If I will be asked if intelligence or looks, I will choose intelligence. However, this is not a firm decision since I am still having a second thought if I will choose looks or not.
In building your career or future, intelligence is vital. For instance, I am taking college program right now and I need to use my brain to pass all the required subjects to advance into the next level and hopefully to get better opportunities after graduating. I can't just use my looks and immediately get 100 on my test scores (Well... unless you're flirting with your professor, jk.)
Yet I also know several people who are dumb but still able to build their career and gain a lot of money just by using their looks. The problematic influencers are perfect example for this. No matter how dumb they are, as long as there are people who support them, they still have a career and will still earn money for living.
This is where I am having a second thought. I am on the intelligence side but looks can give you the same advantage with, somehow, lesser effort.
We can't deny that intelligence is so underrated nowadays. People prefer beauty and looks as it always captures the eyes; we are accustomed that visually appealing things are good to see and fantasize. On the other hand, intelligence can't be seen immediately, but it can be observed. Not until you do something smart, people don't care about you.
Good looking individuals are magnet to a lot of opportunities. They naturally have the charm, and they can use it as an advantage to reach their goals. I have a good-looking friend who' now living independently from her parents and currently have a stable income to sustain her expenses from college. Her job? A live streamer/entertainer on a well-known platform. She doesn't spend a lot of time there. Maybe just a few hours then she gets rewards from her viewers.
On the other hand, intelligent individuals have limited option as of now. Sure, they can excel in class but cannot use it yet as a credential in applying job. They still need to spend several years to gain knowledge and experience before they can say it's enough to impress an employer. If you just have the brain and not the looks, it feels that the choices are narrow. And often you need to double your efforts to widen your opportunities.
In terms of finding potential relationship, there's a harsh truth that if you don't have the looks, the chances are slim of getting successful. If you're just have the brains, you need to exert more effort to be noticed and convince the person you're pursuing.
But if you think about it, the beauty and looks are short term, while the intelligence is on the longer term. Why did I say so?
Beauty fades overtime. If your only investment to yourself is the looks, time will come that skin get wrinkled, your hair will get white, and other good physical feature will disappear. With that, your opportunities became limited for the rest of your life.
While if you choose intelligence, maybe for now its limited but in the long run you will gain lots of opportunities. People will use you for your knowledge and you will be paid for your contribution. You can use the money to enjoy all of your wants. You can even improve your looks by paying for plastic surgeries. You will be looked up as a useful and functioning member of the society. And even though you're old, as long as you're intelligent enough, you can still use it for something.
The only disadvantage I see on choosing intelligence over the looks, is you can't totally enjoy as early from now. It's like you're planting crops on a wide field and then waiting for it to sprout and then bear fruits before you enjoy it.
In the end I still choose intelligence.
There's a lot of dumb people at the present time, and I can't imagine being like them. This world needs more intelligent people that will suppress stupidity. Aside from that, being intelligent is sustainable. Well, at least in my perspective as a college student.