Intelligence Defined
What is Intelligence?
What is Intelligence?
Intelligence is comprised of three abilities:
- the ability to ACQUIRE knowledge
- the ability to UNDERSTAND the knowledge acquired
- the ability to IMPLEMENT the acquired and understood knowledge
It really is as simple as that.
These abilities are put to work by us when we are actively SEEKING knowledge (collecting information) commonly referred to as RESEARCH, employing REASON (thoughts, asking questions) to understand the knowledge (information or data) that we have acquired, and then using RECKONING to properly act upon it as we should.
These are the tools (research, reason, and reckoning) that we employ in acquiring, understanding and implementing knowledge.
Intelligence uses these three tools:
- RESEARCH: used to acquire knowledge
- REASON: used to understand knowledge
- RECKONING: used to implement knowledge
The definitions provided below proceed from the sources cited. The bold, highlighted texts portions have been added to focus attention on what I consider key components of the definitions.
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be described as the ability to perceive or infer information, and to retain it as knowledge to be applied towards adaptive behaviors within an environment or context.
Intelligence is most often studied in humans but has also been observed in both non-human animals and in plants despite controversy as to whether some of these forms of life exhibit intelligence.
Intelligence in computers or other machines is called artificial intelligence.
Human intelligence is the intellectual capability of humans, which is marked by complex cognitive feats and high levels of motivation and self-awareness. High intelligence is associated with better outcomes in life.
Through intelligence, humans possess the cognitive abilities to learn, form concepts, understand, apply logic and reason, including the capacities to recognize patterns, plan, innovate, solve problems, make decisions, retain information, and use language to communicate.
There are conflicting ideas about how intelligence is measured, ranging from the idea that intelligence is fixed upon birth, or that it is malleable and can change depending on an individual's mindset and efforts.
Several subcategories of intelligence, such as emotional intelligence or social intelligence, are heavily debated as to whether they are traditional forms of intelligence.
They are generally thought to be distinct processes that occur, though there is speculation that they tie into traditional intelligence more than previously suspected.
