Intelligence

What makes you truly intelligent?

Am I the only one who wonders this? Why being good at one thing makes you "intelligent". Why are people labeled intellects when they only excel at one subject?


/debate

Sniper said:

What makes you truly intelligent?

Am I the only one who wonders this? Why being good at one thing makes you "intelligent". Why are people labeled intellects when they only excel at one subject?


/debate

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Beforehand, I'd like to ask; who are we to say we are intelligent?

We call ourselves intelligent when we compare ourselves to all other species which we know of, because they cannot do what we do. They are not capable of asking questions, nor have a complex communication system, etc. When we compare human DNA to that of a chimp's, there's a trivial amount of difference in our DNA. With that said, then perchance, the difference in our intelligence is trivial as well.

Thee things that primates do, human toddlers can do, i.e opening an umbrella, count, answer questions, etc. Perchance the difference between doing that and creating equipment to travel space is as small as the difference in our DNA. Now, just imagine an extraterrestrial life form that's 1.5% different from us. Just imagine how intelligent they would be, and then try to fathom how benighted we would be compared to them.

I don't necessarily agree with the claim that being good in one particular subject entitles you to the label of an intellectual. But they are labeled intellects, because they are intellects of that subject.

@Cannibal questioning the question is counterproductive in this scenario. To the best of our (factual) knowledge, we homosapiens are the most intelligent life form to have ever existed. That is what the question is based off of. We have nothing to compare ourselves to but what we only know exists. We are intelligent under, ironically, our own standards.

Now onto the true question at hand. There are thousands of different types of intelligence. Musical, Physical, Emotional. Tons.

There is a difference that needs to be clear. You can be intelligent "overall" or intelligent in a certain category.

To be intelligent in a certain category is self explanatory. Remember this is all opinionated. To meet my standard as being intelligent "overall" you must meet some criteria.

1. Be intellectual. Best case scenario is being intellectual in multiple languages, which includes being "cultured" in all of those languages. Understanding humor, taboo and such.

2. Be humble yet confident. Understand that you are a human, capable of mistake and error. But recognize what you are capable of and utilize that knowledge infinitely. Your brain is your artillery in life. You must also be able to swallow your pride sometimes, and understand others emotionally, and accept that you are not omnipowerful and there are things greater than you. To sum up this part of the criteria, be all that you can be as a human and as a person. This has no pertainance to "striving for your goals" and accomplishing milestones that society has set for us. I mean this at the most basic level, man to man, human to human. Common sense falls here too, and it is not so common anymore.

3. These words should define your outlook on everything drastic, with minor exceptions. Rational, logical, patient, understanding, open-minded, curious, optimistic, skeptical. There are many others that I cannot think of atm.

Basically a "perfect" human being in my opinion. I fit my own criteria for the most part, but I am most certainly not all of these things all of the time. No one can be. And that is why I do ask for perfection, but possession of these qualities, or potential to develop them.

Definitely did not put the time and thought into this question that I would have liked too. But its a start, an outline. I will leave you with this: Intelligence is NOT excelling in the school system we have in the United States. Some may argue that it is the exact opposite.

Alt said:

@Cannibal questioning the question is counterproductive in this scenario. To the best of our (factual) knowledge, we homosapiens are the most intelligent life form to have ever existed. That is what the question is based off of. We have nothing to compare ourselves to but what we only know exists. We are intelligent under, ironically, our own standards.

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I'm aware of everything you've stated. I'm just pointing out, that it's unwise to assume that we're intelligent.

Y'all are taking a different approach to the question than I would have expected. I thought we were comparing humans to other humans after reading the OP.

I believe in God and I want to say just one thing. Be humble yet confident. Understand that we are a human, capable of mistake and error. But recognize what we are capable of and utilize that knowledge infinitely. Our brain is our artillery in life. We must also be able to swallow our pride sometimes, and understand others emotionally, and accept that we are not Omni powerful and there are things greater than us. To sum up this part of the criteria, be all that we can be as a human and as a person. This has no pertinence to "striving for our goals" and accomplishing milestones that society has set for us. I mean this at the most basic level, man to man, human to human. Common sense falls here too, and it is not so common any more.

What I think must be said first is that there are multiple types of intelligence. This is proven fact. Nine types to be exact, those being; verbal, visual, physical, musical, mathematical, introspective, interpersonal, naturalist, and existential. (macalester.edu) That being said, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses in each and every one of those areas. So you may better understand what the types mean:
Verbal: the ability to use words (duh)
Visual: the ability to imagine things in your mind
Physical: the ability to use your body in various situations
Musical: the ability to use and understand music
Mathematical: the ability to apply logic to systems and numbers
Introspective: the ability to understand your inner thoughts
Interpersonal: the ability to understand other people, and relate well to them
Naturalist: sensitive to living things
Existential: the ability to tackle deep questions about human existence such as the meaning of life, how did we get here, what happens when we die, etc.

This being a matter of the mind, I think it is also important to keep Psychology in mind, more specifically personality types. According to modern Psychology, there are 16 personality types (more of which may be read about here) My personality type is that of the INTP(introverted, intuitive, thinking, perceiving) which means I excel in verbal, mathematical, and existential; arguably in introspective but that's a matter that only I can decide for myself and have yet to decide upon if you understand my meaning. People with my personality type(Einstein, for example) have a more developed ability to use pure logic and contemplate things from any conceivable angle while in the pursuit of what the individual INTP believes to be Truth.

True intelligence isn't that stuff you read in books, it's just street smarts and knowing how to make yourself higher in the world

Intelligent word is great in which sense if we think different from others and we do something extra that no one think we do it in perfectly so now I am going to make a design of car this is really good and I think now anyone have idea to create like this so due to complete my aim I visit in different countries and get many information so now I need some help about the tools that I need to complete it I want to start it in these vacations and I have very short time to collect information so if anyone suggest me the best tools that I need to complete my aim perfectly I really thank full to you.

We say we are intellectual based on what we know, and we cannot base anything on something else than what we know. Being intelligent doesn't mean anything really, as we are only basing that on what we know and there is still a majority of things we don't know. Intelligence is also highly subjective, which is the point of this thread and at same time it gives this thread meaning, it also makes no meaning. However, since we are going to state our opinions, I could just as well go ahead.

To me, intelligence isn't if you can answer a series of difficult questions, or if you know your way around systems, people or the world. To me, intelligence is experience and imagination. You need to be a real genius to muster out a world of your own, a world thats better than our world, a world that more logical, entertaining and beautiful. Imagination is the reason we evolve and the reason we invent new things, we see something we don't like and we imagine a solution in our head and we create that solution. There's to points to a problem, when you discover it and when you solve it, the hard part is not to make the idea, but to come up with the idea. Through experience, you can reach any goal or solution you desire, with enough time. Albert Einstein once said;

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.

This is what I believe, with imagination, you can come up with a solution to any answer, to any problem.

Cann!bal said:

Beforehand, I'd like to ask; who are we to say we are intelligent?

We call ourselves intelligent when we compare ourselves to all other species which we know of, because they cannot do what we do. They are not capable of asking questions, nor have a complex communication system, etc. When we compare human DNA to that of a chimp's, there's a trivial amount of difference in our DNA. With that said, then perchance, the difference in our intelligence is trivial as well.

Thee things that primates do, human toddlers can do, i.e opening an umbrella, count, answer questions, etc. Perchance the difference between doing that and creating equipment to travel space is as small as the difference in our DNA. Now, just imagine an extraterrestrial life form that's 1.5% different from us. Just imagine how intelligent they would be, and then try to fathom how benighted we would be compared to them.

I don't necessarily agree with the claim that being good in one particular subject entitles you to the label of an intellectual. But they are labeled intellects, because they are intellects of that subject.

Click to expand...

Didn't Neil Degrasse Tyson say something like that
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxfJfv9tirU

lazybear said:

Didn't Neil Degrasse Tyson say something like that
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxfJfv9tirU

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Yeah, and I rehearsed it into my own words. Your point?

I don't think anyone can truly define intelligence. For all we know, there could be a species light years a way with far more brain power than even imaginable in our realm. That being said, earthly intelligence is a combination between intellectual competence, vast knowledge and imagination.