What Is Your Definition of 'Intelligence'?

I have a shirt that says 'PANTS' on it.

If people can't correctly name the article of clothing that it is, then they've failed the IQ test.

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I've thought about this and it boils down to a simple concept: intelligence is being able to think for yourself and draw a logical conclusion as a result.

I used to have rats, and they were hyper-intelligent little critters; there was a door in the side of their cage that I used to take them out and put them back in. Sometimes, when the little brats stunk up their bedding too badly to wait for cleaning-out day, they'd drag it all out of their little house and deposit it next to the door in the side of the cage. It was adorably cute, and very smart of them!

Human intelligence is a lot more complicated, but essentially the same thing. If you've thought about something and drawn your own logical conclusions, as opposed to trusting blindly in what others say or coming to a stupid conclusion that makes no sense whatsoever, then you're displaying intelligence. :)

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"Intelligence" is anything which isn't artificial.

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add to the definition Weez stated the following "using critical thinking skills"

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Intelligence is a measure of a person's capacity for learning and applying knowledge rather than a capacity to absorb information.

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"(and it's really not much different than memorizing scripts)."

But memorizing a script isn't what makes someone an intelligent actor. An intelligent actor is someone who takes a script and can bring life to a fictional character, and make that character seem real and truthful. If all the person can do is memorize a script and nothing else, that's not very intelligent.

I agree that having good memory skills is a type of intelligence, but if I met someone who could memorize every textbook ever given to them, but couldn't apply that to an out of classroom situation I wouldn't say they were intelligent. For example, I wouldn't call people with Savant Syndrome intelligent, but some people would. (However, I would call people with Savant Syndrome extreamly talented.)

Updated On: 1/17/09 at 04:52 PM

That's the point, Yawper. Diverse answers!

what?

Hah! I am actually my people include the guy at Starbucks, the first person I saw after my teacher announced the assignment, and my theatre teacher.