent and even evil may be used to explain his inadequacies, but a lack of awareness does that too. His rudimentary intelligence is too rudimentary we might say, even without wishing to be sarcastic.

However obvious it may be to others, Starmer clearly isn’t aware of important political aspects of his role. He wasn’t aware of the impact of his winter fuel payment debacle, wasn’t aware that it was an absurd decision which could damage or even wreck his political career.

His assertions, explanations and pronouncements don’t work, his language doesn’t work, his political rhetoric doesn’t work, he lacks the awareness to make it all work. He is not aware of his own limited awareness, not aware that he should have stayed away from politics.