The Mark of True Intelligence

July 7, 2009 in Life with 5 Comments

einstein

I posted a question yesterday on Posterous because, quite frankly, I needed help. For the life of me, I could not figure out what one of my professors was asking. I was confounded by the choice of language.

This got me thinking, “What is intelligence?” Is intelligence being able to construct sentences with multiple syllables that need an unabridged dictionary to decode? Or is intelligence something more? Is intelligence more … tangible?

If you say something or present an idea or concept and no one understands what you’ve just tried to communicate, who’s the intelligent one then? You may have established that you are knowledgeable in a particular area, but is that true intelligence?

Intelligence, to me, is communicating complicated truths at a level that everyday people can understand. Anything else is useless.

BeDeviant.com runs on the Standard Theme

Standard Theme

The Standard Theme is a premium WordPress theme. Standard is a meticulously crafted and coded personal and professional blogging theme built with industry standards in mind.


With out-of-the-box solutions for social sharing, SEO optimization, advertising and social networks, The Standard Theme will set you up for blogging success. It does all the heavy lifting for you, whether you're a blogging beginner or seasoned pro. Check out The Standard Theme now and get started on your hassle-free blogging adventure!

5 Responses to “The Mark of True Intelligence”

  1. Marc July 7, 2009 at 3:16 pm #

    Knowing and communication of ideas to others is one aspect of intelligence, knowing what to do with those ideas and how best to put them use is also another aspect of intelligence which can easily get overlooked.

    • Mikes July 8, 2009 at 6:50 pm #

      I agree!

  2. Jason Kramme July 7, 2009 at 4:36 pm #

    I think intelligence is problem solving. I think that a lot of what we do today is one step removed from actually having to figure things out for ourselves. I have some friends that go to an alternative learning style school where all they do is creative problem solving exercises all day. I'm not sure how that will bear out in some standardized test, but I can tell you that they are much more situated to create 'new knowledge' than someone who doesn't learn that way.

  3. bw_ July 7, 2009 at 6:17 pm #

    Big words are shorthand. A way of saying something that has historical connotations. When I say "Epistemology" that is a loaded word that goes all the way back to the Greek derivative. When I use that word it suggests that I've done a little thinking around what truth really is and how it is acquired or if it really exists at all . It would take forever to define all of its parts in easy to understand language in order to make my point. As post moderns we have a problem with using more obscure words because it can be used as a power play. I would argue that the post modern critique of intelligence as a power game has eroded real understanding of intelligence and of God. All of this in light of your professors anomalous use of the word.

  4. Mikes July 8, 2009 at 6:49 pm #

    hmm that really makes me think now…

    intelligence for me is being able toi understand others and being able to respect and love them for who they are.