What is "Intelligence"?

124»

Comments

  • gue_barium
    gue_barium Posts: 5,515
    After I realized I wasn't Jesus Christ, I discovered that I was Johnny Appleseed.
    all posts by ©gue_barium are protected under US copyright law and are not to be reproduced, exchanged or sold
    except by express written permission of ©gue_barium, the author.
  • OutOfBreath
    OutOfBreath Posts: 1,804
    baraka wrote:
    Some dude named Howard Gardner has a Multiple Intelligence Theory which is interesting. http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm

    He has a list of a list of seven intelligences (from the above link):
    [snip]

    The problem with these multiple intelligences, is that they seem to be based on the assumption human=intelligence, therefore, everything humans do is intelligent by definition. I see the point that there are different ways to be "smart" about things, but isn't there a heavy implication and predetermined view of humans as epitomizing intelligence inherent in this classification?

    Peace
    Dan
    "YOU [humans] NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY BECOME?" - Death

    "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
  • gue_barium
    gue_barium Posts: 5,515
    OutOfBreath wrote:
    The problem with these multiple intelligences, is that they seem to be based on the assumption human=intelligence, therefore, everything humans do is intelligent by definition. I see the point that there are different ways to be "smart" about things, but isn't there a heavy implication and predetermined view of humans as epitomizing intelligence inherent in this classification?

    Peace
    Dan

    What is your definition of intelligence?
    all posts by ©gue_barium are protected under US copyright law and are not to be reproduced, exchanged or sold
    except by express written permission of ©gue_barium, the author.
  • OutOfBreath
    OutOfBreath Posts: 1,804
    gue_barium wrote:
    What is your definition of intelligence?
    I dont have a clear definition. I outlined what I thought in my first post here way back. But I feel if intelligence as a concept is to have an objective quality, then it can't start from human = intelligence by definition. Then again, I'm not sure intelligence as a concept used by us, can possibly be objective. We're talking about ourselves after all.

    But as far as it goes, I think baraka's last definition here serves for most purposes.

    Peace
    Dan
    "YOU [humans] NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY BECOME?" - Death

    "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
  • baraka
    baraka Posts: 1,268
    OutOfBreath wrote:
    The problem with these multiple intelligences, is that they seem to be based on the assumption human=intelligence, therefore, everything humans do is intelligent by definition. I see the point that there are different ways to be "smart" about things, but isn't there a heavy implication and predetermined view of humans as epitomizing intelligence inherent in this classification?

    Peace
    Dan


    Well, yeah, the multiple intelligence theory applies specifically to humans. I'm not sure where you are going with this, perhaps you could expound. I apologize. It is very early here ;).
    The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance,
    but the illusion of knowledge.
    ~Daniel Boorstin

    Only a life lived for others is worth living.
    ~Albert Einstein
  • glasshouse
    glasshouse Posts: 1,762
    it is something I’ve got an abundance of. I’ve got such a lot it's bringing me down.
    Athens, Greece: 2006/09/30

    "Call me Ishmael. Some years ago- never mind how long precisely- having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world." Herman Melville : Moby Dick
  • Ahnimus
    Ahnimus Posts: 10,560
    I like Gardner's model, but I still think it's far too dispersed to categorize.
    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

Categories