Intelligence

What does intelligence mean to you? I feel like the meaning of intelligence is so vague and not universally valued in the same way. There's definitely many different kinds of intelligence, but which one holds more merit? Academic aptitude seems to be the cliche form of "intelligence", but I have time and time again met successful academics, whom I didn't regard as very intelligent. It's understood the savants (seeming like the gods of all prodigies) aren't in fact intelligent, they're actually mentally handicapped. Perhaps there are lesser forms of savantism, where said person is not clinically a savant, but the brain is also lacking in some forms of emotional and social intelligence.

Is intelligence fully inherited? It's clearly not, but what I mean is, is your capacity for cerebral growth and neuronal plasticity (simply put- the process of learning) hard-wired? If two children from completely different backgrounds, got put through the same exact upbringing and schooling, would they be equally as "smart"? There is really no real way of knowing. First of all, we may never know the full potential of the human brain. Second of all, it would be impossible to carry out such a study!

The question is; how much of nurture versus nature is involved in cognitive development? Are you born with half your potential? Are different people born with different amounts? Like some kids may have naturally had a head-start. Who knows. They say the most amount of brain growth happens in childhood, so maybe the babies/kids that were most stimulated from an early age got more of a head-start.

A lot of people think Chinese kids are naturally just gifted at math and science. The truth is the Chinese have a different scholastic system! They don't give you calculators in math class! Everything is worked out in your head! That's nuts! Do you realize how much exercise the brain is getting by constantly working out small mathematical problems?! We all took math, sure it was a little tricky at times, but imagine taking all those classes without a calculator?! We too would have been breezing through our math and chemistry classes! The Chinese get a head start!

I've kinda lost my track on this post, I wasn't trying to make a particular point, just lightly exploring the meaning of intelligence, or what intelligence means to us as individuals. The people that I've always regarded as most intelligent, were above all: CREATORS. They weren't impressively fast learners. They used what they knew to come up with something completely different. They used their experiences, and all their senses to convey similar emotions in other people. They're entertaining, they themselves are stimulating. They can teach, inspire, and cultivate a whirlwind of thoughts in your mind. They weren't fixed beings, they morphed, they grew, there were different facets to their personalities. They can get you to think in new ways, they can get you to believe in new things, and put visions in your mind that never once existed there. When I try to get to know a person, I envision them in an empty white room. Nothing there to interfere and mask a possible dry person, just two brains interacting. If you can sit opposite a person and have an engaging, thought provoking and enjoyable conversation then I consider that person to be intelligent.

The language of your brain