General Chat

I think MrDaff is very clever - and very modest too. Does that make me very stupid, or very perspicacious :-S :-S :-S

my niece went to cardiff uni,(how she got there i will never know) she was their for three yrs,and failed all her courses,it cost the tax payer thous ,but she had a great time partying and drinking,she got a b in welsh(first laug) and the rest were Ds AND Es how did she get into uni? my daughter had 11 Cs in G.C.S.Es and couldnt get int o BANGOR uni,had to take most subjects again. :-)

I'v just googled this and it should answer the question about intelligence.

www.synearth.net/HumanIntelligence/

I'm happy with this answer :-)

I think I'm intelligent as a human being, but have no qualification's what so ever, have plenty of on hand experience but in the job situation that doesn't count :-(

So does that make me thick :-\

Certainly doesn't Diane ! A qualification may only mean someone is good at learning just as much as they need to know to pass an exam in that subject....lots of people who are extremely intelligent can't pass an exam to save their life lol.

A bit like myself then Suzanne.....late bloomer!

My son hated school from the age of 4......scraped through his exams getting C's in everything......don't know how he managed it....all reports said he had potential and was a very knowledgable person....but that he had the concentration of a gnat and was so laid back he was horizontal....we tried everything......daughter was the opposite.....3 years in college 3 years in loughborough Uni and 1 year in teacher training at John Moors in Liverpool.....and two very broke parents at the end of it all :-( :-(

Have to say they are both very happy in the paths they trod..which to me is what counts.

"aivlyS Report 9 Jan 2013 23:32
Surely your son did not need a degree to work on the checkout in Tesco ."

??

You'd perhaps be surprised Sylvia, at how many checkout staff and McDonalds employees have degrees these days, needed or not :-) This is the employment situation for many a graduate...take a job where your degree is not 'essential' or be unemployed. Though of course it may also be a positive choice to work in retail, degree or no degree.

I know a seasonal beach cleaner with a very good degree ( co incidentally form Bangor Uni lol), his fellow student who I also knew from college is an MP.... I wonder who has made the most satisfying use of their time ( and is perhaps even the most beneficial to his fellow man lol) I suspect it is the former.

Education for education's sake, no harm in that, whether one needs the degree to further one's career, or just to learn a little more for one's own satisfaction :-D

a very intelligent person, whom I have not met but would very much like to, is Eldrick!!! to me he seems to have a wide knowledge of a vast amount of subjects and has posted in the most eloquent way - I do hope he returns

Yes Ann me too ..

Strangely coincidental, Rose, was that I was thinking about what Suzanne said about Cardiff. It used to be fashionable a couple of hundred years ago for people to go to University to "find themselves"

They were monied young men, of course. But they got a degree for attendance - so they spent the years often in total debauchery before settling down to the army, a professsion or the clergy.

Son is extremely clever, but very quiet and sensitive. He has worked for Tesco as a cashier since 2003, and they rate him highly. He has just been promoted, but would have been very happy to have stayed on the tills :-D :-D Neither OH or myself have ever pushed him - just as long as he is healthy and happy. Our daughter and our son in law are very successful and upwardly mobile and are often telling him he should do this or do that. But don't think he really needs their advice :-D ;-)

Diane, sorry, but that's an advertisement for a book - and is both long-winded and hyped up.
Science (sighs) has not yet agreed on a definition for 'intelligence', in fact it may never do so.

Rose. What have qualifications to do with it anyway, to be honest?. In my so-called formative years I achieved the dizzy heights of O-levels (1 x A, 2 x B and few C's - D's and E's were never considered as passes, even though they were not a Fail,so could add a few more! :-S).

Learned and qualified in a lot more 'as time went by' - some compulsory, some by design and/or desire. But again - this was just Knowledge. Putting these things into practice, understanding what knowledge 'tools' you have and how best to apply them is, imo, more akin to intelligence, isn't it ?

AND before anyone points out that a degree of 'intelligence' , or perhaps 'level of cognisance' is required to study even to O level standard, then I agree :-D

((Buffs breastplate and stands with back to wall....)) ;-)

Well, MrD, I think you are brilliantly funny. Many have said that some of their best times were watching you and he who I cannot name together. :-D :-D

Is it newspapers?

Intelligence? being able to solve problems using ones knowledge or reasoning or instinct perhaps? hard one to define isn't it.

I suppose I know a little bit about a lot of things, not a lot about any one thing in particular...and manage for all my 'intelligence' and/or little knowledge, to make the most God awful decisions at times lolol...I suppose though you could define my level of intelligence by how quickly I acknowledge to myself that the decision was the wrong one ;-)

John, yes, it is newspapers ((response to different, partially read, thread)).

I was told early on that if you looked at every angle and made a decision, that was the right one to make and you should put all your effort into making it work.

Since then, I have never made a bad decision. Just some I have had to work particularly hard on for eventual success.

Good philosophy, I think. You would not drive a car and keep looking over your shoulder and saying "I wish I'd turned left 50 yards back" Wasted energy and you might have a smash.

Told you I was thick :-D

put up the wrong link :-( and can't be bothered to google the right one.

I don't have any qualification's because as a child in care from the age of nearly 15yrs I wasn't given the chance to take my GCSE or any other exam's we were just sent to get a job on our own merit.

I went back to visit my head teacher of my last school ( the one before I went into care ) and she was shocked that I wasn't allowed to do my GCSE exam's as she thought I would have done ok in them.

I must admit I do get some strange look's from people when I have gone for an interview when I tell them I have no qualification's, not that it has ever made a difference ( well not yet ) as I have got the job I applied for except for one, I have had 6 different job's out of 7 that I have had an interview for so I'm not to bothered.

It's difficult to choose.

I'll let you know after I attend the next meeting of MENSA :-D

Intelligent, does it mean someone who understands Quantum Physics, or someone who can do a rubiks cube in 1 minute flat, or to being able to fly a plane, fit a gas boiler, write a book, design a building, or produce a musical? But all these people may not be able to make themselves a meal, iron, or even socialise with others, so is that intelligent?

Or is being intelligent, maybe just having the ability to be kind to your fellow man? I think that's proper Intelligence :-D

Lynda, you have something there :-D

I suggested my father in law early in this thread. Now I can think of people with well over 150 on a Mensa scale - well into top 1% of intelligence marked in that way. I admire their mental prowess, but intelligence is more than that somehow.

My fil was a brilliant listener, had all the old world charm of that generation (born in WW1) and took a total interest in everyone and everything. He made everyone feel so much better after being in his presence. Yet I am sure he would have struggled to get in top 20% in terms of IQ

Whilst I have been reading this thread it reminded me of a book I have. It has taken me until now to find it. I think it makes very some interesting observations. I am sure most of us have met or know someone with some of these quaities, but certainly not all of them.

The 8 Types of Multiple Intelligences---A Psychological Theory
One theory held by some psychologists since the 1930s is that there are multiple intelligences, which are different areas of intellectual skill. One psychologist , Howard Gardner proposed eight different intelligences, which are:
1. Linguistic intelligence-This intelligence is marked by the ability to speak and write well. Example: Articulate people such as skilled orators or law students. My son is one of these, a highly skilled lawyer and has the “gift of the gab”
2. Logico-mathematical intelligence---People who are strong in this area use logic and mathematical skills to solve problems, such as scientific questions. Many scientists are an example of this.
3. Spatial intelligence---Those with spatial intelligence have to ability to think and reason about objects in three-dimensional space. Example: A physicist such as Stephen Hawking.
4. Musical intelligence---Perform, understand, and enjoy music. Example: Any musician.
5. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence---Manipulate the body in sports, dance, or other physical endeavors. Example: Pro athletes.
6. Interpersonal intelligence-Understand and interact effectively with others. Example: People who are very popular socially.
7. Intrapersonal intelligence-Understand and possess insight into self. An example of this is hard to define.
8. Naturalistic intelligence-Recognize, identify, and understand animals, plants, and other living things. Example: Biologists such as zoologists or marine biologists.
A ninth intelligence was tentatively proposed called existential intelligence, which is the ability to grasp deep philosophical ideas, like the meaning of life. Think philosophers such as Socrates and Plato.
Limitations
While this is a fascinating concept, the issue is that it is vague and difficult for scientists to test. This is for a variety of different reasons. It's unclear what type of qualities constitute intelligence. Should there be a "humor intelligence?" What about "romantic intelligence?" This is made even more difficult because Gardner has not developed formal tests to measure these intelligences. Thus it cannot be falsified, which is one of the biggest rules of psychology. Still, it gives us an interesting perspectiveon how people think and learn.



Source: Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding Authors: Lilienfeld, Lynn, Namy & Woolf