What is "Intelligence"?
Ahnimus
Posts: 10,560
The debate on ethnic differences in IQ testing has me wondering... At the beginning of the chapter on Intelligence in Schaffer's Fifth Edition Developmental Psychology he states:
Go out and ask five people to summarize in a single sentence what intelligence means to them, and then, to list up to five attributes characterizing highly intelligent people.
I would share my thoughts on this after reading the book, but I'll save that for later. Right now, I'd like at least five people to provide the above-mentioned criteria.
Go out and ask five people to summarize in a single sentence what intelligence means to them, and then, to list up to five attributes characterizing highly intelligent people.
I would share my thoughts on this after reading the book, but I'll save that for later. Right now, I'd like at least five people to provide the above-mentioned criteria.
I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
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Intelligence is a property of mind that encompasses many related abilities, such as the capacities to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn.
The capacity to:
1. Reason
2. Plan
3. Solve Problems
4. Think Abstractly
5. Learn
-Enoch Powell
Intelligence is the trait that allows one to absorb information in a clear and concise manner, and relate it back to fellow men in a clear and consice manner.
5 attributes:
Discernment
Questioning
Seeking
Striving
Testing
Good answer, thank you.
So there is no General Intelligence. But rather Intelligence is a general term for a sum of independent characteristics?
Thanks Bu, good answer.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are going with the idea of General Intelligence, that these attributes reflect a General Intelligence trait and the attributes are not individual traits themselves?
I was talking about the CIA.
General Intelligence is the idea that things like inductive reasoning, spatial reasoning, problem solving, etc... are attributable to one trait called intelligence. A more generally intelligent person will thus be better at all things and perhaps only minor specialization occurs.
and pass by the "mumbo jumbo" and get to the heart of the thoughts behind the writing of it. But I can't change the oil in my car.
Does that make me more intelligent than my mechanic at the local Exxon station?
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=272825
Purely answering the question of what makes a person 'highly intelligent'. What makes a person a good teacher, student or human being is another question in it's self. I know plenty of very smart people that cannot relate to your average person and that has very little to do with how smart they are.
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here are my 5.
1. Reason
2. Analyze
3. Adjust
4. Discern
5. Predict
btw, if nobody got it, i purposely mispelled intelligent and said that I was "intellegent".
Q: that's kind of clever.
A: Yeah, kind of. I was wondering, though, what if I gave one of the designs a small "d" and one a large "D" thereby making them unequal?
Q: hmmm.
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I agree with him.
Reason
Creativity (synthesizing, applying things in new ways)
Planning
Discrimination
Social (knowing one's way around other humans. We are flock animals after all)
Peace
Dan
"Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty." - Frank Herbert, Dune, 1965
have you read The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould...?
If not, do so...it may shed some light on this thing we call "intelligence"
here is a review posted on Amazon:
Amazon.com
How smart are you? If that question doesn't spark a dozen more questions in your mind (like "What do you mean by 'smart,'" "How do I measure it," and "Who's asking?"), then The Mismeasure of Man, Stephen Jay Gould's masterful demolition of the IQ industry, should be required reading. Gould's brilliant, funny, engaging prose dissects the motivations behind those who would judge intelligence, and hence worth, by cranial size, convolutions, or score on extremely narrow tests. How did scientists decide that intelligence was unipolar and quantifiable, and why did the standard keep changing over time? Gould's answer is clear and simple: power maintains itself. European men of the 19th century, even before Darwin, saw themselves as the pinnacle of creation and sought to prove this assertion through hard measurement. When one measure was found to place members of some "inferior" group such as women or Southeast Asians over the supposedly rightful champions, it would be discarded and replaced with a new, more comfortable measure. The 20th-century obsession with numbers led to the institutionalization of IQ testing and subsequent assignment to work (and rewards) commensurate with the score, shown by Gould to be not simply misguided--for surely intelligence is multifactorial--but also regressive, creating a feedback loop rewarding the rich and powerful. The revised edition includes a scathing critique of Herrnstein and Murray's The Bell Curve, taking them to task for rehashing old arguments to exploit a new political wave of uncaring and belt tightening. It might not make you any smarter, but The Mismeasure of Man will certainly make you think. --Rob Lightner -
Wow. So you think if I am really good at playing the saxophone but I can't read, I have some intelligence? (creative)
Or if I can interact well at a party but can't multiply 1 and 1, I have intelligence?
To me, these things have absolutely nothing to do with intelligence and they certainly should never be included in an IQ test.
-Enoch Powell
I agree with you. The pinnacle of human intelligence is called "genius". But, what is genius if it is not recognized by other genius? Is it even genius? The same with intelligence. We call ourselves intelligent creatures because it distinguishes us from other creatures. And that's about the sum of it, to me.
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My attempt was to describe the qualities I would associate with intelligence, or as I see it, what seperates us from animals (somewhat, as there are animals displaying some of these qualities). Social intelligence should not be underestimated, and creativity is really the heart of the matter of intelligence. Creativity in it's broadest definition that is.
Peace
Dan
"Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty." - Frank Herbert, Dune, 1965
Creativity is definitely part of intelligence... it goes a long with problem solving, most anyone can solve a problem based on past experiences and observations, but it takes a certain level of intelligence to come up with a creative way to solve the problem that works better than what anyone else has come up with.
Social skills are a part of intelligence as well... i would consider a manager who gets extremely high results and proficiency out of his/her department as intelligent (same as a great coach). They can read people and understand how people interact with each other and in different situations, so they know where and how to use the talents the individual people have. You don't consider that intelligent behavior?
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
Peace
Dan
"Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty." - Frank Herbert, Dune, 1965
Q: psst. Nobody knows what to make of this.
A: I see that. Do you know why?
Q: I ask the questions here. Why?
A: Because people don't see an element.
Q: Element?
A: An Element of intelligence to it.
Q: Bwahahahaha
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Humans display intelligent behavior regardless of what they do. They're humans. Top of the food chain, hence, the superlative "intelligence".
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How does a human eating an apple or drinking water display more intelligent behavior than a horse doing the same thing?
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
Ability to apply what they've learned,
Ability to think critically,
Ability to apply what they've learn to new situations,
Self awareness.
I am a firm believer that there are many different areas of intelligence that all roll up into an overall general intelligence. People with good emotional inteeligence astonish me, that's so far outside my area of intelligence I'm always in awe.
when it hits you, you feel to pain.
So brutalize me with music.”
~ Bob Marley
I didn't say they do.
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ummmm, yeah, you did...
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
is it possible for one man to have an idea so genius...there are no words to try and explain it to any other man, due to the fact, they clearly will never be on the same level.