Intelligence

Despite the existence of IQ tests, IQ is really quite hard to define, nevermind measure, both in formal disciplines but also in general usage. I was having a chat with another volunteer about intelligence. This was sparked by him claiming that he wasn’t particularly intelligent and me fervently disagreeing. I mean, I’ve only known him for a month and he has known himself for several decades, so there is a chance I’ve mischaracterised him, but I do stand by my assessment (for what it is worth).

I’ve seen and been involved in many discussions about intelligence with many different people.

First off, I think it is really complex, multi-faceted and hard to define. I think there are different types of intelligence and I think it looks different in different situations. I also think that someone who is, broadly speaking, more intelligent than someone else, can have moments of being significantly less intelligent than that person. And I think that intelligent people can be incredibly stupid at times too. I also don’t really think it is possible to rank everyone from most intelligent to least – though it may be possible to create broader groupings (if one was so inclined).

So anyway, here are some of the things that I think contribute towards me thinking that someone is intelligent. And I know people who I would consider intelligent who may entirely lack one or more of these things. Some of them overlap and there are almost certainly some things I’m missing here.

• Pattern recognition
• A desire and an ability to learn
• Problem solving
• Speed of thinking
• Depth of thinking
• Assimilating new information
• Making connections
• Extrapolation
• Interpolation
• Understanding edge cases
• Understanding hierarchies and when they don’t apply
• Understanding sets, subsets, supersets, intersections, unions, etc (Venn diagrams) – understanding these concepts, even if the person doesn’t necessarily know the words for these
• Understanding cause, effect, correlation

And here are some things that I think might help with intelligence (and which might help others to see intelligence), but that I think aren’t actually intelligence per se, so someone who possesses the things from this list without any of the things from the previous list is hard for me to classify as intelligent.

• A good memory
• Knowledge of lots of facts
• A large vocabulary
• Curiosity
• Observation
• Confidence
• Creativity
• Wit
• Good communication skills
• A certificate from an educational institution

One of the issues I see a lot with respect to intelligence is people who believe themselves to be either far less or far more intelligent than they actually are (assuming such a thing exists). I see a lot more of the former than the latter. I often see people who don’t believe themselves to be particularly intelligent. And this may be because they weren’t particularly good in school. Or because a parent or other family member told them they were stupid. Or because they feel like others think faster than they do. Or because they feel like there is so much more that they don’t know than what they do know. Or because they think that what they know is obvious and what they don’t know is difficult. Or because they feel they make too many mistakes. Or because things feel much harder for them and look really easy for others. Or because they are uncertain about lots of things and think intelligence is something to do with confident certainty. Or perhaps because they see people with many of the characteristics in my second list and assume that they are the most important things.

In any case, the volunteer I was talking to is perceptive and sees patterns very easily. He has a remarkably clever wit often based on very astute observations. He makes connections. He understands cause and effect and correlation. He thinks. He learns. He is self-aware. In my book, this makes him really quite intelligent!

As I often do, I’ll keep trying to encourage him see more of this in himself (if that doesn’t sound too patronising). One of the most important aspects of my work as a teacher is confidence building. And I try to do this in my daily life as well as in my teaching.

I can’t help but think that if everyone received the confidence adjustment that was their due (people believing that they are as intelligent as they actually are), that we’d have fewer bad decisions being made by less intelligent people and more challenge from the intelligent ones!