Well, you knew a wiki definition would pop up at some point, so here it is.
Intelligence is a property of mind that encompasses many related abilities, such as the capacities to reason, to plan, to solve problems, to think abstractly, to comprehend ideas, to use language, and to learn. There are several ways to define intelligence. In some cases, intelligence may include traits such as: creativity, personality, character, knowledge, or wisdom. However, some psychologists prefer not to include these traits in the definition of intelligence. " Intelligence is what you use when you don't know what to do. " -Jean Piaget Definitions The definition of intelligence has long been a matter of controversy. Intelligence comes from the Latin verb "intellegere", which means "to understand". By this rationale, intelligence (as understanding) is arguably different from being "smart" (able to adapt to one's environment), or being "clever" (able to creatively adapt). By the Latin definition, intelligence arguably has to do with a deeper understanding of the relationships of all things around us; and with a capability for metaphysical manipulation of such objects once such understanding is mastered. At least two major "consensus" definitions of intelligence have been proposed. First, from Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns, a report of a task force convened by the American Psychological Association in 1995: Individuals differ from one another in their ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, to learn from experience, to engage in various forms of reasoning, to overcome obstacles by taking thought. Although these individual differences can be substantial, they are never entirely consistent: a given person's intellectual performance will vary on different occasions, in different domains, as judged by different criteria. Concepts of "intelligence" are attempts to clarify and organize this complex set of phenomena. Although considerable clarity has been achieved in some areas, no such conceptualization has yet answered all the important questions and none commands universal assent. Indeed, when two dozen prominent theorists were recently asked to define intelligence, they gave two dozen somewhat different definitions.[1] A second definition of intelligence comes from "Mainstream Science on Intelligence", which was signed by 52 intelligence researchers in 1994: a very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings-"catching on", "making sense" of things, or "figuring out" what to do.[2] Other definitions Additionally, many prominent researchers have offered their own definitions of intelligence: Carolus Slovinec: "Intelligence is the ability to recognize connections." Alfred Binet: "...judgment, otherwise called good sense, practical sense, initiative, the faculty of adapting one's self to circumstances...auto-critique." David Wechsler: "... the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment." Cyril Burt: "...innate general cognitive ability." Howard Gardner: "To my mind, a human intellectual competence must entail a set of skills of problem solving-enabling the individual to resolve genuine problems or difficulties that he or she encounters and, when appropriate, to create an effective product-and must also entail the potential for finding or creating problems-and thereby laying the groundwork for the acquisition of new knowledge." Linda Gottfredson: "... the ability to deal with cognitive complexity." Herrnstein and Murray: "...cognitive ability." Sternberg and Salter: "...goal-directed adaptive behavior." John Kotter on Leadership Intelligence: A "keen mind" i.e., strong analytical ability, good judgement, and the capacity to think strategically and multi-dimensionally. D. Samuel Nuessle: "A mind's ability to apply knowledge to a problem-solving situation." Additionally, many less prominent researchers in this field of intelligence that is dominated by Psychologists and Educationalists, have offered their own definitions of intelligence. They are in the fields of Mathematics and Engineering but had offered to define "Intelligence": Alan Turing: "To respond like a human being" G.N. Saridis: "The entropy of control responses"[3] In an educational context, one's intelligence should not be equated with one's academic performance, or with the volume of knowledge one has acquired through through formal education. A person's ability to think critically and analytically about his or her knowledge and experience is more important than command of a large number of facts. Intelligence is not confined to thinking either. Purposeful actions demonstrating appropriate responses to the situation and reasoned application of one's knowledge are evidence of intelligence. It is also important to note that analytic skills only constitute one part of intelligence -- mimesis, synthesis, creative and the ability to find innovative solutions to unfamiliar problems are also important. Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
