An essay on intelligence by Isaac Asimov

[Wheeljak]

What Is Intelligence, Anyway?
Isaac Asimov

What is intelligence, anyway? When I was in the army, I received the kind of aptitude test that all soldiers took and, against a normal of 100, scored 160. No one at the base had ever seen a figure like that, and for two hours they made a big fuss over me. (It didn't mean anything. The next day I was still a buck private with KP - kitchen police - as my highest duty.)

All my life I've been registering scores like that, so that I have the complacent feeling that I'm highly intelligent, and I expect other people to think so too. Actually, though, don't such scores simply mean that I am very good at answering the type of academic questions that are considered worthy of answers by people who make up the intelligence tests - people with intellectual bents similar to mine?

For instance, I had an auto-repair man once, who, on these intelligence tests, could not possibly have scored more than 80, by my estimate. I always took it for granted that I was far more intelligent than he was. Yet, when anything went wrong with my car I hastened to him with it, watched him anxiously as he explored its vitals, and listened to his pronouncements as though they were divine oracles - and he always fixed my car.

Well, then, suppose my auto-repair man devised questions for an intelligence test. Or suppose a carpenter did, or a farmer, or, indeed, almost anyone but an academician. By every one of those tests, I'd prove myself a moron, and I'd be a moron, too. In a world where I could not use my academic training and my verbal talents but had to do something intricate or hard, working with my hands, I would do poorly. My intelligence, then, is not absolute but is a function of the society I live in and of the fact that a small subsection of that society has managed to foist itself on the rest as an arbiter of such matters.

Consider my auto-repair man, again. He had a habit of telling me jokes whenever he saw me. One time he raised his head from under the automobile hood to say: "Doc, a deaf-and-mute guy went into a hardware store to ask for some nails. He put two fingers together on the counter and made hammering motions with the other hand. The clerk brought him a hammer. He shook his head and pointed to the two fingers he was hammering. The clerk brought him nails. He picked out the sizes he wanted, and left. Well, doc, the next guy who came in was a blind man. He wanted scissors. How do you suppose he asked for them?"

Indulgently, I lifted by right hand and made scissoring motions with my first two fingers. Whereupon my auto-repair man laughed raucously and said, "Why, you dumb jerk, He used his voice and asked for them." Then he said smugly, "I've been trying that on all my customers today." "Did you catch many?" I asked. "Quite a few," he said, "but I knew for sure I'd catch you." "Why is that?" I asked. "Because you're so goddamned educated, doc, I knew you couldn't be very smart."

And I have an uneasy feeling he had something there.

[wendyful04]

That's a wonderful story until the
ending.

[Wheeljak]

That's a wonderful story until the
ending.

[Cozmo D]

What's the matter with the ending?

[Mistress M]

Yeah I've heard that tired old bit for years. It's right up there with "Well, they were going to skip me, but my parents wouldn't let them"

There are intelligent people who are mechanics, there are intelligent people who are farmers, and there are intelligent people who are academics (and not all academics are intelligent people, believe me). And they all score well on intelligence tests. My grandfather, a high school drop out and a farmer, scored in the 150's when the military tested him. That's the point of the tests. They are created to score people irregardless of education.

They are, however, affected by poverty because poverty means children don't get the nutrition they need, are exposed to more environmental toxins, and don't get the healthcare they need for things like ear infections and fevers which may affect brain development.

So Asimov is right that intelligence is not limited to one particular job category, but he's wrong to say that it's completely subjective. The difference between him and the mechanic is that if he wanted or needed to, he could learn to perform the mechanic's job, but the mechanic most likely wouldn't be able to perform Asimov's.

[Cozmo D]

The difference between him and the mechanic is that if he wanted or needed to, he could learn to perform the mechanic's job, but the mechanic most likely wouldn't be able to perform Asimov's.

Now, how do you know that?

[Mistress M]

Well, that's true, I don't. It could be the mechanic has an IQ of 170 and could outwrite Asimov if given the chance. I misworded what I meant.

What I meant was that intelligence tests are supposed to test not how much or what a person knows (which is education centered) but what they can do with information once it's been learned -- ultimately, it's about how quickly your brain can access and connect information which may be stored in remote locations. Whereas Asimov is assuming it's all based on what a person knows -- his idea that if the mechanic wrote the test, he would score badly because he doesn't know how to fix a car.

[wendyful04]

What's the matter with the ending?

That exchange of words (at the very end) sounded a whole lot different in reality.

[Cozmo D]

That exchange of words (at the very end) sounded a whole lot different in reality.

Were you there?

[Mistress M]

Were you there?

How do you know she wasn't?

[Mistress M]

Were you there?

Where is there?

[Louis85]

I guess the moral of your wonderful story, Wheeljak, is that God blesses everyone with talents. I think the problem we as humans have is when we try to measure which of those talents are better than the others and judge people accordingly. Some may say that books smarts is the best talent to have where others might say that mechanical inclination is better to have, and maybe someone else may say that people skills are the best talent to have. I'm sure everyone's talents have strengths and weakenesses to them as well as anything else in life. I try my damndest to not compare (or more importantly disrespect) anyone else's talents. I respect anyone who is talented in whatever they do. I may not always like it (like a street hustler), but I damn sure have to respect it. I can tell you this from being a member of this forum that I have absolutely NO musically inclination at all. So it's cool to hear Tim, Chris, Coz, Brian and others talk about their musical projects/ventures. I will never be one of them but I respect the talent of what they do. My 2 cents.

Louis

[Mistress M]

I guess the moral of your wonderful story, Wheeljak, is that God blesses everyone with talents. I think the problem we as humans have is when we try to measure which of those talents are better than the others and judge people accordingly. Some may say that books smarts is the best talent to have where others might say that mechanical inclination is better to have, and maybe someone else may say that people skills are the best talent to have. I'm sure everyone's talents have strengths and weakenesses to them as well as anything else in life. I try my damndest to not compare (or more importantly disrespect) anyone else's talents. I respect anyone who is talented in whatever they do. I may not always like it (like a street hustler), but I damn sure have to respect it. I can tell you this from being a member of this forum that I have absolutely NO musically inclination at all. So it's cool to hear Tim, Chris, Coz, Brian and others talk about their musical projects/ventures. I will never be one of them but I respect the talent of what they do. My 2 cents.

Louis

Word.

[Brian221]

Heheh...last time I took an IQ test I scored 160...but my fiance' questions my intelligence constantly because I'm socially inept and forgetful.

[Louis85]

Heheh...last time I took an IQ test I scored 160...but my fiance' questions my intelligence constantly because I'm socially inept and forgetful.

When I was in 4th grade (many years ago) I took an IQ test and they told me that anything over 130 was genius level. I believe I scored a 118. So I guess I'm not that smart--shock and surprise.

[Wheeljak]

For a long time, I've questioned the value of "intelligence" as we quantify it in our society. One of our biggest problems is that there are laboratories all over the developed world, which are conducting experiments which have the potential to have major negative effects on life as we know it.
I read somewhere that some genetically-modified rice crop built my Monsanto (which they swore that they would keep isolated) has cross-pollinated with the general population. Hopefully, it will end up have little or no effect on our food supply, but it could also be disastrous. I'm talking some "Twelve Monkeys" or "Children of Men" stuff here.
We have a lot of inquisitive "intelligent" people asking the question "can we do such-and-such?" and trying their best to find the answer to that question, but there don't seem to be enough intelligent people who also have enough wisdom to ask the question "should we do such-and-such?"

[wendyful04]

Were you there?

Come on! That's the most bullshit ending ever!


But it does bring up a valid point.

[ElizabethX]

Heheh...last time I took an IQ test I scored 160...but my fiance' questions my intelligence constantly because I'm socially inept and forgetful.

haha. That reminds me of my *gifted* husband.

[ElizabethX]

You know, I took an IQ test in my teens and I think I got a 139, 140. If I took that same test again my score would be lower because I've forgotten most of the mathematics I used to have a grasp on... yet, I consider myself smarter today.