Intelligence

In class yesterday we began to discuss the different types of “smarts” and whether or not a person would require both types, book and street smarts, in order to be considered intelligent. In my opinion, I don’t think that someone needs both to be intelligent. I have met many very book smart people who I would consider intelligent. They know very specialized material, and tend to almost dominate over the topics that they are interested in such as science or arts and they will work to know everything that they possibly can about those subjects. But I have also met many people who are almost strictly street smart. Although they don’t always do as well in academic subjects, they always know what to do in social situations. Street smart people, in my opinion, generally do well with people; they know how to talk to people and how to act in different situations without any hesitation. These are the go-to people when you are having troubles in all kinds of relationships with people.  Even though they may struggle in school, I still consider people with these smarts to be intelligent. I do not feel that people are required to have complete knowledge of everything to be intelligent. Just as there are different types of smart, there are different types of intelligent.

To me, intelligence just means that you have a lot of knowledge in certain areas of life.  Even in areas that aren’t necessarily academic or social. I know a few people who just know everything possible about their interests. For instance, my boyfriend is very interested in things having to do with medieval times. He knows the names of pretty much every type of weapon and armor used in that time period, and even makes his own chainmail armor. He knows the history of this time period and can come up with random facts on cue. I consider him to be very intelligent in this matter. Another one of my friends loves sports. She knows every team for every sport in America and even other countries. She knows the names and jobs of each position for each sport, and also plays as many sports as she can fit into her schedule. She knows player stats and follows up with news about anything sport related. This shows me intelligence. Her intelligence is just sports related.

Intelligence can mean many things to different people. It all depends on the person defining it and who they believe is intelligent. But for me, intelligence can be found anywhere. You just have to look close enough. You don’t need to be a genius in every school subject and be the social butterfly in every situation to be considered intelligent. You just have to be passionate about something and have knowledge about it. I even consider people who have just a little knowledge in many areas to be intelligent. So I guess in a way, I see everyone as being intelligent (however there is at least one exception to every rule).

-Cassie Daley