How important is intelligence?

Question

Not necessarily in a ralationship or in a friendship, but in general, in life? Can you get by using other qualities? On a scale of 1-10 how much weight should smarts receive? If your favorite celebrity was any more/less intelligent would they still be your favorite? How about your favorite person in your real life? I've gotten conflicting answers from people I know, so I'd like to ask you all...

Answer 1

You ask a good question.

I have given considerable thought to this subject, being an observer of human nature.

I have a theory that we all pretty much have the same SIZE bucket of talents. However, the TALENTS that FILL that bucket can be very different between people. Let me explain …
If a person really excels in some area, it is likely they are deficient in some other area or areas. Just like in those role playing games where you have to divide your starting points between strength, wisdom, knowledge, etc.

As far as which are more important, like intelligence, here is my opinion … it takes all kinds of people to run the world. We need a mix of different talents. We actually need lawyers and doctors to be able to remember lots of information and be able to disseminate that back to us when needed. However, because many of them are really intelligent (not all of them, though), they almost always lack in other talents like imagination/creativity, social skills, athleticism, wisdom, common sense, etc.

In regards to celebrities, I believe they are talented with creativity and the ability to entertain, but most lack intelligence and wisdom. It always cracks me up when a person is a good actor/actress or singer and they go on news shows trying to portray themselves as some political or world genius. I think of it in the same terms as a good court jester in the days of kings & queens that thinks he should also make policy for the kingdom – of course this would have been absurd.

As far as my favorite person in real life, it would be very difficult to name just one. However, the ones that come to mind are my wife (she completes me) and my parents (they helped mold me).

It has been said that Einstein may have been the most intelligent person in recent history. Here is what he had to say about knowledge and imagination …

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."

Here is one of my favorite quotes from Einstein …
"Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking."

I think this is REALLY true today for people that spend very much time watching TV, going to movies, etc. They do not use their brains enough to be able to figure out basic things – lack of mental exercise.

To get off of my soap box and sum it all up. I do not believe any talents (e.g. intelligence) are any more important than any others. I think the world needs all of them to be able to function.

THE IMPORTANT thing is finding your talents and using them to make the world a better place!

Answer 2

Well, first things first, I agree with you on one point: the people who call you 'smart' because you know a lot about Korea are mistaken. They are mistaking 'smart' for 'knowledgable.' You are interested in the subject, so you learn about it, so you gain knowledge, so you become knowledgable. However, I also disagree with you in some ways. I think you are misrepresenting the concept of intelligence as well. To me, intelligence is not knowledge; intelligence is the ability to understand knowledge. For instance, almost anyone can know a mathematical formula, but not everyone can understand why it works that way. There is an argument to be made, of course. I'll continue with the math example. When you present a complex math problem, some people are just not going to care. Like you said, they don't understand, simply because they don't put any effort into understanding. This does not mean they are unintelligent. It means they are apathetic. However, there are also people who study math, who do their homework every night, who lose sleep over cramming sessions with their textbooks, and who try everything in their power to understand, but simply can't. And even the people who do understand, do not understand at the same rate. Some people have to study longer than others, and some people pretty much understand it right away. Does this not imply some inherent intelligence factor which varies by individual? I think it does. So, in answer to your question, I would say that you are right AND wrong. You're absolutely right in that some people are labelled as stupid when in fact they are every bit as intelligent as anyone else but simply aren't interested in learning. On the other hand, I do believe in varying intelligence levels, and I believe that these varying level absolutely affect our ability to learn and understand. The bottom line, to me, is that yes, there really are stupid people, and yes, there really are geniuses, and yes, there really are people who are mistakenly labelled as one or the other just because of the amount of work they put into it. EDIT: As an added note, I want to mention the Rubik's Cube. I've had a Rubik's Cube for eleven years, and have never figured it out. I've spent hours at a time staring at it and twisting it. I've gone one step further and looked online for tips and formulas. Once, I even followed a step-by-step guide, and still failed. So maybe I would get it if I tried long enough, but I certainly have tried, and I certainly haven't got it. On the other hand, I've seen someone figure it out on their first day after just staring at it for an hour or two. Now, does this mean they are flat out more intelligent than me? No. But it must mean there are differences in our intellectual aptitudes. At the very least, it shows that time and work are not all there is, because I tried harder and failed and he tried less but succeeded. The summary, because I've rambled: interest affects whether or not we try; intelligence affects whether or not we succeed if we try.

Answer 3

Intelligence is very important, but I believe a person can be very wise without being a genius. I believe we must always look to learn more than we do at present. There is no such thing as getting to a certain intelligence level and then staying there. If you do not excercise your mind you will lose sharpness. Intelligence is using all your qualities to make wise choices. If the people I now respect most in life started making stupid decisions I would lose respect for them. - Hosea 4:6 says: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge......

Answer 4

Depends entirely on what the person is doing. If they're teaching complex math, their intelligence is pretty important. If they're an actor, it doesn't matter at all as long as they're gifted as an actor.

If they're the president of the US or another world leader with their finger on the nuclear button, it matters up to a point, because you don't want an utter dimwit sitting in the big chair. But you also want someone with a deep sense of empathy and morality for other people. Some of the top Nazis had high IQs, but they were utterly reprehensible people who had no empathy for their victims or sense that what they were doing was profoundly wrong.

It's difficult to quantify with a number, but overall, I'd say if they have significant responsibility for affecting other peoples' lives, then I'd want them to have a balance of intelligence, empathy, morality and agape (love) for humankind. I wouldn't want someone who had great intelligence but lacked these other qualities.

Answer 5

Intelligence can be extremely important...but it can also be a non-factor when someone's emotions get involved. Intelligence and emotions are SO unrelated that you could have a genius with a nearly 180 IQ do some pretty moronic and ignorant things because there was an emotional issue gnawing at them.
And the IQ test isn't that exact anyway.
For example--Albert Einstein, one of the smartest men who ever lived, could never find his way back home after classes at Princeton because he had no sense of direction whatsoever!
Depends on what you're good at.

Answer 6

Intelligence is important at a 5, I believe. Why? Well, hard work, ethics, and how good you look also play in the role. There are average intelligent people who have gone through college and medical school and graduate school who have worked their butts off. Grades do not reflect your intelligence that much. There could be a super smart kid with C's and D's if he didn't do his work and was lazy.

Answer 7

i believe it is very important. for example. jessica simpson. i used to like her until she acted like a completly moron. that completly made me loose all respect for her. a lot of people say that is just an act. but if you feel the need to dumb down to make yourself more popular that is also amazingly stupid. in my opinion it makes people less attractive when they are stupid. i am not saying you have to be a genius but not a complete moron either.

Answer 8

duh...not much, no