What is intelligence? How do you know if you are intelligent? Discover the signs of intelligent people and what to do to develop intelligence.
Do you consider yourself a smart person? Both psychologists and human brain experts agree that there are many types of intelligence and that we cannot rely solely on the IQ test to measure this trait of our personality. In many cases, people have a tendency to consider themselves intelligent, but how can you know if you are intelligent?
Within psychology and neurosciences, the intelligence has always been a slippery concept. Although psychologists usually agree that intelligence is a concept, and not just a specific thing (such as height), they argue about some points around this topic: Should we consider that intelligence is culturally defined? Is it a single skill or several? Although detecting intelligent people has always generated great interest, the reality is that there is no agreement on what components make someone considered intelligent.
In addition to the difficulties of knowing how to define intelligence the debate continues today about whether it is possible to make precise measurements around intelligence.
The APA (American Psychological Association) defines intelligence in the following way:
“Individuals differ from each other in the ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, as well as to learn from experience, to find various ways of reasoning, to overcome obstacles through reflection. Although these individual differences may be substantial, they are never completely consistent: a person’s intellectual characteristics will vary on different occasions, in different domains, and judged by different criteria. The concept of intelligence is an attempt to clarify and organize this complex set of phenomena.
In recent years, different definitions have been proposed about what is intelligence But based on this definition, we can highlight three fundamental aspects of the concept of intelligence.
Learn from experience: Throughout our lives events and situations occur that make us act in very different ways. Depending on each situation we choose a way of acting and obtain one result or another. Both good and bad results provide us with learning and we tend to repeat those actions that have given us good results. Be smart It is synonymous with being able to retain, acquire and use the knowledge we have. Therefore, intelligence is related to learning through experience.
Adapt effectively to the environment: guarantees survival. Our environment is constantly changing and that change means that we have to adapt to it. There are people who do it more easily than others. The achievement of adapting to change is nothing more than intelligence as Stephen Hawking said.
Recognize and solve problems: The Smart people They are usually able to identify problems that exist in their environment. Finding solutions to these problems allows us to solve them satisfactorily. Therefore, being aware of the difficulties that surround us is synonymous with being intelligent.
The intelligence It is one of the most extensive and researched topics today. Despite this, it is also one of the topics in psychology that causes the most controversy and problems due to the difficulty in defining this human capacity.
How do you know if you are intelligent?
Although there are different opinions about what what is intelligence H. Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (1983) states that there are 9 types of intelligence (in the latest research he has developed existential intelligence and has two more under study).
The emotional intelligence For its part, it refers to the ability to know and process the information transmitted by emotions and their relationships with the environment, and from this, reason and solve problems effectively (Salovey and Mayer). Taking all this into account, there are some signs that can indicate that someone is intelligent, such as:
You are empathetic: Empathy, that is, the ability to put yourself in the shoes of others, is one of the key components of the intelligence emotional. Empathy allows us to become aware of what others think and feel.
You value solitude: That is, those people who require time alone to recharge their batteries tend to be more inclined to be Smart people According to an investigation by British Journal of Psychology Regarding intelligence, this was shown more in those people who felt more satisfied being with themselves than not spending time with others.
Extensive knowledge about yourself: Knowing who you are, that is, having good self-knowledge, where you know what your traits and abilities are, your values or the goals in your life, is precisely another of the signs of be smart
Are you curious: Intelligence is synonymous with being curious. Intelligent people do not usually settle for the simplest explanations, they are curious to obtain different explanations and contrast the information.
Observation ability: Realizing what is happening around you can also be a synonym of intelligent In fact, our memory has a strong connection with intelligence and therefore, people who are usually more intelligent tend to find patterns, know how to remember details, and even have a deep understanding of the nature that surrounds them.
You have good body memory: The intelligence It is also expressed through a physical context. In fact, having good dexterity and coordination is a sign of being intelligent. This ability would be included in Gardener’s bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.
You handle your day-to-day problems: We all encounter small obstacles in our routines. Adaptability is another of the abilities of Smart people That is, the capacity that people have to adapt to new or changing situations. In fact, in many cases being intelligent is related to resilience, the ability to recover from adversity.
Ability to mediate and resolve problematic situations: People who know how to resolve conflicts tend to demonstrate more intelligence In fact, they may be the ones who resolve group disputes or bring peace to a heated environment.
Tendency towards excessive worry: Although worrying can be bad, the reality is that these types of thoughts can prepare us to face an unpleasant event. In many cases, this excess worry is usually associated with anxiety, something that should be treated through consultation with a mental health professional. Some studies even link anxiety with the intelligence The results of the research concluded that people with a higher level of intelligence have higher levels of worry and therefore can develop anxiety and depression disorders.
You are good at managing emotions: The way we manage our emotions can also say a lot about our intelligence In fact, people with more emotional intelligence are usually able to respond to emotions
“I have no special talents, I’m just passionately curious.”
Albert Einstein, physicist
As we see, there are many ways to view intelligence. Although this is commonly related as a synonym for knowledge, the reality is that experts recognize that be smart It goes far beyond books.
Popularly, smart people are related to those who know how to use strategies to get what they want. This may be a characteristic of intelligence, but it is not synonymous with that person really being intelligent. That is, smart people usually know how to use what they have known through experience to their benefit. Instead, the Smart people They know it, but perhaps their values or principles can limit them from using it to achieve their objectives.
Who has been the most intelligent person in the world?
Normally, when we think about Smart people and based solely on IQ scores, it is very likely that the well-known physicist Albert Einstein comes to mind. Although there are studies that indicate that it is very likely that he was a genius, that is, with an approximate IQ of 160, the reality is that he has not been the most intelligent person in the world.
As far as it is known, today, this title is awarded to William James Sidis, who at only 11 years old entered Harvard University. It is estimated that this man’s IQ was between 250 and 300 points. This is equivalent to the fact that at only a year and a half he can read the newspaper, as well as know eight different languages at the age of eight. Although William James Sidis had one of the most amazing cognitive abilities, the reality is that this was more of a misfortune than a blessing for him.
How to be smarter?
According to the studies collected in the American Psychological Associationthink about the intelligence As something changing and malleable, rather than as a fixed capacity or ability, it implies greater academic performance, that is, an improvement in knowledge that is related to intelligence.
That is, it can be improved the intelligence Obviously there is a part that is genetic, but that does not mean that our cognitive abilities cannot improve. According to psychologists, we can apply the following tips to be more intelligent.
Do different tasks: Leaving our intellectual comfort zone is a good method to improve our intelligence When we carry out a task in a different way than we usually do it, different brain mechanisms are activated, we use different resources and therefore greater learning occurs.
Do not isolate yourself: Even though spending time alone is synonymous with intelligence, the reality is that extremes can affect our cognitive abilities. Participating in debates or social events is also a way of increase our intelligence
Find your passion: Knowing what we want to dedicate a large amount of our time to boosts our memory and creativity.
Don’t do things automatically: Sometimes we do things without thinking, that is, through ‘autopilot’. Striving for tasks that should not be automated helps us improve our intelligence
Adapt your thinking strategies: Always using the same strategies to deal with problems can be counterproductive. The next time you face a bump, try to think from a completely different perspective.
The intelligence It is one of the skills that we all want to increase. You should know that on many occasions our ability to concentrate and pay attention (closely linked to intelligence) are usually related to our mental health. Therefore, you must take care of yourself to develop your intelligence to the maximum.
