Societal Insight

What is it that makes certain humans more aware of the workings and mechanisms of their lives, of their culture, and of their society, is it mere intelligence? (i.e. the higher you go in the intelligence chain does this tendency to realize one's surroundings also continually increase?), or if not, what is the determining factor as to why certain people are more predisposed to questioning the status quo?

A combination of Courage, Curiosity, and Intelligence

It is not enough to be merely intelligent and curious, but a man must also take risks with his wisdom. A forum like this is a place where more risks than regular can be chanced. Although even here is limited compared to other places.

From my experience, and I think Satyr would agree with me, it is some sort of hypersensitivity of human interactions, being effected by even the slightest slight. This, combined with a tendency for being creative, artistic. If you have a lot of insight into your own intentions, then you can see others intentions as well.

juanchi94 wrote:

What is it that makes certain humans more aware of the workings and mechanisms of their lives, of their culture, and of their society, is it mere intelligence? (i.e. the higher you go in the intelligence chain does this tendency to realize one's surroundings also continually increase?), or if not, what is the determining factor as to why certain people are more predisposed to questioning the status quo?

I agree with Sisyphus that people, who are " hypersensitive" or artistic, are more likely to be aware of the mechanisms and matrix of society. The artist is one who keenly notices the subtle details, the details that most overlook.

Sisyphus wrote:

From my experience, and I think Satyr would agree with me, it is some sort of hypersensitivity of human interactions, being effected by even the slightest slight. This, combined with a tendency for being creative, artistic. If you have a lot of insight into your own intentions, then you can see others intentions as well.

The [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] once wrote something about hypersensitivity.

summation...

A more sensitive mind means one with either more acute senses, feeding it stimuli, or a more sensitive mind, perceiving subtle patterns in the stimuli it receives.
Pattern (re)cognition is also called intelligence.  

The more aware mind is exposed to more than the less aware mind, and although it sees more it also suffers more, as it perceives more threats and more to care about.
It is inundated by information.
Madness and genius are not far apart.
This is often mistaken as weakness, or cowardice, because strength is often the product of sheltering, and courage is often the result of ignorance.

The aware mind lives in a more complex reality, than the simpler mind.
What seems complex for the simple mind is not so for the more sophisticated one, and so "generalization" is the first accusation the simpleton will use to defend its obtuseness.

Here are some more of my thoughts on the subject, if it interests you:
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Thanks for your answers guys, I have to say I agree with everything stated, it seems that it is more of a right-brained (artsy) trait, not so much of a "book-smart" characteristic.