 |
| Image Credit- Google |
Intelligence is one of those topics that is really hard to define. Some people might think of it as the ability to make sense of complex ideas, reason and problem-solve, think abstractly, and understand someone else's point of view. But what about someone who is intelligent in one way but not in others or someone who is intelligent in one culture but not in another? To me, intelligence is the ability to take in and process information and to use it to meet one’s goals.
Here are 10 fascinating facts about intelligence that will blow your mind.
1. What is intelligence?
We often think of intelligence as the ability to learn and understand facts and figures. But one factor of intelligence is your ability to filter out the wrong facts and information.
Maybe you were bad at school but now feel that you are smart. Think about the times you made a mistake at work or made a mistake while making dinner for your family.
Have you always felt smart afterward? Because of this, you might need to improve your ability to filter out and resist false information. How intelligent are you? Some people think of intelligence as an innate characteristic.
They’ve had to learn how to be intelligent, whether by training, experience or, in extreme cases, medication. But is intelligence something you can learn and grow with or is it something you are born with?
2. Intelligence can be measured
Most people have heard of IQ tests and what they measure. But did you know that intelligence can also be measured in a simple test? You might remember the answer from geometry class: line equals length squared.
But did you know there is a test that also gives an IQ score based on that same concept? You can take the IQ test here. The idea behind intelligence is a real thing One of the reasons why the topic of intelligence has been so difficult to define and study is that we are simply starting to understand it.
As we learn more about intelligence, we can further pinpoint what makes someone smart, and what makes someone not so smart. Most of us feel that intelligence comes more from our intellect than from our experience.
3. The Flynn Effect
Studies show that children’s IQ scores are going up. The results of this study from a 2007 Yale study showed that even in countries where average IQ is decreasing, rates of increase are far higher than decreases.
My boys have always been intelligent but I have wondered if I could raise them up to be as well as these children are being raised in Austria, Russia, the UK, the US, or any number of other countries.
It is possible that I could raise them up to be so much better than their peers. I find this incredibly empowering and I am wondering if this is a new model for the way we teach our children. Intelligence vs. Smart The word “intelligent” has some subcategories and I will mention two of them: savant and universal.
4. Intelligence can change over time
We all know people who have all of the intelligence in the world but no social skills or life skills. You know, those people who are painfully shy and stand completely still in a room full of people, only saying things if they have to.
They tend to have very low IQs, and no one who is truly intelligent has such an awkward and socially crippling way of interacting with the world. In other words, it isn’t just something that you’re born with.
Intelligence can change and evolve over time, through learning and experience. Intelligence is a spectrum If you define intelligence as the ability to understand abstract concepts, like the concept of good and evil, then some people are more intelligent than others.
5. Intelligence is not fixed
There is a phenomenon known as the “refractory period” in which a task becomes more difficult the more times one attempts to complete it. The more times you have tried it before, the harder it is to make the effort and finish the task.
If you try again after the first attempt, you have more success, but the second attempt always becomes easier. Intelligence is also not fixed but rather adapts to its environment.
The brain cannot tell the difference between something like reading a textbook and taking in real-time information from a situation. In the brain, the concept of “learning” is the same whether it is reading a textbook or experiencing the real world. The problem is that when we read a textbook, we have a goal in mind: reading the words.
6. Intelligence is a spectrum
A common misconception is that there’s only one way to be intelligent, and everyone is on a different end of the spectrum. But really, anyone can be intelligent in some way or another.
The trick is learning how to identify your own skills and abilities and where you fit on the continuum of intelligence and using that knowledge to achieve the skills that are most useful to you.
Intelligence is not inherited We’re born with an innate set of skills and abilities that are responsible for basically everything that you can do. Of course, some of these skills are more developed than others, but intelligence is a learning process that can be achieved.
7. All cultures have their own measure of intelligence
Everyone has access to the same amount of information, and every culture uses it in different ways. So intelligence is the ability to interact with this information in the most useful way and to express that to others.
Einstein had an IQ of about 160, which is average for the population. His intelligence was not higher or lower than anyone else’s, and it did not make him better or worse.
An IQ of 100 is considered “average” and An IQ of 130 and up is considered “genius” Even Einstein (with an IQ of 160) was an average IQ doesn’t predict how much education someone will have If you assume everyone has the same access to information, an IQ of 100 is enough to receive an equal education to Einstein’s.
8. Intelligence can be inherited
Studies have shown that intelligence is not a fixed trait, and it can be inherited. This makes sense if you think of intelligence as one of the ways the human body can improve itself by learning and experience.
Studies have also shown that IQ predicts future life success. On the other hand, intelligence does not guarantee a bright future. A 2011 study of nearly 10,000 Americans followed from the time they were ten to twenty-two years old found that intelligence predicted job success in the 20s.
But by age 30, the correlation between intelligence and job success had broken down. Intelligence is gender-dependent Intelligence is a trait that is commonly associated with men. But it is often female intelligence that is most predictive of success.
9. Intelligence is the ability to take in and process information
The picture that comes to mind for many people when they think of intelligence is a general intelligence test (the SAT, for instance). But intelligence is not measured with tests.
The most common measure of general intelligence, and the best we have, is IQ. People with high IQs are able to comprehend the world around them and understand the relationship between the physical world and the human mind, and this is why they are able to do the things that they can.
Intelligence can also be measured in other ways such as academic performance and vocabulary, and these can both be used to measure the intelligence of a person. But a general intelligence test (such as the SAT) does not measure what makes a person intelligent.
10. Intelligence is measured in different ways
You can see your IQ on an IQ test and then your intelligence on a two-hour study test. One is a written test, and the other is an oral one.
One tells you what you know, and the other tells you what you know but not so well. This means that you can’t always compare one test with another.
Also Read
How To Stay Motivated And Get Your Vision Out To The World
Ramayana Vs Three Magical Pumpkins Major Difference between Epic and Folk Tales
