Intelligence is something that has separated social circles in every culture since the dawn of time. It has won battles, solved problems, created every invention, and been responsible for the survival of the human race. Humans can’t swim fast, can’t run fast, can’t swing through trees well, 
and can’t fly. We have no natural defences like claws, toxins, spines, thick fur or tough hides. We had to out-smart our predators and our prey, and figure out ways to protect ourselves from the environments we lived in. Without our intelligence, we would have died out as a species before we ever were one!
Because intelligence is so important to us, we have tried to define it in so many ways it’s almost absurd. People have tried to find ways to test intelligence in many different ways throughout the years. The most well-known test is the IQ test, but even that has its downfalls and only gives a vague representation of limited types of intelligence. There is no way of really defining what makes one ordinary person smarter than another. Yet so many parents still pray their child will score good grades at school, and if they don’t, it’s a disappointment.
There are many levels on which the human brain operates. If someone lacks ability in one area, they usually make up for it in another. I’m going to give a list and simple description of differing things that need to be considered when trying to determine whether someone is intelligent or as thick as two bricks. I have not used the technically correct terms here, and I know someone is going to eventually come here and comment trying to give me technically correct definitions according to a certain dictionary or psychological or psychiatric study. That’s not my focus here, as different people over the years have defined intelligence of various types in so many different ways it makes my head spin! The main point is that I have given here a rough concept of the different things that should be considered before calling someone stupid.
- Logic: Ability to make sense of things and develop a sound and sensible conclusion.
- Intellect: Ability to absorb information.
- Memory: Ability to recall information over a period of time.
- Wisdom: Ability to understand, have a deep insight into something and predict a likely outcome.
- Knowledge: Things that have been learned through study and education.
- Experience: Things that have been learned through life’s encounters of trial and error.
- Motivation: Willingness to achieve things.
- Application: Willingness to use what you have to achieve things.
- Aptitude: Ability to use what you have to achieve things.
- Wit: Ability to think and react quickly.
- Creativity: Ability to extrapolate, imagine, and improvise.
- Empathy: Ability to understand the emotions of others.
- Awareness: Ability to notice things around you.
- Self-awareness: Ability to know yourself, what you are thinking and feeling and why.
- Concentration: Ability to focus on something for a period of time.
At any given time on any given day, any of these things can be stronger or weaker. A lack of concentration due to feeling tired, or excessive stress impeding a person’s memory, are examples of how these things can fluctuate. Some people might question, what about instinct and intuition? And that is a good point. If you think about it long enough, even in animals, instinct tends to come from experience, wisdom, awareness, and self-awareness more so than anything else. And just because we don’t understand it or it is subconscious, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a logical explanation for how someone knows something it seems they shouldn’t know. The concept of psychic abilities opens up a can of worms that I don't even want to touch on here, so I'll say nothing about that in this advice or I'll never get it finished!
Some things that are granted as intelligent aren’t necessarily so. Ability to research a topic for example, isn’t a form of intelligence, but a learned skill that utilizes several forms of intelligence. The same goes for a person’s ability to communicate effectively. I might be able to explain complicated concepts in writing, but if I tried to do it in person I’d probably look like a right twit! Just because someone can’t express what they know and think, doesn’t mean they don’t know or can’t think. And many people could do a lot better with passing exams if they didn’t stress out over them and cause themselves to have mental blackouts, and forget half of what they have learned until the exam is finished, because of it.
Learning difficulties can also impact on perceived intelligence. I know someone who’s predominant language is English, but when trying to study something difficult in written English they have a hard time of it. However, put it in written French and they comprehend far more easily. People with conditions such as autism, aren’t necessarily unintelligent, they just perceive and thus learn things in a different way. The same goes with conditions such as dyslexia and ADHD. They can still be highly intelligent people, they just need to learn things in a way that best suits them. Unfortunately even the best schools can't always accommodate such individual learning for every student.
So is someone with a high IQ intelligent? Generally speaking, yes. But that’s not to say that under the right circumstances they can’t be out-smarted by someone with a lower IQ. And it certainly doesn’t mean that they will actually apply their IQ to anything they do! I was a classic example of that when I was in school. I used to drive my teachers crazy because I would pass some classes with flying colours, and nearly fail others, and there seemed to be no consistency with that. My teachers couldn’t figure out what was going on with me, so they sent me for an official IQ test among other things.
A series of tests and assessments proved that not only did I not have any form of learning difficulties, but I also had an IQ of 179. I was reading Jack London novels when the other kids were still reading Dr Seuss, so how could I come so close to failing so often? It was simply because I rarely ever did an assignment, never did any home work, spent most of my class time asleep or doing something other than the work I was supposed to be doing, and yet I would still pass every exam. Because of the way different subjects are structured in their teaching methods, some I would pass with flying colours because all of the assessment was based on exam results, and others I would almost fail because they were based on assignments, home work and class work. The problem that I had was that I was so terribly bored with most of the subjects at school that I had no interest in putting in any effort into actually doing any work. I was capable of learning a semester’s worth of work in a couple of weeks, but I couldn’t be bothered putting in the time to write essays and the like to prove it.
If your child isn’t scoring good results at school, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t smart. And if your child is scoring very well at school, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are better than other children. There are so many variables to consider, so many ways to learn, and express what we have learned, that it is nigh impossible to determine who is really intelligent and who isn’t.
However, there are still people in the world that can safely be called stupid. When someone thinks they know something but have been given conflicting information many different times, in every different format, and explained in every possible way, with undisputable proven evidence, and they still don’t get it because they are so stubborn and narrow-minded that they can’t comprehend the idea that they could be possibly br wrong about something – that is stupid.
(June 12th) (
