# What is intelligence?



## TheWaffle (Aug 4, 2010)

What is intelligence? Mindless accumulation of trivia? Use of reasoning? Entertainment of thoughts? A mix of all three? Discuss.


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## ZeRo (Jul 25, 2010)

thewaffle said:


> What is intelligence? Mindless accumulation of trivia? Use of reasoning? Entertainment of thoughts? A mix of all three? Discuss.



It is what ever knowledge a person has and values or what ever knowledge a person has that others value or Knowledge a person has where people including themselves value. 

Who knows, that mindless trivia might impress someone one day... Unless they too knew, then it would just be stating the obvious (what some may perceive as unnecessary and "unintelligent").

Another example: even if u were knowledgable, but lacked a good sense of communicating your argument or justifications... Others may view you as "stupid" etc. 

Thus, in my opinion, intelligence is subjective due to individual's value of the particular information or knowledge.


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## Psychosmurf (Aug 22, 2010)

I don't know, the Rain Man can accumulate knowledge like a machine (and so can computers), but few would call him (or the computers) intelligent. :mellow:

Anyway, I think a better definition of intelligence is the ability to solve problems.


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## Unicorntopia (Jun 18, 2010)

I agree with psychosmurf. What would be the point in even having a brain that thinks, if not to figure out a way to get a desired outcome. 

I think for animals such as a cat, it is rather simple to see. If the cat wants outside, it will remember that every time it gets to go outside, you twist the handle and the door opens for it to go outside. One day it experiments to try jumping and twisting the handle itself, and finds that it works. 

I think humans have a much more complicated view of what they want. The cat simply wants to go outside to be in the sun, chase things, and munch on grass. We want something greater that we have imagined and conceptualized. So I suppose it is figuring out what exactly it is you want and being able figure out how to make it happen. 

I don't know about anyone else but I have noticed that pets that are treated well by their owners growing up, will be _much_ smarter than ones who were neglected or mistreated. This actually makes me wonder if intelligence has a positive relationship to love, good will, good intentions, or positive attentions. Actually same goes for children too, but not in all cases. Free will may play a role in these exceptions.


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## SereneTugBoat (Sep 24, 2010)

It can be more than just problem solving.
Composers like Mozart or Bach were not problem
solvers but are regarded as geniuses.


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## Psychosmurf (Aug 22, 2010)

They were problem solvers. The problem was that there needed to be great music. And they solved it. roud:


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## Unicorntopia (Jun 18, 2010)

Psychosmurf said:


> They were problem solvers. The problem was that there needed to be great music. And they solved it. roud:


Hey! I was gonna say that. :tongue:roud:


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## ENTPreneur (Dec 13, 2009)

Intelligence... Ignoring the "multiple intelligences" and other such definitions, I believe that it is the use of what you have got to maximum efficiency. So a MENSA-member with - lets say - lots of supreme mathematical intelligence, but who do not possess the necessary traits to use it in any useful way, would not be intelligent. To not mess up the terms, I use "WISDOM" as the useful form of intelligence(s). You can be intelligent in many ways, but if you lack wisdom all of your assumptions and decisions will be flawed.

"Common sense, streetsmart, intuitive, insightful, perceiving, non-judgenental, openminded" and knowing when NOT to act is all parts of the WISDOM definition....

Too tired to keep going. Hope it says it anyways....


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## Radiant Flux (May 7, 2010)

Good question.


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## SomeRandomGuy18 (Aug 18, 2010)

thewaffle said:


> What is intelligence? Mindless accumulation of trivia? Use of reasoning? Entertainment of thoughts? A mix of all three? Discuss.


The latter two. Knowledge is not correlated with intelligence.


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## Abyss Soul (Jul 11, 2010)

SomeRandomGuy18 said:


> The latter two. Knowledge is not correlated with intelligence.


Agreed. 

My def.: Intelligence is a measure of the efficiency or application of one's culminated knowledge to solve through a problem or accomplished a predetermined goal. 

Here's another simple definition put forth by someone: "The ability to act purposefully and rationally with respect to the external world." 

Psychosmurf also had it right when regarding multiple intelligences as alternate forms of problem solving. 

Though, I often wonder when calculating intelligence, if computing speed should be a variable. After all, people have different concentration levels, or disorders that may make them predisposed to distractions and yet are rational. Should these variables be independent of a person's intelligence? 

I think there are more aspects to intelligence than just problem solving. Intuition, I believe, is another one and emotional intelligence should be factored in when calculating a person's net intelligence. And that's just a few out of many.


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## SomeRandomGuy18 (Aug 18, 2010)

cruiser314 said:


> Agreed.
> 
> My def.: Intelligence is a measure of the efficiency or application of one's culminated knowledge to solve through a problem or accomplished a predetermined goal.
> 
> ...


Computing speed while hyperfocusing could be a considerable factor of intelligence. However, if someone has an attention disorder (such as I), and are not able to focus, it should not be taken as mark against his/her intelligence.


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## Unicorntopia (Jun 18, 2010)

In regards to disabilities, when one has a disability in one area they often grow stronger in another, in which case, it would not effect net intelligence.


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## Abyss Soul (Jul 11, 2010)

Rosebier said:


> In regards to disabilities, when one has a disability in one area they often grow stronger in another, in which case, it would not effect net intelligence.


hmm... Well, whether it does or does not depends on which definition of intelligence you're using. 

People with certain disabilities actually have exceptional IQ's because of the disability alone, thereby increasing their net intelligence. Asperger's Syndrome is a good example of that.


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## Psychosmurf (Aug 22, 2010)

One thing I'd like to clarify. If emotional intelligence, verbal intelligence, spatial intelligence, etc. are all used to define intelligence, then we still won't know what intelligence is. Ex: If it was our task to define glorks, and if I said that green glorks, blue glorks, and red glorks are all a part of "glorks", then that still leaves "glorks" undefined. 

What this shows is that if intelligence manifests itself in such a variety of ways, then it should be a very fundamental mental process. Perhaps even a neurological one that can be studied. :mellow:
Watch this video --------> (starts at 2:05)




(For those of you that are curious, glorks are simply dorks that glow. So green glorks are glroks that are into alternative energy and Green Peace, blue glroks are sad glorks, and the Red Glorks are a very obscure high school football team.)


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## Unicorntopia (Jun 18, 2010)

Psychosmurf said:


> One thing I'd like to clarify. If emotional intelligence, verbal intelligence, spatial intelligence, etc. are all used to define intelligence, then we still won't know what intelligence is. Ex: If it was our task to define glorks, and if I said that green glorks, blue glorks, and red glorks are all a part of "glorks", then that still leaves "glorks" undefined.
> 
> What this shows is that if intelligence manifests itself in such a variety of ways, then it should be a very fundamental mental process. Perhaps even a neurological one that can be studied. :mellow:
> Watch this video --------> (starts at 2:05)YouTube - The Origin of Intelligence
> ...


We also have tons of single celled organisms in our bodies working for and against us at all times. :happy:

This is one of the reasons I am an advocate of fasting. I would like to be the one making my decisions. I don't want tons of bacteria influencing me constantly. :mellow:


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## Unicorntopia (Jun 18, 2010)

cruiser314 said:


> hmm... Well, whether it does or does not depends on which definition of intelligence you're using.
> 
> People with certain disabilities actually have exceptional IQ's because of the disability alone, thereby increasing their net intelligence. Asperger's Syndrome is a good example of that.


I have often wondered if I have asperger's. I'd be pissed if anyone looked down on me for it or deemed me less intelligent because of it. We all have cructhes. It is a matter of whether or not we can overcome the obsticall regardless.


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## Abyss Soul (Jul 11, 2010)

Rosebier said:


> I have often wondered if I have asperger's. I'd be pissed if anyone looked down on me for it or deemed me less intelligent because of it. We all have cructhes. It is a matter of whether or not we can overcome the obsticall regardless.


If you had Asperger's, then you should have been diagnosed with it by now. Although it's the highest functioning form of Autism, it's still fairly obvious when someone has it and at young ages when they suffer in school. Despite social challenges, they are bright; they just don't get that respect because they're seen as abnormal. 

But, you're right, it is a matter of overcoming limitations (and this goes for all disabilities or non-disabled folk). One of my best friends in college has Asperger's, and he has made social progress. Now, more people respect and classify him as an intellectual due to his advancements. After all, overcoming obstacles is an aspect of intelligence.


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## Ti Dominant (Sep 25, 2010)

thewaffle said:


> What is intelligence? Mindless accumulation of trivia? Use of reasoning? Entertainment of thoughts? A mix of all three? Discuss.


*Mindless accumulation of trivia* has hardly anything to do with intelligence, imo. Surely, it's a social and cultural thing to view knowledgeable people as "smart," but it's just an artificial convention. Mostly, I view the accumulation of knowledge as more reliant on memory, rather than actual use of one's more serious mental abilities. Most people can accumulate knowledge if they wanted to, and I suppose it's that most people do not that we suppose that people who do are somehow brilliant, which I don't think is the case at all. 



> _Many a man fails to become a thinker only because his memory is too good._ -- Nietzsche


*Use of reasoning* is a staple aspect of intelligence, imo. Of all of the various ways of looking at intelligence, it is the use of reasoning which is most crucial, and most important. We tend to notice that those individuals which we would seem to think are capable of utilizing their environment optimally, or strategizing optimally, or devising a better instrument to achieve their goals tend to utilize reasoning skills far more greatly than those who do not. For instance, if we stick people in a situation which requires analytical reasoning, like some sort of maze or gauntlet, we would expect the more intelligent persons to figure their way out of the contraption or situation faster, and with more finesse, than those who are less intelligent. 

*Creative thinking* is another aspect of intelligence which I think is fairly important. Contrary to simple rote memorization, creative thinking actually calls on special aspects of the mind, perhaps some level of analytical reasoning, to invent a new product, idea, or a new way of looking at things. Surely, the person with more creative thinking and reasoning will be able to adapt more quickly and with better precision than someone limited to their simple memory of a given situation, regardless of their pool of knowledge. 

I also think that the use of one's knowledge in a highly rational manner to achieve goals, solve problems, and creatively adapt to the world is part of intelligence. 
I just think that a creative person will outperform a highly knowledgeable person, if the creative person knows a little less, while the knowledgeable person is less creative. 
I definitely think creativity is a high-order aspect of intelligence, on top of being able to utilize knowledge appropriately/optimally. 

And, in my opinion, the* entertainment of thoughts * is mostly unrelated to intelligence, although it can somewhat correlate with creative thinking, as thought experiments and a multitude of "what ifs" rely strongly on one's imagination, which would obviously be seen as a creative aspect of the mind. So, perhaps I will just substitute creative thinking for entertainment of thoughts. 

Lastly, although I think intelligence has more to do with analytical reasoning (solving problems) and creative, imaginative reasoning (adaptation, invention, innovation), I also agree with the *multiple intelligence theory* developed by Gardner. Thus, I'm more balanced between the two sides of the intelligence debate; I think they are somewhat compatible views, if you look at them right. I think people generally have a wide range of intelligence, given that the mind is capable of many different feats and abilities. However, this would be a broader understanding of intelligence. I would, on top of this broader understanding, notice a more specific and narrower understanding of intelligence which relates to analytical reasoning and creativity. Thus, while people may have different intelligences, they do not all have core intellectual abilities. And so, I would prefer that these two different understandings of intelligence be merged, where the two different ways of looking at intelligence are given different terms. 

For instance, if someone had mathematical intelligence, while someone had linguistic intelligence, I think it would suffice to say that they both have some unique mental ability. Yet, according to the other, more narrow understanding of intelligence, the person with mathematical intelligence would be truly intelligent, for having reasoning skills, whereas the person with linguistic intelligence, although capable of abilities which the person with mathematical intelligence may lack, would not be viewed as truly intelligent, according to the ability to solve problems. I would also put a stronger emphasis on intelligence that might relate to creativity, such as musical or spatial. I think reasoning and creativity are fundamental to one's ability to truly use the mind most effectively to transform the external world and to adapt to it. Hence, I agree with Gardner's theory with a caveat: that certain intelligences aren't as equally valuable as others, even if they are all aspects of the mind which entail unique abilities and intelligences. Certain intelligences have a higher order than others. But this is just my theoretical opinion at the moment.


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## Trainwreck (Sep 14, 2010)

I define intelligence as the ability to make others look foolish. XD


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## Zic (Dec 30, 2009)

thewaffle said:


> What is intelligence? Mindless accumulation of trivia? Use of reasoning? Entertainment of thoughts? A mix of all three? Discuss.


It's something I possess in innumerable quanitities.


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## SomeRandomGuy18 (Aug 18, 2010)

Zic said:


> It's something I possess in innumerable quanitities.


But perhaps it is numerable?


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## Magnificent Bastard (Sep 22, 2010)

A question to perhaps put things in perspective: What is stupidity?


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## ThisIsWhereIrunAway (Oct 25, 2010)

How well you use a function. The measurement is only relative and highly subjective I think.


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## darksoul (Jul 17, 2010)

Magnificent Bastard said:


> A question to perhaps put things in perspective: What is stupidity?


The inability to problem-solve? Which will bring us back to the original argument, of course.


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## Apollo Celestio (Mar 10, 2010)

Intelligence is capacity. Skill is demonstration.


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## nothingnew (Aug 8, 2010)

Psychology recognizes fluid and crystallized intelligence as two different forms of intelligence. Fluid and crystallized intelligence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## noz (Dec 7, 2009)

intelligence is something we apply and attribute to other organisms. its an inferred estimation, like the brains computing the percept of color.


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## SomeRandomGuy18 (Aug 18, 2010)

Magnificent Bastard said:


> A question to perhaps put things in perspective: What is stupidity?


Stupidity is you


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## mnemonicfx (Sep 5, 2010)

We always measure intelligence by how advantageous these mental functions are to the survival and progress of our species.

That's my conclusion.


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## Green Girl (Oct 1, 2010)

I define intelligence as the ability to learn. The ability to observe data, whatever its source, and make connections and conclusions based on that data. Watch a toddler play with manipulative toys, like blocks, and see it in action. It's incredible to see how quickly they learn.


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