Faith vs. Intelligence - Are they exclusive to one another?

Faith vs. Intelligence - Are they exclusive to one another?

I have a very good friend who prompted me to think about this a few years back. He's very intelligent, one of the smartest chaps I know. And he's rabidly anti-religion. I made the mistake of inviting him to the Grotto to appreciate the beauty there, and he was so offended by the religious content that he couldn't stop muttering his disgust at the whole excursion.
Anyway, once he said something to the effect of, "I'll never understand how seemingly-intelligent people can subscribe to faith-based thinking." I've thought about that for hours and hours since then. I'd never even realized it was a contrast before then, 'cause I was raised in a strongly faith-based society and almost every intelligent person I ever knew was a faith-based thinker. It took me quite a while to even understand the gist of his sentiment.

I guess I should define some terms. I like Wikipedia's definition: Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, deity, in the doctrines or teachings of a religion, or view. It can also be belief that is not based on proof.
An interesting aside: I notice that people who dismiss faith as illogical often seem pessimistic and bitter. Especially when discussing faith. This seems to support my theory that faith is an important ability to cherish, and those who excise it from their mental repertoire are doing their peace-of-mind a disservice.

I also wanna make a claim: I am a big fan of logic. I spent the first 2/3 of my life subscribing wholeheartedly to the intellectual approaches to everything. It's only been in my 30's that I've started ascribing increased respect to intuition & emotion over intellectualism.

Still, because I was immersed in LDS culture and LDS doctrine all my life, I grew up with powerful faith.
At first, of course, it was borrowed from my mom, and other adults in my life. My testimony of spiritual things wasn't my own for the longest time. That's how we learn... by trusting our parents and other teachers. "Say please" makes no sense to a child, they just have to obey and incorporate being polite until they're mature enough to realize why they've been trained to be polite. I hear non-faith folks criticize parents for teaching their children religion, most frequently with the "brainwashing" tag applied. It makes me shiver inside. Are they advocating for not imparting any sense of right & wrong in our children? Let them figure it out on their own? Don't brainwash your kid with "it's not nice to hit when you're angry" or other such moral judgments that others may not agree with? I believe it's not only a parent's right to teach their kids what they believe, but it's their vitally-important responsibility to do so. I teach my kids my beliefs whenever possible. Things like, "It's better to love than to hate." And, "Kindness is important!" And, "God exists, He loves you, and He has a plan that makes sense of this whole crazy mess!" I'm not brainwashing them any more than the teachers who guide them in mathematics or English... I'm teaching them what I've learned of the world, how it works, and my much-considered opinions about how best to navigate it.
Oy, I'm such a sucker for a good tangent. *sigh* Back to faith & intellect.
I grew up with the idea that some things we know and some things we can prove. I think this might be the crux of the whole faith/intellect contrast.

I don't know that the earth is round, for example. I have faith in it, but that's because it seems to make sense. I have tons of supporting evidence! And, of course, everyone else agrees, and that always makes it much easier to take things on faith.
Quick query: Do you, reader, know that the earth is round? Or do you accept it on faith?
I know that my mama-san loves me. I certainly have supporting evidence, but that isn't why I know it. I can't prove it, but that doesn't impact my faith one whit. I know it because... (prepare for teeth-grinding, ye intellectual non-faithers)... I know it because it's true.
*wince*
Okay, that bit o' logic surely derailed a few people from having any faith in my intellect. ;)

But seriously, the more I think about these things, the more I decide that knowledge comes from truth, not from evidence, facts or logic. I know that God exists not because of His actions, or proofs, or anything like that. I know it because I have a soul that seeks after truth, just like everyone else on the planet. We recognize truth when we hear it, and it takes powerful mental effort to convince ourselves otherwise. Of course, we very rarely hear truth, 'cause not many things are true. Real truth is pretty rare, and very simple.
I have faith in the goodness of humanity, despite lots of evidence where humans are weak and terrible. I have faith in God, despite lots of evidence where I can't understand His plan. I have faith in love, which is pretty easy 'cause the only time love fails, it wasn't really love it was more of a "you do things that I like; it must be love".
I don't know very much at all. I can't think of anything I'd say I know, actually. How can we know anything? Knowledge is all based on evidence, which comes via senses, and if you trust your senses you've not experimented with enough substances in college. Our senses are not so trustworthy.

Our souls, though, once we learn how to really get in tune with truth... that's a source we can trust.
And so, faith wins. :)

(Facebook Note from 4/09/2014)

When should I start training? Should I get in better shape first?

I want to address a common belief about learning to stunt.

I very frequently hear people say, "I've thought of learning how to stunt but I'd need to get in better shape first." Allow me to explain my disagreement. :)

Strong people learn to stunt quickly, because their muscle allows them to push the tricks into place and hold them there. They gradually learn better technique as they progress, but they have a very difficult time mastering more advanced tricks, or even doing intermediate tricks very well, because the muscle does it for them and they don't have to use correct body lines and momentum.

Weak people take much longer to learn how to stunt, because they don't have muscle to do it for them. They have to learn how to do it right, with bone lines and momentum. As a result, they have to learn to stunt correctly, and they learn it right - assuming they're being coached to do it right rather than just to hit the trick.

I've trained thousands of cheerleaders and acrobats, and watched this play out time and time again. Big strong bases and little strong flyers pick it up quickly! At least, up to a point. And then their lack of efficiency kicks in and they slow way down in their progress.

Scrawny bases and heavier flyers take much longer to learn stunts. They absolutely have to do it right in order to make it work, and that is hard to learn. But when they get it, they master it.

During the process of learning, you'll get in shape. Don't wait to learn a physical skill until you're in better shape. Start now, and get in shape while you're learning really efficient form because you have to in order to perform the skill.

Make sure you have a coach who keeps you safe and pushes you beyond what you're comfortable with. At least, if you want to maximize your learning. If you wanna take lots longer but retain comfort, there are plenty of "gentle" coaching options out there. If you wanna learn quickly, pick a coach who pushes. Be cautious... some coaches push beyond safety limits. Cheer stunt training is infamous for this. Ask other students how frequently injuries occur in training, and avoid coaches who have a relatively high injury-to-students-trained ratio.

But if you wanna learn to stunt... learn to stunt. Don't wait until your muscles can do it without having to do it right. :)

(Facebook Note from 4/3/2014)