How do you define (and measure) intelligence?

Fluther lurve score !~

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Actually, I don’t know. Standardized tests don’t really cut it for me. I guess, if I’m trying to judge others, I tend to look at their past accomplishments. Imperfect, I know.

I define it as the ability to grasp new concepts quickly and make use of them when they are most useful. I think memory also plays a role even though its really the application of what you remember.

Sadly, I find I’m getting worse at new concepts as I get older and I have never had a good memory. So to summarize: I’m not the brightest crayon in the box :)

For me, intelligence is like “book smarts” – accumulated knowledge.

Wisdom is more like “street smarts” – what one does with their intelligence, experience, and common sense.

How people use their time, knowledge and wisdom in certain situations and events. I know one or two people who know the most useless things, they’re just interested deeply in these things and accumulate so much information about it, but does it make them intelligent? On the other hand they don’t do too brilliantly at school because they don’t apply themselves in that sector. That’s not such an intelligent move huh?

People are always trying to judge other people, trying to measure things that shouldn’t be measured, trying put labels on things that don’t need to be labeled, trying to make a point that really isn’t of any importance whatsoever. I try not to see intelligence as a limiting factor, something that I should measure seeing as it then clouds my view of peoples strengths. Putting people into groups via intelligence levels isn’t good because everyone can have a use from those who go into space and make the space shuttles launch to those who clean up the offices big executives work in. Maybe I looked into this question a little too deeply but it felt good to for some reason. Basically I can’t define how I measure intelligence as thinking about it I don’t want to measure it, even if as a human I do judge people by what I have grown up to see as intelligence.

Well you have to look beyond intelligence, there is much more to it.

I classify people in two basic ways when it comes to intelligence; common sense and book smart.
You’ll (or most surely have) come across a lot of people that have really good grades etc. but when you just talk to them they just sound like idiots. They can recall information easily and from my view typically don’t go just beyond learning it.

People with common sense (me), aren’t the greatest at excelling, but when you think of one reaction you think of a cause, and you’re like.. oh, that makes sense, whereas book smart people are like wtf?

thats how i define intelligence although that isn’t really a definition but a classification. So it really just depends, is the person book smart or common sense smart?

http://Dictionary.com says intelligence is: capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc.

If you go by that definition (which I think I will), an intelligent person would have both street smarts and book smarts. Moreover, they have an open and flexible mind that they’re willing to use.

It’s certainly not an IQ test!

I’m not sure I buy into the concept of intelligence as a distinguishable, quantifiable attribute. The term is loosely used to encompass a wide range of skills: problem solving, language skills, reasoning, spatial visualization, abstraction and, according to some, social acumen, creativity, physical coordination, etc.

Which of these are indispensable to intelligence and which are just fluff? If you do manage to quantify these individual factors, how much weight should be given to each in trying to quantify global intelligence? These are, in the end, all highly subjective calls. Those who devise the measuring systems will inevitably bring their own biases to the process. Where does this fit in with science?

How well one functions in a given situation will not be determined by any comprehensive intelligence ranking, but by how well one’s specific skills meet the challenge at hand.

It is really hard to separate our measures of intelligence from our culture. That makes them inherently flawed in my mind.

That’s not easy to answer. It depends on who you ask, and what you consider to be an intelligent thought, concept, etc….
Regions probably also matter.

if they give me back correct change at the drive thru, they are smarter than the averge bear.