What is the best definition of intelligence and what criteria is best used to measure it ie academia...?

Question

How can someone judge wether they are intelligent or not.Should it be based on their academic acheivement or is there some other benchmark that can be used to measure against those who have not had exposure to equal schooling.Is it right for a individual to mark someone as "low intelligence" because they are not interested in what that individual is interested in.

Answer 1

You don't have to be successful academically to be intelligent.

My brother is a professor and he has little common sense, and little EQ (look it up).

IQ tests, in my opinion are flawed (question often rely on knowledge of history/general knowledge not always logic/reason), however in terms of testing they may be the best test around.

You can get good at IQ tests - I've done a few and had scores ranging from 120 to 145 (and i dropped out of uni). But I know people who would struggle to get 100-110, yet they have successful little businesses, and earn more than me.

I think there's a whole middle-ground, where people are stronger in some areas than other, some are better with people than logic or sums. It's often the case the "good with people" types end up with management positions and better paid jobs..

There's a debate whether EQ (emotional intelligence) is more important that IQ (intelligence quotient). And the older I get the more i'm inclined to lean towards EQ being more important, for both relationships and work. There are some very lonely "smart" people out there.

Answer 2

Intelligence has never been properly defined.


That's partially the problem with IQ. IQ tests generally reflect how smart an individual is, and usually correlate well to what they are able to achieve, but the problem with IQ tests is that they're only testing what the test has defined as intelligence.

Hence IQ tests are merely testing a part of intelligence. They are not testing intelligence as a whole. This doesn't mean IQ tests shouldn't be taken seriously, or that they don't mean anything, but it should be acknowledged that they don't mean everything.


Academics rarely correlates well with intelligence. The problem with academics is half the time tests are just memorization and your score is a reflection of how hard you've been trying and how you've been raised, not how smart you are. It also requires that you follow the system; tests generally are anti creativity and being different that what is 'expected' usually results in poor scores.

Also, the classroom isn't an environment for everyone. Schools are designed to teach in one specific way, for like minded people, but people are not all like minded and if you don't like the way academics is set up then you probably won't do well unless you force yourself to. I know I personally test fairly well, but I have to be relaxed. I have scored off the charts on an IQ test but have performed extremely poorly on tests plenty of times from panicing, not being able to focus, or not studying the material enough.

And then you can have it the other way around. People that have excellent memories and absolutely love academia, but can't figure out an IQ question even if their life depended on it. These people are usually referred to as book smart and do very well in school.


And all the way in between you have all kinds of different people that think differently again.


As you can see, intelligence is a really mixed up issue that can't be properly defined.

Answer 3

"Intelligence" is the ability to solve problems. Since problems come in all different shapes and sizes, there is no one right way to measure it. In fact, many modern psychologists think there is a whole BUNCH of different kinds of "intelligence"; so what's the point? If you use one kind to solve a problem, and I use another, the problem still gets solved.

Dividing people up by some arbitrary numerical score is a form of prejudice; rarely useful, and almost always unfair to some. Better to judge each individual on his or her own merits, as the need arises. Ask yourself "Why do I need a number for this? What problem am I trying to solve?" You may find that you just asked the wrong question... :)

Answer 4

I think you hit the nail on the head with the last statement you made. People are intelligent in their own ways, and in different realms. It also depends on how your intelligence serves you. If you are good at math, but have no social skills or smarts when it comes to sustaining a relationship, what good is that? Some people excel in different areas, so it seems hard to measure. And let's not forget that even autistic people can be strong in certain areas, so the measure of intelligence will be different depending on the person's definition. I can't do calculus worth crap, but I can put together an outfit better than most people I know, and to some people that's valuable. So...I dunno. Different strokes for different folks I guess. If that makes any sense. (Making sense: not a strong point for me.) ;-)

Answer 5

I enjoy doing IQ test, but do not see them as a good guide to intelligence, because they require too much learnt knowledge, also because the scores take account of age, giving an higher score to older people who get the same results as younger people.
Intelligence is the ability to use your mind as effectively, as you can.
The true way to measure it, is to create a new situation for everyone being tested, it which they each have to achieve a specified objective, and measure the effectiveness of each participate against each other, and the speed at which each gets to their prefered objective.
People do judge other peoples intelligence, whether it is by saying someone has low intelligence, or by calling them stupid.
An intelligent person would be able to take that description of themself and judge it's truth by what he, or she, knows about the person, as to whether they had justification in saying it or not.

One should only accept such criticisms, if one respects the intelligence of the person who is saying it.
Ability to learn depends on intelligence. whether learning a particular thing is an intelligent action, depends how effectively the person uses the learning once they have aquired it.
An very intelligent person would see more ways of getting to their objective than would be offered to the masses.
The true test to someones intelligence, should be their happiness, their ability to overcome great obstacles, as the true hope of all people is to be happy.
Many people compare human intelligence with that of animals, but most animals in the wild live the life they are most adapted for.

Answer 6

I.Q. is the most widely utilized measure, although the validity of it is questioned frequently due to situational and social factors. Generally, academic acheivement is socially used as a quantifier, although a lot is subjective; someone who hasn't had a high level of education but speaks eloquently and is good at his or her given profession obviously has a high level of intelligence as well. Also, as we get older we specialize and lose the connections that we don't utilize, and that is why we have examples such as the professor who can't ride a bike.

Answer 7

I'd like to think my degree is a pretty good bench mark academically.
However, if you're talking physical intelligence then surely a mechanic/engineer would be equally as intelligent but measured in a different way.

Answer 8

I believe that intelligence should be based on how well you do your job. For example, if you are in a math related field what good would it serve you to know who the first president of the U.S. is. So intelligence is relative to the individual in what their job in life is. There isn't an objective way to test if people are intelligent.

Answer 9

Intelligence usually refers to a person's ability to learn, not the information they have stored in their brains. Testing for an innate ability to learn is hard though because such an ability is not based on language and most tests rely heavily on written language. A tribes-person from remote New Guinea may be more "intelligent" than an MIT professor, but testing and quantifying that is extremely difficult.

Answer 10

Intelligence is really hard to define, for example my husband is an A grade student and could tell you anything about hydro engineering, however he'd look at you blankly if you asked about string theory.

A friend of mine is doing a PhD in Astro Physics had a 96% average in her undergrad studies and yet she has an IQ's of 95.