Intelligence: Moving Beyond IQ (Part 2)

In part one (linked to below), I discussed a few ways that humans define intelligence, as well as the most widely used measure of intelligence (IQ). Now, we’re breaking away to look at the bigger picture of intelligence: Is IQ really all we have to say about intelligence?

When it comes to intelligence, there are some bold questions we have to ask. For example, “Can your IQ change over time or with education?,” “Does a high IQ guarantee academic success?,”“What do other skills (like empathy, communication, and perseverance) have to do with intelligence?” Scientists have been working over the last few decades to give us a more complete picture of what it means to be “smart.”

And this question is a lot more complex than you might imagine: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/intelligence-moving-beyond-iq/

Part 1: ow.ly/sp6yp

Image via: Wikimedia Commons

What is Intelligence? What Do IQ Tests Really Measure? (Part 1)

Throughout history, Homo Sapiens (as well as our direct ancestors like Neanderthals and Australopithecus) have attempted to breakaway from nature; one of the many ties that bind us. Instead of being controlled by the whims of mother Earth and adapting to our environment, we try and make nature and our environment adapt to us. We have invented a great variety of tools in order to assist us in this capacity. Over time, humans even started to harness nature itself--raising plants and animals for food rather than gathering or hunting. There is little doubt that, for the most part, present day Homo Sapiens dominate nature.

Of course, we can debate the ways in which this practice is both beneficial and problematic, but such debates are for philosophers. Scientists are more concerned with how humans became so technologically efficient and how they ultimately came to dominate other species. Of course, many variables play a role in the Human’s rise to power, but the primary determining factor is what we call intelligence.

But there’s more to intelligence than meets the eye: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/intelligence-changing-what-you-think-you-know-part-one/

Image Credit: Andrew Councill/AFP/Getty Images