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Here's another question for you: without reference to IQ or academic achievement, what qualities would you associate with intelligence, or perceive as indicator

Here's another question for you: without reference to IQ or academic achievement, what qualities would you associate with intelligence, or perceive as indicators of intelligence? Have you ever had a hard time figuring out if someone is really bright or not?

krona 7y ago
Usually the rate at which someone learns something is a good indicator. For a child that could be the rules of chess. For an adult it could be how long it takes to understand the parameters of a well designed job interview question.
kidintech 7y ago
> Have you ever had a hard time figuring out if someone is really bright or not? How do you define bright? Assuming bright to mean able to achieve post-grad honors: I feel like you could easily distinguish if someone is bright or not within a few minutes of chatting. I think that regardless of the subject of discussion, there are a number of strong indicators in the way a person speaks. One example is confidence: very rarely have I met a person I'd call intelligent that is also absurdly confident in their beliefs. I realise my above statement is highly interpretable. What I mean is intelligent people seem to allow for their assumptions to be flawed, and be open to being proven wrong, about stuff that they can be proven wrong on (i.e. belief about a mathematical postulate versus belief in an objective truth such as global warming is real).
- Viliam1234 7y ago
  It is probably easier to describe the opposite. If someone is not bright, then when you start discussing a topic that is outside their everyday experience (i.e. not their job, not their hobby), they only have three options: (1) ignorance and indifference "huh?" "I don't know, this seems stupid/boring", (2) repeating a statement they heard from TV or radio, but unable to e.g. explain what that really means, what would be the consequences thereof, and (3) just saying something completely random. A bright person would be able to admit their lack of knowledge in the topic, but then do some independent thinking, or ask additional questions, or... something.
  - kidintech 7y ago
    That makes a lot of sense, and is probably a version that's much easier to quantify.
sv12l 7y ago
I think humor sense is quite a good indicator and how well one's thoughts are articulated (when having conversation) is another.

krona 7y ago

Usually the rate at which someone learns something is a good indicator. For a child that could be the rules of chess. For an adult it could be how long it takes to understand the parameters of a well designed job interview question.

kidintech 7y ago

> Have you ever had a hard time figuring out if someone is really bright or not? How do you define bright? Assuming bright to mean able to achieve post-grad honors: I feel like you could easily distinguish if someone is bright or not within a few minutes of chatting. I think that regardless of the subject of discussion, there are a number of strong indicators in the way a person speaks. One example is confidence: very rarely have I met a person I'd call intelligent that is also absurdly confident in their beliefs. I realise my above statement is highly interpretable. What I mean is intelligent people seem to allow for their assumptions to be flawed, and be open to being proven wrong, about stuff that they can be proven wrong on (i.e. belief about a mathematical postulate versus belief in an objective truth such as global warming is real).

Viliam1234 7y ago
It is probably easier to describe the opposite. If someone is not bright, then when you start discussing a topic that is outside their everyday experience (i.e. not their job, not their hobby), they only have three options: (1) ignorance and indifference "huh?" "I don't know, this seems stupid/boring", (2) repeating a statement they heard from TV or radio, but unable to e.g. explain what that really means, what would be the consequences thereof, and (3) just saying something completely random. A bright person would be able to admit their lack of knowledge in the topic, but then do some independent thinking, or ask additional questions, or... something.
- kidintech 7y ago
  That makes a lot of sense, and is probably a version that's much easier to quantify.

sv12l 7y ago

I think humor sense is quite a good indicator and how well one's thoughts are articulated (when having conversation) is another.