How do YOU gauge intelligence?

I think there are two types of intelligence. Book smart, and common sense, or street smarts. I think a well rounded person with both types is who I would respect the most. You really need both types.

I guess you could guage someone’s intelligence by how many acronyms they have after their name such as BA, PHD, MD, BS, etc. but that’s certainly not foolproof. Look at George Bush for example when it comes to intelligence and formal education. He’s supposed to be college educated and he has trouble forming simple sentences and speaking coherently on a regular basis.

@Scamp. I think your answer was good. Book smarts and street smarts could be a decent method to gauge the intelligence of different types of people.

Intelligence can be defined in many ways for me it’s categorized into two different views. Wisdom (wise) verses “study habits”? @scamp; people who base their brain mass on books and their findings from it, compared to common sense which were never taught to them. Some find it easier to work on Hand-on projects, other mathematically inside of their heads.

Here is an example of what I mentioned in my post. My ex husband was an electrician. He learned his trade on the job, and was very good at what he did. When the inspectors came to a house he was wiring, they saw it was him and left because he had a reputation for doing everything the way it should be done.

The company hired a guy who had training, and “book smarts”, but when it came to actually doing the work, he was all thumbs. His work was routinely red-tagged, and he cost the company quite a bit of money in fines. So even tho he got very high grades on paper, he wasn’t able to do the job.

So, while I hold people with education in high esteem, I think common sense (which cannot be learned) is more valuable.

I don’t. But I looooooove NICE people.
Jackasses come in both “smart” and “dumb,” and I despise them both.

My initial assessment usually boils down to use of language. Is the person able to communicate clearly? Do they pronounce words correctly? Use proper sentence structure? (<< unlike that) That said, I try not to make snap judgements. People are smart in all sorts of different ways, and some of those areas of intelligence are quicker to manifest themselves than others.

My main criteria is for one to be able to think outside the box and question what they are told. If someone believes everything they are told and never think that things could possibly be better or different… I think they are stupid. Thats just me. I mean anyone can memorize facts and take bullshit tests… that isn’t intelligence; that’s intelligence based on what our school systems and society tell us.

“Intelligence is not to make no mistakes, but quickly to see how to make them good.”
Bertolt Brecht

@madcapper you are so right!!
@judochop.. great quote!

Its often the wit and humor that I like.Then again it shouldn’t get sarcastic.And ‘good’ reasons as well.Sometimes even creativity.

I gauge intelligence in sort of a spherical continuum; I go by the quality and speed of a person’s response to a) challenges, b) questions, c) new ideas and concepts, and d) subtle wit.

My “activity” guide keeps saying there’s something new on this thread, but I don’t see it. If I may, though, a few observations on it:

1) You had to be smart to ask this question, but only people who feel they have successfully gauged intelligence would presume to answer it. (Just using the word “gauge”—and spelling it correctly—attracted many of the Flutherers who fit that criterion; nicely asked!)

2) Obviously, gauging intelligence is important to you, as it is to me, in matters of everyday life. But how much can intelligence really matter in the overall scheme of things? Height and physical beauty seem to be more selected-for, genetically speaking; and even among the small group that selects for intelligence, the reproduction rate is low compared to that of the unintelligent. BTW, we should never underestimate the capacity for violence of a large population of strong, stupid people—or their fear of the intelligent.

3) One big difference between intelligent and unintelligent is that the smart person theoretically can pretend to be stupid, but the stupid person can’t pretend to be smart. One post here advocates that as a strategy, but how do you actually do it? How do you hide intelligence?

4) And if it can be done, then how can you tell when someone who seems stupid is merely pretending? The answer could be important to anyone desirous of knowing how the US government can possibly do some of the things it’s considering.

I use the politeness IQ gauge. If they are intelligent enough not to piss me off, they can live.