I frequently ask my college students to write about this subject. In part because the discussion is always fascinating and informative, but also because reaching a better understanding of what intelligence is also helps students become more focused and more effective learners. So what is intelligence? In my opinion, intelligence includes three distinct abilities -- ability to learn, ability to apply that knowledge, and ability to build off that knowledge and application to create new knowledge and applications. For example, let us use a skill that we are all familiar with -- walking. Young children learn to walk primarily through demonstration and experimentation. We can tell and show children how to walk all day long but until they begin experimenting and learn how to apply their knowledge they do not learn to walk. Most children then build upon that knowledge and experience to move from walking to running, skipping, and a variety of other movements. When we think of learning we usually picture learning taking place in a classroom environment but we are continually learning all the time -- before and after formal education. In reality, the world is our classroom as we are receiving a stream of new information all the time. Sometimes we seek out information through formal instruction or reading, but other times we receive lessons from the people in our lives, from the media, and from the experience of living. Sometimes our learning is a passive experience that is forced upon us by circumstances but the most effective learning is done when we seek out new information whether for a specific purpose or for the simple pleasure of learning itself. However as well all know from life experience, simple knowledge is not enough. You need to know how to apply that knowledge in a practical sense. Memorizing a cook book makes no sense if you never set foot in a kitchen and pick up a spatula. That does not mean knowledge without an immediate application is useless. Literature can help you understand history and human relations, for example, and so is never a waste. But it is a waste if you read the entire works of William Shakespeare and never stop to think about how much he says about the human condition is just as true today as it was in his time. Finally, while learning and application are often demonstrated by people, I believe what truly separates the intelligent from the average person is taking the knowledge they gain to another level. Not only learning and applying that knowledge, but building upon that knowledge and experience to create new knowledge. These intelligent people include the engineers who create new machines, the surgeons who create new procedures, and the leaders who find new solutions to old problems. Intelligent people are found in all walks of life and all aspects of society but are easily distinguished from those of average intelligence by looking for these three key abilities -- the ability to learn, ability to apply that knowledge, and ability to build off that knowledge and application to create new knowledge and applications.
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