What is your idea of intelligence?

[Teadrinker11]

What defines someone as being intelligent in your opinion? A good memory, able to retain and regurgitate massive loads of information or what? Critical thinking, problem solving, what does intelligence in a person mean to you?

@bigyellowTpot

There a different types of intelligence but I think one of the most important is common sense intelligence. I have met people with incredibly high IQs and deemed to be extremely intelligent but they have absolutely no common sense whatsoever. common sense is extremely important I think.

That’s my eldest daughter. She’s only 13 and been described as the most intelligent child people have ever met throughout her childhood. She got an award for the highest scoring sats results 3 years ago, and came somewhere in the top 11 out of 1800 of the most intelligent kids in the country for her 11 plus, but my god she some dumbass stuff on a daily basis 🤦🏼‍♀️ It’s a complete enigma to me!

"common sense is extremely important I think."

Very subjective though.

@bigyellowTpot

There a different types of intelligence but I think one of the most important is common sense intelligence. I have met people with incredibly high IQs and deemed to be extremely intelligent but they have absolutely no common sense whatsoever. common sense is extremely important I think.

I see this repeated on here all the time, and it's certainly a widely-believed stereotype (the eccentric professor who can't make a cup of tea etc), but to be honest, I work with brilliant people who are world-leading researchers in their field, and they have just as much common sense as the average person. I mean, they have the same access to the normal fund of experience that 'teaches' you common sense stuff as the rest of the population.

Problem solving and learning from experiences

People who are interested in learning and absorbing new information and also about different cultures so not completely ignorant to anyone who doesn’t look or act like them.

I don't believe there's an all-round "intelligent" person because I don't think one person can be intelligent in every area of life.

Also, I often see some people mistake being educated in school in a specific course of study for being an all-round intelligent person who should know everything. It could be something you've never had the opportunity to look up but somehow because you're a doctor, for instance, it's a surprise that you don't also know how a washing machine is made.

I mean, you'd know if you read up on it but having a PhD, for example, doesn't mean you're not ignorant in other areas of life.

There are different kinds of intelligence, ranging from logical-mathematical, spatial intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, emotional, etc.

We're all talented in one way or the other and likely prefer certain kinds to others. For example, I value emotional or interpersonal intelligence over logical-mathematical or just being knowledgeable about facts and repeating them without one's own independent thoughts. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate that kind of intelligence or that I don't think each one is important in certain situations. They certainly are.

I agree with lots of what people have said. I know a few people who think they are intelligent because they are good at general knowledge quizzes etc - while to some extent I suppose that does show an interest and curiosity in the world around you, I don't think there's any inherent intellectual superiority in being able to reel off a list of beethoven's symphonies or the rulers or the roman empire by century that there is in listing the 2005 premier league clubs.

I always wonder too with the geniuses who lack common sense trope, is it just an exaggerated version of the MN DHs who are CEOs but can't put the dishes on or remember their kids birthdays? e.g. they could manage exactly the same as mere mortals if they had to, but people make allowances for them so they get away with it!

I think in general, it’s the ability to understand, learn, make connections and solve problems. To see what doesn’t work, and why, and work out what needs to be done differently.

An eloquent speech.

I worked with a woman who told me she could envisage a problem as a 3D object which enabled her to flick it around in her head and play out various options. She was an amazing problem solver.

I've spent the years since training myself to do the same, I'm not in her league, but it makes my proposals and decisions more measured, which I've noticed in meetings makes me more credible.

I think it's a combination of having an enquiring mind, a good memory and fast processing skills.

Where we live children still sit the 11+. I assume that, if given long enough, most children could probably figure out a lot of the questions. But the test only gives them 30 seconds per questions!

Once at the grammar school pupils are expected to 'just keep up' and teachers aren't really interested in explaining things more than twice. It's a rather unforgiving, relentless system. But the children are all considered intelligent.

Both my DDs went through the grammar school system and both got excellent exam results. But I don't think they were encouraged to have enquiring minds, at all. Instead they were taught to pass exams and how to become very proficient Exam Robots. I sometimes feel they went to an Exam Factory rather than a school.

"I see this repeated on here all the time, and it's certainly a widely-believed stereotype (the eccentric professor who can't make a cup of tea etc), but to be honest, I work with brilliant people who are world-leading researchers in their field, and they have just as much common sense as the average person. I mean, they have the same access to the normal fund of experience that 'teaches' you common sense stuff as the rest of the population."

Those are the intelligent people with very good jobs though. There are plenty of geniuses who are not that successful professionally and part of that could be not having some other basic skills or common sense. I remember being at the pub once in a group where some were Mensa members. One of them arrived, but there wasn't a spare chair so he just stood there not knowing what to do. I had to tell him that one option was to go and get a chair from an empty table or an unoccupied chair from another table (I presumed he knew to ask whether it was taken first).

Either remembering or knowing where to get information, then reading through the information and being able to extract various revelent pieces of information to complete x tasks and or missions.

SorenLorensonsInvisibleFriend I love that show! Do you mean Robert? He seems like a lovely guy but I always think his designs are the least practical/he doesn't really "get" what families need.

I think it's a combination of having an enquiring mind, a good memory and fast processing skills

This is what I would have said too. IME intelligent people tend to have quite good emotional intelligence too - it's not one or the other.

Curiosity, spark, the ability to understand and work with complex issues, form complex sentences, link different bits of information without needing to be led or pointed to the correlation.

I used to be a teacher a taught plenty of kids with a good memory who were perceived as clever.

The really gifted ones though, they had a strong imagination to imagine new ways of doing things. They had the resilience to make mistakes. They were inquisitive and curious. They were motivated by finding things out, rather that being right.

Yes, I think it's a fallacy that if you're academic then you can't be emotionally intelligent too. It's a bit like saying if someone is physically beautiful then they can't also be highly intelligent.

@peaceanddove

Yes, I think it's a fallacy that if you're academic then you can't be emotionally intelligent too. It's a bit like saying if someone is physically beautiful then they can't also be highly intelligent.

Well it's definitely true that the distribution of talents isn't fair. Some people get lots and others not many. It works the other way around as well. Because I don't have an important job people assume I'm stupid which should mean I'm more practical and should be better at fixing staplers (for example) than my superiors?! I'm really awful at that kind of thing. Mother Nature doesn't really compensate in one area to make up for another.

Critical thinking is the quality that stands out for me. Questioning things; not just accepting that because it's printed in a newspaper, it's true. The ability to spot logical flaws in an argument and to cut through 'padding' to the essentials of a problem.

For me, the greatest sign of intelligence is the ability to process and build on information.

I have never understood why the ability to retain/regurgitate info is seen as a sign of intelligence. It's what you do with the info that counts. Do you understand how to examine it, interpret it, develop it, question it? This covers intellectual and emotional intelligence.

Definitely agree, it's not one or the other. (Was going to add that to my earlier post but it was already long enough). Some people have one or more kinds.

I do think the more you posses, the more intelligent you are - just based on being more well-balanced and 'all-rounded' than those who have fewer. The point though is that everyone is intelligent in one or more ways.

@Camomila

SorenLorensonsInvisibleFriend I love that show! Do you mean Robert? He seems like a lovely guy but I always think his designs are the least practical/he doesn't really "get" what families need.

I think it's a combination of having an enquiring mind, a good memory and fast processing skills

This is what I would have said too. IME intelligent people tend to have quite good emotional intelligence too - it's not one or the other.

Yes, that Irish Robert! He seems really arty and holistic and a bit bohemian but then is so sharp with all the academic side of it all and explaining all the logic and technical rationales.

Plus, I'm crap at visualising any spatial stuff so it's always a wonder to me when he creates massive amounts of space and new ways of seeing things. His designs are mad but I'm beginning to warm to the seating he's so fond of! Love the show, proper comfort telly.

Intelligence is the ability to engage in critical
thinking and problem solving. It requires the ability to retain enough information at any given time to make those connections.