To be Intelligent is to Succeed as an Individual and Strive in an Individualized Subject or Area of Expertise

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Recommended: Nature vs nurture on intelligence

To be intelligent means to be superior in some aspect of life, to withhold talent in an area of expertise, this gift or understanding does not have to be the same as anyone else’s yet instills intelligence within an individual. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, intelligence can be defined as “the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations.” This definition poses so many questions: what situations, understand what? In this definition, it is seen that intelligence means a wide variation of things and therefore being intelligent holds different meanings when describing certain individuals. Intelligence does not correspond to certain characteristics; the individual creates intelligence. Instead of asking what does it mean to be intelligent, it might be more explanatory and correct to ask what makes you intelligent?

Howard Gardner, psychologist, created the theory of Multiple Intelligences: naturalistic intelligence, musical intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, linguistic intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, spatial intelligence, and existential intelligence (PBS, 1999). These types of intelligence are ways individuals can thrive and achieve. A person who holds incredible skills in mathematics can become the world’s finest mathematician, but if they cannot play the piano, are the not intelligent? Howard Gardner’s theory is what questions what the meaning of being intelligent truly is.

Theories that quickly conclude one is intelligent only if they do something so substantial as to create a cure for cancer lean toward a new definition of “raw intelligence” (Lynch, L. 2005). The concept of raw intelligence agrees along...

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...that person’s intelligence. To be intelligent is to let talents shine, succeed as an individual, let what you understand show, and use abilities to achieve in any aspect of life it is possible.

Works Cited

Behavioral Neuroscience Web Ring: Macalester College. (2008). Types of Intelligence.

Retrieved from http://www.macalester.edu/academics/psychology/

whathap/ubnrp/intelligence05/mtypes.html.

Lynch, Larry M. (October 10, 2005). What makes a person intelligent? Retrieved from

http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Makes-a-Person-Intelligent?&id=81350.

Public Broadcasting Services, PBS. (1999). Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

Theory. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/education/ed_mi_resources.html.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2011). Intelligence Cycle. Retrieved from

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/intelligence/intelligence-cycle.

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