Why are some people cleverer than the others?

Question

What makes us clever? and also Is IQ a true indicator?

About the "cleverer", please, look it up here:
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/clever?view=uk

Answer 1

We each have gifts, talents and abilities. Some people use them and practice. They explore, learn and push their boundaries. They look at things in different ways and experiment. Through this process they enhance their ability to understand and to solve problems in new ways.

There is definitely something in the idea that we inherit tendencies toward certain abilities through our genes. But training and practice can help to increase our ability to be clever.

Answer 2

IQ is in now way a true indicator of intelligence.

All i will say is this:

1. IF you were to do an IQ test 5 times in a row and get a better score each time you did it, would this be because you were getting more intelligent or would it be merely because you were remembering more of the answers?

2. I have met people with "alleged" IQs of 150+ and they are amongst the most stupid people i have met. I.E. walking into doors or pouring tuna brine into a bin beleiving that if they poured it into the sink, it would "block the sewers with fat". And, concerningly, the latter is a true story.


Genes are what makes you clever.

Also, there is one thing which is a very real indicator of intelligence. It is not an IQ score of 150. It is not whether you know every capital city in the world.

It's called common sense.

And if you have even an iota of intelligence, you'll know why thats a fact...

Answer 3

IQ tests only show ones ability to pass an IQ test they are not indication of intelligence.
Genetics are a major part of the reason why we have the level of intelligence that we do. There is so many reasons why others retain information more than others. It also depends on what one considers 'clever'. Some don't consider someone who can get the top marks in tests as necessarily 'clever' they are just academic. Your question looks at a very broad spectrum and thus makes it almost impossible to answer.

Answer 4

The first reason is the genetical inheritance, usually children have the same level of intelligence as their parents.Another reason would be the environment in which that person lived and the way his education was taken care of.It's also the personal interest in different domains that makes a person cleverer than another.The IQ is not in my opiniona true indicator as long as taking one of those IQ tests might be done in an unappropriate moment when your mind doesn't work at its best.It would be almost imposible to find that moment when your mind is working absolutely perfect.

Answer 5

If you score high at an IQ test then all it says is that you're good at doing IQ tests.
Intelligence is just having an ability to regurgitate what has been taught to you. Kind of like a memory test.
And if you're really certifiably bonkers then you are classed as a lateral thinker and very clever because, the stuff you have to say is innovative and people have trouble understanding you. But really you're just bonkers.

Answer 6

Its a nature vs nurture thing. If you have all the opportunities in the world and people who dedicate a lot of time to your skills development you will score high on your IQ test. Also a lot has to do with culture, example in South Africa they used a question about a hamburger in an IQ test, the children they were testing had never heard of a hamburger and thus could not answer that question. Does that make them stupid? Not at all.

Answer 7

No IQ is not a indicator as to what makes some people more inteligent than others i think its just a case of some people take interest in learning and others dont and what marker is used to define inteligence. If you compare say a seven year old with a fifty year old and put a computer in front of them they would be equal in knowledge of that computer or the seven year old could have the edge,but on most things the fifty year old would be classed as having more inteligence

Answer 8

1) Genes. Some people just have better DNA than others. Halle Berry was born to be one of the most fantastic looking women in history; Chelsea Clinton was not. No amount of dirt or bad clothes could make Ms Berry unattractive. No amount of makeup or Armani could make Chelsea otherwise. Some athletes die of a heart attack at 35. Some chronic smokers live to be 100.

1.5) Diet. DNA is a blueprint, not a finished building. You could take the best work the Ghost of Frank Lloyd Wright could draft and build it with Soviet era cement and New Jersey mob labor. The finished building might look like the elevation but it wouldn’t be safe and it wouldn’t last. People who smoke and drink sometimes become centenarians, overweight people never, ever do. Diet starts in the womb. A lack of a single vitamin as a child makes you a disfigured cripple or blind or dead.

2) Nurture. I honestly think most kids, even those who get the short end of the genes, are born to be geniuses. The problem is, it’s really a trivial task to make a child stupid. Children are sponges, they absorb whatever is around them. All it takes to make a child stupid is to soak him or her in irrationality.

Answer 9

IQ tests measure just one type of intelligence - and the score is based on how fast you can answer the questions as much as on whether you can answer them at all.

My IQ supposedly classes me as gifted - yet I've had a DVD player player for weeks that I haven't used yet 'cos I can't figure out how - and I don't think I've ever got more than a six-letter word on Countdown (the numbers game I don't even try).

I prefer to be impressed by people who actually achieve things in their lives, rather than just show an ability to do logic tests quickly!

Answer 10

Comparisons are odious.
We are clever if we have brains and use them. Every time you use your brain it gets stronger. It's like a muscle in that respect.
IQ is not a true indicator. It measures other things than cleverness, and leaves out a great deal too.