Does it take an intelligent person to recognise an intelligent person?

Question

What started me thinking about this was the question of literacy levels in teachers.

If someone handed in a well written piece to a teacher who was unable to appreciate the complex arguments, grammar, choice of words, then how would the teacher recognise the worth of the essay?

Hypothetical there, I am actually training to be a teacher.

If you could provide your comments about the scenario above and answer the overarching question, that would be great.

I'm posting here because I know there are a few intelligent folk in this area. A few.

Cheers.
J

It is interesting that the people who have responded in an unfriendly way have not realised the aim of this question.

I get high grades of 75-90% and am quite confident of my intellectual abilities. I am also aware of my shortfalls in ability and attitude in other areas.

A good suggestion to anyone on this site is that you can learn from anyone, but you do that by asking questions.

Do not presume that the asking of a question somehow means that the asker has a shortfall of knowledge. It means they want to know more, and are looking for what they might be able to learn from you.

Answer 1

I can say from my own experience that I have suffered many times in classes where the teacher is barely of average intelligence. It's hard for one with a more talented intellect to shine in these situations. I have found that teachers with a solid grasp of writing is kind of rare, but a student that can write in a clear, concise way will still stand out.

But to answer the question: No, an unintelligent person cannot fully appreciate an intelligent one.

Answer 2

Not to brag, but I feel like I am intelligent. From what you wrote, I believe you are a "good" writer. That could possibly mean that your intelligence is above average, but I cannot tell for sure from what I see here. I cannot speak for others who are below or above my intelligence level, so I don't see how I or any one person can accurately answer your main question.

I do have a couple comments on your hypothetical situation. "Well-written" is ALWAYS an opinion. There is no perfect way to write a paper, or we would have all learned how in 3rd grade. It is hard for a teacher to appreciate an essay if they don't share the same appreciation for its traits. For example, if I was a teacher, I would prefer the most concise essays-- essays that could persuade or inform even the less intelligent-- not the ones with the most complex arguments.

I feel like I did not really provide the proper comments, but it is nearly impossible to do so. I got the impression that you think teachers should always be more intelligent than their students. I find it hard to decide someone's intellegence based on a paper they write or how they grade a paper.

Answer 3

I don't know if it necessarily takes an intelligent person to recognize another. I am intelligent, and I recognize higher levels of intelligence in some people I meet.
I think it's all about having an open mind, really. Because ideas or theories differ from yours, does it make them wrong or unintelligent? No, just a different way to look at something.
I think that is where some teachers fall short. They are trained on, say, what the words to a poem are supposed to represent. But couldn't those words hold a different truth or vision for others, be translated in different ways? I am a writer, and I know I wouldn't want anything I had published to be funneled into one interpretation. Each person should take away their own meaning.

Did I even answer your question? lol ;)

Answer 4

I think that you do have a point here, and let me add that I'm really pleased to see a teacher-to-be asking an insightful question like this.

With the "information explosion" it is becoming easier and easier to disguise drivel as insight. The most obvious examples are the pseudo-scientific creationist arguments and the postmodernist stuff. It certainly seems to take an extensive background to tell what is drivel and what is genuine, and those unable to tell the difference have managed to filter through the system thoroughly enough that one can get drivel published in relatively serious journals, and one can get an advanced degree without getting past the drivel.

I think that if you do become a teacher you will probably face this regularly, especially if you get a graduate degree in education. There were a lot of people - including professors - in my graduate studies in education who were unable to tell drivel from academically solid material. Other fields suffer the problem as well, but education may be where it is the worst.

Answer 5

I think I've seen that evidenced on several questions here. A person with a well thought out, comprehensive answer gets shoved aside for a stupidly ridiculous answer that doesn't even really answer the question. I'm beginning to believe that a majority of the people bypass the "good" answers because they don't understand them.
I am a math teacher and have long believed that we need expert mathematicians (ok, people really good at all levels of math) in ALL the math positions. I attended a workshop where the general consensus was that since we were "only 5th and 6th grade" math teachers we weren't expected to know the higher level math they were showing us.
I agree with you, what happens when a student has a breakthrough and asks about some math concept that is beyond their grade, but the teacher is unaware of it and tells them they are wrong? It sickens me. One of the teachers at this workshop actually asked me if I thought my math skills would be better used in another field. (I am actually very intelligent, and I excel in math). I was speechless because I thought all teachers were supposed to know their subject thoroughly. - A high school math teacher should not be /is not smarter than an elementary math teacher. We should all be on the level of TEACHER of that subject. A teacher should not feel that the high school students know more about her subject than she does. I chose to teach middle school because I liked the age of the children - not because that was how good at math I was.
I think I got a little off topic, but I hope my point was clear.

Answer 6

Thats too bad that the teacher could not appreciate your work. IT has happened to many prodigies that teachers try to tell them they will never amount to anything. Just look at Beethoven. ANyway, it doesnt take an intelligent person to recognize another. Many times I have been told, "wow, man you are kinda smart huh?" Yes this is a general quote from a not so intelligent person. Dont worry abou that teacher. Nowadays you should see who they let be teachers, its no wonder that they cant appreciate a fine piece of work when they see it. You need be aware of your abilities and just keep looking foward. One day youll be a good teacher.

Answer 7

you know what they say, it takes one to know one. the point about teachers is a valid one. if the teaches grades on content alone and not meaning, then there is no way to distinguish students, abilities, which can affect their education. if a teacher cannot appreciate the essay, a teacher cannot rate or grade the essay fairly with all due consideration.
the overarching question is almost impossible to answer, because it is a matter of opinion. if a teacher cannot recognize an intelligent paper, they cannot recognize an intelligent person. i dont know if that answers anything
oh, and good luck becoming a teacher.

Answer 8

Yes and no. I may not be as smart as Stephen Hawking or Einstein by I sure as heck know they're really really intelligent. However from your perspective it may be difficult for one to correctly assess someone more gifted intelligence wise, for example, in your case maybe a student wrote a paper that went way over your head. Not understanding where the student was coming from and what he/she meant could definitely alter the grade or assessment of that student. So again, it depends on the situation or the perspective you're looking at. In a manner of correctly rating intelligence how can I rate something I'm ignorant of?

Answer 9

if your are speaking on a intense college point, properly worth isn't considerable in an essay. intense college is meant to coach the undemanding skills with a view to excel in existence. besides the undeniable fact that, instructors could nevertheless be a strategies greater advantageous than their pupils of their given field and characteristic the skill to perceive different stages of theory interior their very own pupils. this permits the greater proficient pupils to be known and take transport of an training that could flow previous the fundamentals, alongside with helping the slower pupils. If a instructor is basically getting by utilising, the educational of the pupils is being stifled. From a school attitude, the lecturers could be of the suitable, and that they in many cases are. the situation with the lecturers in college is ,no longer that they don't seem to be clever, yet they only furnish one section to the subject concerns they are coaching. This additionally can stifle the student.

Answer 10

I don't think so. I recognize Albert Einstein as a great mathematician but I am not one. I recognize Jesus as Savior but I am not one.

As far as the teacher goes, he/she may just not like the style of writing or maybe it didn't meet the expectations that the teacher expected. And quite possibly, intelligence is in the eye of the beholder. Maybe the piece wasn't really that good.