FFT (3) What constitutes/validates intellect?

Are straight-A's the only validation of intellect?

 

Lately I've been thinking about what constitutes/validates/connotes intellect, and if the widely accepted form for said intellect is perhaps too one-dimensional. Be it the smog of exam results and university applications and predicted grades etc. so heavily tainting the air this year, but such has been the topic of many conversations between myself and friends during lunchtimes spent anticipant of the revision awaiting us in the evening. 

 

The fundamental root of such musings (besides the obvious nerves surrounding personal results) stems from the ideology that school exams, at the most basic level, test one type of intellect - how book-smart you are. They give no indication of creative intellect (bar a small sampling in English Language and the Arts), or interactive intellect, or so forth; essentially, intellect is arguably more four-dimensional than school education leads us to believe.

 

Prospective Four Dimensions of Intellect: 

 

1. Book-Smart

Definition: good exam/school grades.

 

Obviously, given their wide implementation in education and the conspicuous fact that not everyone achieves 100% or straight-As, conventional tests of intellect clearly do test some form of intellect. However, the reason I object to this being the only validation of intellect is that a large percentage of success in such exams comes down to external factors (often) independent of one's intellect. Such includes the quality of teaching received, the motivation of the student to put in the work throughout the year, and the student's revision abilities.

 

Take my GCSE Chemistry result for example - in all frankness, I never really understood the subject and found it predominantly dull. However, given the high quality of my teaching, and the long hours I spent memorizing the syllabus contents, I was able to obtain an A*. Surely such a grade validates that I'm clever at Chemistry, right? Wrong. Such a grade validates that I have a good memory and revision skills - that I have book-smart Chemistry intellect. Such was demonstrated when my younger brother asked me to check his mock Chemistry paper a few months ago and, having pushed all the memorised facts to the dusty corners of my mind, I was completely lost.

 

Nevertheless, conventional exams do test intellect with regards to analytical, numerical, literate, responsive and such related facets. Book-smart is hence not to be dismissed as either the only form of intellect, or on the other end of the spectrum, as no indication of intellect whatsoever; I believe it, as suggested by Da Vinci (see below in reference quotes), to be a widely essential primary foundation upon which to build and develop further intellect. This is so given its provision of a base from which one has the understanding/knowledge to think for oneself effectively and nourish a greater enthusiasm for their surrounding environment.

'The acquisition of knowledge is always of use to the intellect, because it may thus drive out useless things and retain the good. For nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first known.'

- Leonardo da Vinci

 

'And not only the pride of intellect, but the stupidity of intellect. And above all, the dishonesty, yes, the dishonesty of intellect. Yes, indeed, the dishonesty and trickery of intellect.'

- Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

 

2. Creative Intellect

Definition: creative ability with regard to creating and thinking

 

I've always admired creative people; their ability to create something unique from the world, to portray their perception of something in new ways, and to harbour new ideas fascinates me. I believe that the ability to think for oneself is one of the purest, rawest forms of intellect. It's one of the most predominant facets of the Four-Dimensional Intellect that convinces me that being One-Dimensionally Book-Smart is not the correct, solitary validation for possessing intellect. Such elements are the reason I love Geography and English Literature, as well as reading and writing - the analytical challenge of thinking for yourself. Creative intellect can further be subdivided into two categories: Interpretation and Invention.

 

a) Interpretation - this constitutes engaging with something, such as a piece of literature or an area of study, to produce ones own opinion and understanding of the matters presented. Rather than merely accepting something and learning it (ahem, parrot fashion), interpretive creative intellect regards questioning and analysing the something. This may then result in a written or constructed (drawing, painting, sculpting, inventing etc.) response. Again, here the crucial element lies in thinking for yourself, not being a subjugated learner.

 

b) Invention - you guessed it. This too involves thinking for yourself. The thing distinguishing Inventive Creative Intellect from Interpretive Creative Intellect is that it results in a more fictitious creation i.e. translating their ideas and thoughts into new things be it a new world or character in a novel, or a new invention, or painted landscape of a vision.

 

Both subdivisions of creative intellect are equally as important a validation of intellect as it's other dimensions; thinking for yourself provides the depth to the proposed dimensional intellect.

 

'Because there are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, the third is useless.'

- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

 

'The greater intellect one has, the more originality one finds in men. Ordinary persons find no difference between men.'

- Blaise Pascal, Pensees

 

'The intellectual attainments of a man who thinks for himself resemble a fine painting, where the light and shade are correct, the tone sustained, the colour perfectly harmonised; it is true to life. On the other hand, the intellectual attainments of the mere man of learning are like a large palette, full of all sorts of colours, which at most are systematically arranged, but devoid of harmony, connection and meaning.'

- Arthur Schopenhauer, Parerga and Paralipomena

 

3. Interactive Intellect

Definition: awareness and knowledge of your surroundings; an ability to effectively interact with your surroundings, be it with the environment or people

 

This third constituent of the Four-Dimensional Intellect is perhaps the most subjectively unorthodox; it is the norm to attribute intellect merely to brain power, ability and capacity alluded to through scientific, mathematic and creative achievement. However, the relationship of someone with another person or the environment I believe speaks volumes of that person's intellect too; Interactive Intellect manifests itself as an interest, an enthusiasm, a curiosity, to learn about one's surroundings leading to an intimate knowledge and understanding of said environment, in addition to a deep comprehension and unique perception of other people. As with Creative Intellect, Interactive Intellect can therefore be subdivided into a further two categories: Natural Environmental Interaction and Social Environmental Interaction.

 

a) Natural Environmental Interaction - as aforementioned, such entails an interest in the world around and subsequently results in a deep understanding and knowledge. What separates this from Book-Smart Intellect is the way in which the intellect is utilized - first-hand rather than spoon-fed. I think this idea may be best illustrated by the depiction of a case study: I'm currently reading 'Guns, Germs and Steel' by Jared Diamond, wherein he attempts to justify why history unfolded so geographically disparately with some continents dominating others despite our shared ancestral beginnings. In one chapter he says that he believes New Guineans, disregarding their universally common label as 'backwards', to in fact be amongst the smartest people he knows - the only thing holding them 'back' is unequal opportunities to be great Einsteins and Aristotles. One way in which he describes them portraying their unique intellect is in their harmonious understanding and interest in the world around them; he describes the ease with which they are able to identify different plants and animals, and their unparalleled interaction with the natural world when he travels with them. Another example is that of Shailene Woodley, one of my favourite actresses, who continues to amaze me with her utter fascination with the world and her understanding of the natural environment. Just watch this interview. Recap: a knowledgeable understanding and interaction with our environment.

 

b) Social Environmental Interaction - rather than an understanding and interest with the environment, this comprises an ability and talent with people. It could be illustrated by a social worker, a baby sitter, a teacher, or a political leader and so forth. In late April I led a group of girls across year groups at my school in a challenge entitled Global Issues, Global Solutions, but that's beside the point - I mention this because of a conversation I had with one of the members in my group who was three years younger than I and had two sisters, one in the year below myself and one a few years older than me.

 

"My sister just got __ A*s and __ As in her mocks!"

"Wow congratulations! Do you have any other siblings?"

"Yeah, I have one older one. But she's not that smart."

"Oh."

"I mean, she didn't get very good grades. But she's so good with people. She works with children now, and I think she's so smart in that way - I could never do what she does, or interact with them the way she does. I think different people are smart in different forms."

 

Those may not have been her exact words, but they capture the gist of what she was saying, and what she was staying has stuck with me. Social Environmental Interaction I believe is deservedly a form of intellect; the ability to effectively cooperate and work with people, to build and sustain harmonious relationships with them and to possess an understanding of others is a sure sign of both intellectual capacity and ability. 

 

'Some people think only intellect counts: knowing how to get by, knowing how to identify an advantage and seize it. But the functions of intellect are insufficient without courage, love, friendship, compassion and empathy.'

- Dean Koontz

 

'The truth is that personality inevitably bleeds into all forms of our intellectual life. We all extrapolate from our own lives in order to understand the world.'

- Siri Hustvedt, The Shaking Woman/A History of My Nerves 

 

'Our intellect is not intended to be an end in itself, but only a means to the very mind of God.'

- Ravi Zacharias, Jesus Among Other Gods: The Absolute Claims of the Christian Message

The fourth dimension? Typically four-dimensional things have three components of space (length, width and depth) and one of time. Ergo, the fourth dimension of intellect is wisdom, developed over time by the growth and maturing of the aforementioned dimensions of intellect.

I hope this has made you consider generally accepted things with greater questioning and thought, just as the comment from the girl in my group stimulated my thoughts upon intellect.

If the only form of 'intelligence' was the ability to regurgitate a textbook, what a one-dimensionally boring world we would live in! 

C