not everything, but there were flaws which his intelligence simply didnt help, thus he couldnt reach the understanding required to grasp the concept of worshipping only One God and believing that God is merciful enough to send messengers to warn mankind.
anyway what i want to know is your concept of intelligence?
to you, whos the intelligent one? the one who gets highest grades and the best qualifications?!
hmm, good question.
Defining intelligence is highly problematic. Is there an 'intelligence' that equips us to solve all kinds of problems and answer all questions, regardless of their nature? Or are there different intelligences that help us deal with particular problems and solutions?
IQ tests
There are a number of different methods which purport to measure intelligence, the most famous of which is perhaps the IQ, or 'Intelligence Quotient' test. The 'Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale' began life in early 20th century Paris, as part of Alfred Binet’s efforts to educate children with learning difficulties. Those that obtained a score below their age were considered "retarded".
IQ is a 'psychometric' test, meaning it measures mental ability. However, defining intelligence is far from simple. There are two main schools of thought. The first believes in an inherited, genetically determined intellect that can be measured. The second group of psychologists believe in many intelligences, the development of which may be the result of our social background. They also think that measuring these intelligences is also problematic.
The modern day IQ test measures a variety of different types of ability such as verbal, mathematical, spatial, memory and reasoning. The test is then 'pre-tested' on a group of people representative of the wider population. Then it's graded so that the majority of people will be get between 90-110.
Is IQ a good measure of intelligence?
Whether IQ tests actually test general intelligence, or g, is debatable. Many see IQ tests as an assessment of an individual’s problem solving ability rather than general intelligence. However, they are not even a comprehensive test of someone's problem solving ability. Although they may assess analytical and verbal aptitude well, they aren't an accurate test of creativity, practical knowledge, and other skills involved in problem solving. So how can IQ tests be seen as a measure of intelligence? Some argue that they just show how good the individual is at IQ tests!
Is our intelligence changing?
In an attempt to avoid a slant that favours a particular culture, intelligence tests were devised that focused on mathematical and spatial skills rather than vocabulary. But even these tests are not exempt from cultural influences - increased use of video games improves spatial awareness and reaction time.
However, although we are gaining skills in some areas of intelligence, we are losing out in others, such as memory. So although this generation may not be able to remember the vast number of poems that our grandfathers’ learnt, their skills are greater in other areas.
James R Flynn has been trying to decipher these problems, especially in light of an alleged increase in IQ with successive generations, termed the 'Flynn Effect'. However, it is exactly in this area that intelligence tests come unstuck.
Who is to say that playing a video game is more intellectually demanding than being a scrivener in the nineteenth century? Scriveners had an amazing capacity for arithmetic brought on by the need to do double-entry bookkeeping without calculators, a skill that today's 'yoof' could only dream of.
The importance of IQ
Because of IQ's supposed ability to objectively measure 'intelligence' they have been used by a variety of different people and institutions over the years. Many companies use IQ and psychometric tests to gauge the 'ability' of potential employees. These tests are also used in government, by the civil service, and by the Armed Forces. By using such tests, institutions and companies have bought into the idea of a 'general intelligence' underpinning our mental ability regardless of the specific skills required for the job applied for.
Is intelligence genetic?
In spring 1998, Robert Plomin claimed to have discovered a gene linked with intelligence. More recently, the Human Genome Project is cautious when approaching areas implying racial differences since research actually shows greater genetic differences within races than between races.
However, not all individuals are endowed with the same intelligence and many believe this must have something to do with our genes and the way they interact with the environment. Identical twins are more likely to obtain the same score in an IQ test than twins from two separate eggs that have a different genetic make up.
It is important to remember that genes work by interacting with the environment, so social factors will also influence intelligence. Intelligence tests may be more of an assessment of social factors, such as your educational background.
Black children adopted into white middle class families score significantly higher on average than those in working class families- implying a cultural slant to tests. It is impossible to devise questions without some cultural or gender bias; boys tend to do better in spatial tests whereas girls score higher on linguistic tests.
Taken from
here
kay: