Your Thoughts: How do you define "Intelligence"?
Since I’ve been rambling on about my own intellectual vanity, several readers have remarked on different concepts of intelligence, and asked for how I define it.
Before I answer, though… I’d like to hear more of your thoughts.
How do YOU define intelligence?
What is it that you see in a person that makes you think “Hey, they’re smart?”
And what is it you might see that makes you think “Hey, maybe they AREN’T so smart after all?”
I’m not looking for the scientific or dictionary answers here - but how you use the word, what it means in your own head. It may take some thought to really figure out what you think makes someone “smart”.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Einstein was smart..he used emotion and intellect to innovate. Sidney Poitier is smart …he drew on the natural surroundings he grew up in to be able to read people and situations..he has great bodily intelligence as well. Intelligence has a lot of facets ..it goes far beyond intellectual attainment. We use IQ as a surrogate for smartness because the measure has been around for a long time and it’s convenient.
I’ve thought long and hard about this and have come to the conclusion that the thing that defines intelligence more than anything else for me is how much someone likes me.
Dawn?
Have I told you lately how very much I like you?
Galba, I think you’re right. The idea of a single IQ factor that measures over all smarts is convenient. But it’s time that we-the-masses stopped being lazy, and joined the modern world of brain-study. That means tossing aside our idea idea that smarts is smarts is smarts.
(BTW, I think your regular use of the examples of Einstein and Poitier’s intelligences is brilliant. Concrete examples rock, and help rewire how we think about this stuff.)
Hello Dawn: I enjoyed your take on the topic.
Hello MT: Thanks for kind comments. Compliments do a great job of re-wiring my brain
Intelligence to me is a person who has a wealth of information. One who is happy and feel they are an equal, not lesser or greater than others. One who learns from life and those around them. One who does not fear trying new things in life.
Enjoy your day!
To me, intelligence is the ability to find coroorlations between information that others cant. I find intelligence to be out of the box thinking, creative solutions to practical problems that everyone deals with on an everyday basis. Intelligence could also be gaged from how curious an individual is and there willingness to satisfy that curiosity.
Ultimately, as a society, we need to redefine what we as a group think of “intelligence”, by realizing, everyone has a different perceptive. Its just a matter of how you view your own perspective and the ability to change it and adopt to new situations and ideals. The ability to change your train of thought, to move and evolve your own mind set and change your own take on the world and how it works, to me, defines intelligence.
But, I could be completely wrong. Cheers.