Intelligence

This week, we are asked to reflect on:

• What you already know about intelligence. How do you know if someone is intelligent or not? 
• Do you consider yourself to be intelligent? Why? What is your evidence for this? 

The third week of the MOOC I am taking on Coursera, starts with a reflection text on intelligence. It's a topic that most people at some level are interest in - or at the very least have some relationship to - thinking they are smart, dumb, booksmart, streetsmart, etc.

I know a little about intelligence. I have read some books about it, and I recall that parts of my PhD were on intelligence, too. So I am well (enough) read. There are different types of intelligences (depending on who you are reading of course) and different intelligence tests as well. The latter are sometimes problematic because they are culturally tainted and biased. Bilingual children may do worse on the test but be quicker thinkers (and hence often test well in other tests associated with intelligence). I have tons of sources on this, but here's one taken out of thin air. Intelligence, like education and learning, is a complex enough concept - especially since thee is so much prestige associated with being smart and - on the flip side - none with being, well, dumb.

Most people are intelligent at some level, and as to the question at what level are intelligent people intelligent, I guess I have to divide between the quick and the slow thinkers. Some people pick a majority of things up quickly, while others do not. People with high IQs can be quite thick when it comes to certain things, and vice versa.

I personally think people are intelligent and quick when they are quick in the things that matter to me - and honestly, I don't mind much if they are slow in other things. So my perception of a person's intelligence is a cultural matter. 

Yes, I consider myself to be intelligent. But that is probably because my schooling tells me so (by grading) even though schooling doesn't necessarily have anything to do with intelligence. And, I consider my friends to be intelligent - and as I associate with my friends and consider myself equal to them, I by default consider myself to be intelligent along with them. Since they are quick thinkers on the stuff that matters to me - as am I - we are intelligent in my subjective opinion.

So, that out of the ay, I am looking forward to this week's work on intelligence.