Education = Intelligence? Hardly.

[Realitycrash]

I'm getting rather sick of the "Do you think you are more intelligent than the average?"-topics that pop up every now and then. How do you people measure intelligence? Is it IQ tests? I doubt it, especially since IQ-tests seem to point more at "you're good at IQ-tests" than "You're intelligent!".
No, what people assume is "intelligence", and what they mean when they say so, is most often education.
That's right. We have very few ways of effectively measuring how smart someone is, especially when you've only encountered them a few times, so education, or how "smart" they sound, is what we say when we mean "He's intelligent".
Or, that's how I see it.

What do you think? Do you really think you're more "intelligent" than the average, or are you just better educated? And if you are more "intelligent" than average, what proof do you have of it? Do you even know how to empirically test such a thing?

Edit:

There are a few different words that are pretty much used as synonyms for each other because of the connotations they draw.

There are different kinds of intelligence, there is no one definition of it and everyone has some measure of intellect that they find an affinity with. Whether it be for building a car engine to crunching mad maths to unravel the secrets of the universe.

You are right that the most common understanding of intelligence could probably be more aptly referred to as being learned.

Often a natural aptitude for acquiring knowledge and being learned go hand in hand. That's when you get insightful and sharp individuals like Christopher Hitchens. I would call him both intelligent and learned.

Then you get people like Hawking and Einstein. And although neither did poorly in school, their intelligence doesn't necessarily come from an aptitude for picking up facts in books or even have insightful opinions about the inner workings of politics etc. It comes directly from how their mind works. How they solve puzzles.

But like I said, intelligence isn't restricted to a few things. You can be a good puzzle solver, astute with numbers. You might take one look at a clump of metal and understand how it can make 4 wheels and a body do 200mph. It might be that you can pick up a brush and some slap some colour on a canvas leaving behind a masterpiece. Intelligence isn't solely judged by the words you know or the piece of paper you got for memorising facts. Even if people mostly assume it is.

Obviously not everybody is equally intelligent. Even within their own speciality. The world simply isn't that fair. But I do believer everybody has intelligence in some form or another.

I'v quoted this man in an Edit because he had a nice synopsis of my point, which spares me the energy of writing it myself.


Thanks for the input, Abandon.

 

[Kahunaburger]

I think it's fair to say that we don't even have a stable definition for intelligence. But considering that what we do have definition-wise generally consists of things like "learning quickly" and "knowing useful things," it would in fact tend to coincide with education. The education doesn't have to be formal, of course.

 

[w9496]

I tend to judge someones intellect based upon their actions and handling of situations. It reveals their mode of thinking and thought process. The drawback is that there is no real way to measure this either.

I like to think that all humans are situationally smart. Someone may not know a thing about math or science, but they could be great in other fields, such as machinery or social studies. By this way of thinking, every body is very close to having the same level of intelligence, only in different areas.

 

[Realitycrash]

I think it's fair to say that we don't even have a stable definition for intelligence. But considering that what we do have definition-wise generally consists of things like "learning quickly" and "knowing useful things," it would in fact tend to coincide with education. The education doesn't have to be formal, of course.

Coincide, but that just points to a general idea that whom are intelligent tend to learn more, probably because they have an easier time for it. The "average" person has an "average" education, but this doesn't mean that they have an average intelligence, just maybe not the same interests as the person who goes to college or aim at similar "high learning"-positions in life.

 

[Realitycrash]

I like to think that all humans are situationally smart. Someone may not know a thing about math or science, but they could be great in other fields, such as machinery or social studies. By this way of thinking, every body is very close to having the same level of intelligence, only in different areas.

This is getting some support with recent studies, as far as I know. There isn't one universal "intelligence", but more of "aptitudes".
Problem still remains that some of these "aptitudes" have snobbishly been referred to as the "intelligent" ones, like an aptitude for quick learning, understanding through reading or math.

 

[w9496]

I like to think that all humans are situationally smart. Someone may not know a thing about math or science, but they could be great in other fields, such as machinery or social studies. By this way of thinking, every body is very close to having the same level of intelligence, only in different areas.

This is getting some support with recent studies, as far as I know. There isn't one universal "intelligence", but more of "aptitudes".
Problem still remains that some of these "aptitudes" have snobbishly been referred to as the "intelligent" ones, like an aptitude for quick learning, understanding through reading or math.

Well some aptitudes, as you call them, are going to be more useful in the long run. I don't think that not having a "good" aptitude will make a person more stupid or anything like that.

No matter what people are going to feel more intelligent than other people, and whether or not they decide to be an asshole about it is up to them.

 

[Realitycrash]

I like to think that all humans are situationally smart. Someone may not know a thing about math or science, but they could be great in other fields, such as machinery or social studies. By this way of thinking, every body is very close to having the same level of intelligence, only in different areas.

This is getting some support with recent studies, as far as I know. There isn't one universal "intelligence", but more of "aptitudes".
Problem still remains that some of these "aptitudes" have snobbishly been referred to as the "intelligent" ones, like an aptitude for quick learning, understanding through reading or math.

Well some aptitudes, as you call them, are going to be more useful in the long run. I don't think that not having a "good" aptitude will make a person more stupid or anything like that.

No matter what people are going to feel more intelligent than other people, and whether or not they decide to be an asshole about it is up to them.

In a capitalistic society, some aptitudes will always be more desirable than others, this is true.
My point was simply that most people seem to think that a certain precious few, usually those possessed by scholars of different kinds, are what "intelligence" consists of. I wanted to know peoples opinions on this, especially since it seems clear that most Escapists (at least based on every poll I'v ever seen) seem to think that they all have these few ones.

 

[Logiclul]

..

Intelligence is both the presence of knowledge as well as the ability to apply it to real life scenarios.

In school, they give the former, and teach/preach the latter, which is why people who are educated tend to be more intelligent than others.

Of course, you can get the former through independent study, and if you are naturally gifted/learn how to on your own somehow, you can achieve the latter.

It is simply far more likely in todays' society that you possess intelligence if you went through the education system. The tone of the OP is ignorant and unjustly upset.

 

[gazumped]

In the most recent one of those threads I've seen, in the OP it was specifically stated that "knowledge =/= intelligence", although seeing some answers that seem to think that they're linked in that way does surprise me.

After all, we talk about some animals being 'more intelligent' than others. Do we think that dolphins go around in schools? Do we think rats hang out in science labs? Wait... you know what I mean!

Those creatures are seen as intelligent because they can solve problems, assess situations and learn from their mistakes. Although education often (although not always) indicates that the person who managed to get the piece of paper at the end of it is intelligent, intelligence is how people are able to learn, not a result of learning.

 

[SckizoBoy]

After all, we talk about some animals being 'more intelligent' than others. Do we think that dolphins go around in schools? Do we think rats hang out in science labs? Wait... you know what I mean!

Clever...(!) -_-

OT: Now, there seems to be some confusion between 'intellect' and 'intelligence'...

IMO, what should be viewed as intelligence is rather... adaptability, being able to fit into new circumstances (by that I mean professions etc.).

e.g. in terms of brute 'intellect', I am head and shoulders above my old man (except in physical chemistry... ¬_¬ ), but I still regard him as being far more intelligent, since he has worked as the following: (medical) theatre attendant; city trader; spectroscopic technician; gas engineer; telecoms forecaster; civil servant; statistical analyst; and a couple others (and to top it off, his half-serious ambition is to be a bloody mortuary attendant...(!)). So, in the context of 'now', this required/s a hideous level of transferable skills that seem sorely lacking in most now... myself included, so it would seem...

Besides, there's 'knowing' something, but 'intelligence' would be applying said thing and using it to interpret new knowledge...

/mental derp, not sure why...

 

[Lionsfan]

Sounds like someone is jealous of how smrt I am compared to everybody else on the Escapist

 

[SpaceBat]

I tend to judge someones intellect based upon their actions and handling of situations. It reveals their mode of thinking and thought process. The drawback is that there is no real way to measure this either.

Yeah, it would be possible to misjudge someone this way due to personal bias. I'm not really sure how to objectively judge someone's intelligence either, other than IQ tests but those tend to be flawed.

 

[HardkorSB]

I'm getting rather sick of the "Do you think you are more intelligent than the average?"-topics that pop up every now and then. How do you people measure intelligence? Is it IQ tests? I doubt it, especially since IQ-tests seem to point more at "you're good at IQ-tests" than "You're intelligent!".
No, what people assume is "intelligence", and what they mean when they say so, is most often education.
That's right. We have very few ways of effectively measuring how smart someone is, especially when you've only encountered them a few times, so education, or how "smart" they sound, is what we say when we mean "He's intelligent".
Or, that's how I see it.

What do you think? Do you really think you're more "intelligent" than the average, or are you just better educated? And if you are more "intelligent" than average, what proof do you have of it? Do you even know how to empirically test such a thing?

Education = things you know
Intelligence = processing and using the things you know

The processing part deals with how fast you can "connect the dots" and solve a problem, as well as the amount of connections you can make (the number of ways to solve the problem).
The usage part deals with using your knowledge to solve problems (pretty self explanatory).

 

[Promethax]

Well, if Chris-Chan really did get honor roll, then Education =/= Knowledge after all.

 

[TheDooD]

Education = Experience and Intelligence = How hard my lightning bolts fry your ass

 

[w9496]

I tend to judge someones intellect based upon their actions and handling of situations. It reveals their mode of thinking and thought process. The drawback is that there is no real way to measure this either.

Yeah, it would be possible to misjudge someone this way due to personal bias. I'm not really sure how to objectively judge someone's intelligence either, other than IQ tests but those tend to be flawed.

Yeah, there really is no perfect way to go about it, so we each judge differently. I hate it when people bring up IQ scores. I don't have a high or low IQ, just above average. The only things IQ tests prove is that you can see 9 triangles instead of 1.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Intelligence is a concept. It can't be represented with any number or quantifiable representation. That doesn't mean we can't measure it at all, society has generally decided on individuals who are very smart or stupid and because intelligence is a cultural concept then this cultural notion must reflect some reality about the concept.

Now as for me, I considered myself above above, but not much, but I have a high aptitude for solving puzzles and critical thinking as well as a good ability to memorize (which is often mistaken for intelligence when I can remember facts other people don't know).