[RobertWhite]

A term psychologists quite like at the moment is "one's ability to adapt to their environment".

[Felchingman]

(Original post by T-Toe)
Doesn't IQ tests just mean you're good at IQ tests?

No it doesn't. Especially if you have done your IQ test once when you were 6.
You'll find that people who have a high IQ (>120) generally do better at school (or the contrary, because they're bored).

But you know when someone's intelligent, you can hear it when that person speaks. And if they've taken an IQ test, you'll find this person who seems intelligent probably has a high IQ.

[aWildPidgey]

Not necessarily being able to do everything, but understanding why it is done?

[im so academic]

(Original post by InternetGangster)
In my novel, I gave my definition of intelligence as Intelligence has been defined in many different ways, including the abilities, but not limited to, abstract thought, understanding, self-awareness, communication, reasoning, learning, having emotional knowledge, retaining, planning, and problem solving.

That is so vague it can't even be called a definition of intelligence.

[Spaz Man]

We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.

Albert Einstein

[Blutooth]

(Original post by Rennit)
Post evidence and I'll believe you. In my experience its 10 points lower.

In my experience it's higher. The only two Oxbridge people I know the iqs of are myself and my dad at 132 (could be 134 but my memory is hazy) and 140 respectively. We were both tested by our schools at an earlyish age. My dad read maths at Cambridge.

[mc1000]

I think the best measure of intelligence is the ability to critique everything. If you go through life believing every single opinion without questioning its validity, then you probably don't have a mind that is as inquizitive as someone who does; and this in itself is likely to be a measure of at least one strand of intelligence. There are eight hypothesized different types of intelligence - some of which are far more subjective and arbitrary than others - and this significantly complicates things; there are more factors to intelligence than the ability to critique information, but I'd argue that this is the most universally relevant. For example, someone who is musically intelligent (one of the official eight different types) might be able to critically analyse a harmony just by listening to it, and come to a well-informed conclusion about its potential to stir emotion. This would tie in with emotional intelligence to some degree: another strand of intelligence, which itself doesn't necessarily rely solely on a critical mind, but instead relies on the ability to critique amongst other forms of intelligence in order to be put to use. The boundaries of intelligence really are blurred, but I think an inquizitive mind really is the common factor.


I think it's fair to say that atheists - with their critical, scientific minds - are likely to have a more switched-on mind than the average religious person (although, I should point out that there are plenty of exceptions to this rule; it's certainly possible to adeptly critique the evidence we do have, and conclude that religion x is the correct one. I've seen plenty of evidence of this myself).

However, what seems much more certain and less open to debate is that someone who reads The Sun or The Daily Mail etc. is far more likely to believe an assertion at face value, without questioning the validity, than a reader of The Times or The Guardian etc. - and further to this, I think it's fair to say that this correlates very strongly with what society deems as intelligence.

[xylas]

I would argue that intelligence is shown through the ability to take calculated risks, to demonstrate ingenuity when facing new problems, but most of all to be able see things that others miss.

The most obvious analogy I can think of is a chess player who is able to think 7 moves ahead and play a subtle variation which outdoes the opponent. Therefore, intelligence is also the ability to control the situation without others realising and take advantage.

[3nTr0pY]

I think a really intelligent person will:

1. Acquire a mastery of their chosen field committing the relevant facts and ideas to memory.

2. Creatively link these principles and ideas together to form brand new ideas

3. Submit these new ideas to critical analysis rejecting those which are illogical and developing further those which may have potential.


What makes genius scientists so impressive is that their work is judged unbiasedly and conclusively - by Mother Nature herself. Thus their genius can be indisputably proven before everyone.

[ufo2012]

The OP wasn't asking for "really" intelligent people though? Just general intelligence.

Defined online as "The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.".

Sounds quite simple really.

[hunkyhippo121]

i thought this kinda summed it up:

The mental abilities necessary for adaptation to, as well as selection and shaping of, any environmental context. According to this definition, although the behaviour that is labelled as intelligent may differ from one environmental context to another, the mental processes underlying this behaviour do not (Sternberg, 1997)

makes sense!

there was another older theory (spearman 1927 i think) that said intelligence comprises general factors (g = memory, vocab, reasoning, processing speed, something else...spatial ability?) and specific factors (for example, experience or context dependent abilities) that manifest in specific situations. so like.... a shopkeeper may be amazing at quickly calculating change etc cos they've done it so much (good specific intelligence), but this doesn't make them a good mathematician (which requires some more general intelligence)

oh and IQ is a comparator of intelligence... 100 being age-matched population average. thus can be used to infer intelligence but probs not such a useful indicator of absolute intellectual ability.

[Sternumator]

To me it means logical reasoning. If without any extra information someone keeps making arguements which make me go 'oh ye, thats it' then I consider them more intelligent than me.

[math1234]

Perfect logical reasoning for both deterministic & non-deterministic problems.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[Theoneoranro]

(Original post by T-Toe)
How do you quantify intelligence? I've always wanted to know. Society assumes that academic intelligence is proportional to a person's 'overall intelligence'. Whether we're happy with it or not, academic intelligence is hugely favoured upon. Does academic intelligence bare any useful meaning or is it just there to generate heirachy and sycophant-ness? So how can you determine whether an individual is intelligent or moronic? People are so quick to pass judgement on people's intelligence, so I wonder, what gives them the right? Is the idea of intelligence entirely subjective?

I think Howard Gardner defined intelligence really well. There are seven different types of intelligence, some people are more intelligent in certain things than others, there is no one intelligene.

[math1234]

Intelligence is what keeps you out of troubles.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[InternetGangster]

(Original post by im so academic)
That is so vague it can't even be called a definition of intelligence.

Not gonna lie, I have never written a novel, and that sentence was copied from Wikipedia,

[squeakysquirrel]

(Original post by T-Toe)
How do you quantify intelligence? I've always wanted to know. Society assumes that academic intelligence is proportional to a person's 'overall intelligence'. Whether we're happy with it or not, academic intelligence is hugely favoured upon. Does academic intelligence bare any useful meaning or is it just there to generate heirachy and sycophant-ness? So how can you determine whether an individual is intelligent or moronic? People are so quick to pass judgement on people's intelligence, so I wonder, what gives them the right? Is the idea of intelligence entirely subjective?

I would say it is knowing what you don't know and recognising that.

[Johnsmith-:)]

id define intelligence using a simple sentence that a great idol of mine once said:

Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.

a little some thing i like to add to the end is

Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change,succeed and prosper in life.

[miser]

I suppose intelligence is the capacity to creatively solve problems. How it's quantified is therefore difficult, because any standardised measure requires a creative person to actually come up with the problems in the first place.

[kopite493]

higher levels of cognitive reaction