http://www.netbros.com/files/AlbertEinstein/albert_einstein.png

What one knows, does not constitute intelligence. Your ability to use what you know to learn more does.

Many argue that intelligence is what you know and what you are capable of understanding. I don't really think this is true. I do believe that everyone has an equal ability to understand anything and everything. No one is born stupid.

There are many forms of mental ability around in today’s world. I don't believe that it takes any more, or less, intelligence to create a set of financial accounts or to solve a chemical formula, than it does to rebuild an engine, or to cook a meal...Do you?

What most people call intelligence, should be called the acquisition of knowledge and practice. And what they call the ability to learn, should be called the willingness to learn.

Society tells us that the person who can create a set of financial accounts is more intelligent than the person who can build an engine is. Also that the person who can solve a set of quadratic equations is more intelligent than the person who can cook is.

So I think according to these rules..This would make me more intelligent than Albert Albert Einstein, simply because I can use the computer and he can't! LOL :hyper: .. The ruling does not allow for the fact that Albert Einstein was never taught to use this computer and never tried to do so, whereas I was and do.

The only reason why people do not understand things is that they do not recognise the parts that make it up, or the way in which it is presented.
People see things that they do not recognise and they just panic, and so do not even bother to try to understand it. If they do not immediately recognise it, it is too hard to understand.

Most people cannot be bothered even trying to understand something new. In my humble opinion,this is the real difference between being intelligent and being stupid. It is not the ability to understand, but the willingness to understand. If you do not try, you will not succeed. And ofcourse, it is always easier to say "I don't know" than actually "try". :yes:

What do you think? :dev:

I think I agree with all the above except the more intelligent than Einstein bit. not saying you're not intelligent... you're exquizit...lol...
but perhaps if Einstein was taught how to use it he'd be as intelligent?
Is it the lack of knowledge the determines intelligence or the ability to quickly understand and grasp things?

as for the rest... I 100% agree with the quote and all else said there

This bit is a bit off topic, but interesting to note none the less.

Einstein was also regarded to be a Savant (autism).. Meaning he was incapable of understanding other 'normal' things like us. He would give a lesson to an empty class room for example. And would repeat and obsess on individual things. Studying savants is a great way to really understand the complexities of our brains. We can, depending on everything you spoke about above, use parts of our brains that we have "access" too. Savants have access to parts of the brain that we all own, but that we don't all have 'access' to.

Many people with extraordinary "intelligence" lack it in some other department. Yesterday, on MBC4 I was watching 60 seconds (CBS?) and they brought a short feature about a couple of musical geniuses who could play the most beautiful piano recital by ear, but couldn't tell you how many fingers you held up. Einstein had the same 'condition'.

Now, back to topic.. lol

"It is not the ability to understand, but the willingness to understand."

I believe it is both, when comparing two people of the same age who have been offered the same chance and the same educational lesson and still understand it differently.
I asked this to my teacher friend, and she told me that even between her two kids, one found it harder to understand certain concepts than the other when they were at the same age.

It doesn't just come down to this though... looking back through the times, educatiion wasn't that much of an importance to certain circles of the over all community. Only the rich and affluent males really got a proper education. So it was no surprise that all the doctors and lawyers and professors where.. well.. rich and affluent males.. :rolleyes:

The poorer section of society, even the males in that group, never had the opportunity to get the same kind of education, so they became skilled workmen, fishermen and farmers. Who was the more intelligent? Could a chemist make a marble statue? Could a lawyer take a vessel out to sea and bring in a catch of fish?

We all excel in the areas we enjoy learning, we do best in things we work hard at understanding, given that we have that opportunity to learn and practice them. How people reach a particular level of intelligence or understanding of a subject all depends on if it is presented to them in a way they can understand it.

There are two types of intelligence, fluid intelligence and crystalline intelligence.

Fluid intelligence is what you are born with. What you acquire is the crystalline intelligence. As for those who can build buildings in comparison to those who cook, well, you are referring to the crystalline intelligence, the fluid intelligence might in fact be more in these people but not necessarily.

People do have varying amount of both these types of intelligence and saying that no one is born "stupid" is not true because some people ARE in fact born with very low intelligence levels that prevent them from functioning independently.

There are two types of intelligence, fluid intelligence and crystalline intelligence.

Fluid intelligence is what you are born with. What you acquire is the crystalline intelligence. As for those who can build buildings in comparison to those who cook, well, you are referring to the crystalline intelligence, the fluid intelligence might in fact be more in these people but not necessarily.

People do have varying amount of both these types of intelligence and saying that no one is born "stupid" is not true because some people ARE in fact born with very low intelligence levels that prevent them from functioning independently.
So, as you are saying above, it would be useless trying to constantly push a child who is lagging behind the whole class because he has a diminished ability to learn in a natural way? (as in, not having a recognised medical condition such as dyslexia?)

I had an Uzbek/Russian friend tell me that intelligence in their culture and language meant someone who is refined i.e. has manners.

I think I agree with all the above except the more intelligent than Einstein bit. not saying you're not intelligent... you're exquizit...lol...

Oh Tee.. You hurt my feelings there! :( lol..
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This bit is a bit off topic, but interesting to note none the less.

Einstein was also regarded to be a Savant (autism).. Meaning he was incapable of understanding other 'normal' things like us. He would give a lesson to an empty class room for example. And would repeat and obsess on individual things. Studying savants is a great way to really understand the complexities of our brains. We can, depending on everything you spoke about above, use parts of our brains that we have "access" too. Savants have access to parts of the brain that we all own, but that we don't all have 'access' to.

Oh As I first started reading this bit, I was going to say on the contrary, this is exactly what the topic is about! Meaning although Einstein was a Savant, that didn't stop him from excelling in science just like a normal person. But then as I read on, I understood that it WAS because he was Savant that he was able to do what he did?!

So then, if that was the case, then my post isn't entirely true.. So there ARE things that some people are just UNABLE to understand even if they wanted to? Then I can't become a rocket scientist even if I put my heart and mind to it??:lift:

Individuals differ from one another in their ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, to learn from experience, to engage in various forms of reasoning, to overcome obstacles by taking thought. Although these individual differences can be substantial, they are never entirely consistent: a given person’s intellectual performance will vary on different occasions, in different domains, as judged by different criteria. Concepts of "intelligence" are attempts to clarify and organize this complex set of phenomena


This summarize my understanding of intelligence :shy:

I believe that anyone who was determination and even a small account of intelligence can have whatever he wants in life. It's about hard work and determination and we're all born with quite the same brain. When they analysed Einstein's brain after his death, they found nothing different with it, which tell us that genius is all about which perception you take of thinking. We are all the children of Adam and Eve...

Nice thread BM :)