How do you know if someone is intelligent.

[Just that Mario]

Depends, but in general I would say an intelligent person will find a solution to an issue by logic, not just throwing already known facts at it. Neither do they simply memorise facts and other jibberish as if their life depends on it. They'll also better have common sense and in general not give a damn about certain extreme ideologies (they'll be neutral as they realise it doesn't matter). An intelligent person also rarely admits they're intelligent and good at something - they'll pretty much always think they're okay but there's someone better than them. You'll also come to conclusion that most people are idiots when it comes to basic logic aka (un)common sense.

edit: Intelligent people also often find themselves asking more questions when looking for an answer, but this could also just be curiosity.

[Just that Mario]

On 9/2/2022 at 9:17 AM, crazzp said:

I wouldn't call that smart. He has been doing this for many many years. If I did something for many years, I would be able to achieve feats which many would consider smart but it's just something that comes with practice/training.

 

What I would consider smart is when someone thinks of an excellent solution (to a problem) which no one thought of or can understand complicated concepts (having been just introduced to it) fast and build on that knowledge easily.

Don't even have to be an old-timer. You just need to understand how the language works.

[dalekphalm]

1 hour ago, Wictorian said:

No I mean each generation is smarter than the previous one.

In broad strokes, yes. But not always. There have definitely been periods of time where collective knowledge was reduced, and your average person was less educated than before.

 

Plus other things, like environmental factors. Look up Leaded Gasoline in the US - Leaded gasoline literally caused an entire generation to be less smart than the one before, back in the 60's, 70's and 80's.

[IPD]

3 hours ago, Wictorian said:

No I mean each generation is smarter than the previous one.

Negative.  It's practically the opposite.  It would be the case, if the education system wasn't failing us.  I can simply find no metric that supports your hypothesis.  Gen X is about the last generation I can say was at least somewhat more intelligent than the previous.

[dalekphalm]

55 minutes ago, IPD said:

Negative.  It's practically the opposite.  It would be the case, if the education system wasn't failing us.  I can simply find no metric that supports your hypothesis.  Gen X is about the last generation I can say was at least somewhat more intelligent than the previous.

Can you post some metrics that support your conclusion that intelligence is falling?

 

And what exactly made you conclude that Gen X was the "last generation" to increase in intelligence compared to the previous? Is this a US-Centric thing? I have no idea where you live, and "the education system" failing us is so generic and location-dependent that I have a hard time believing it would apply globally.

[IPD]

Not all-around intelligence (for gen-x).  There was definitely some things that the greatest generation and baby-boomers know/understand much better than gen-x.  Gen-x understands tech far better than either one of these two preceding generations though--without completely losing touch with some of the knowledge from those generations.

 

If you don't think the young generations (after gen-x) are exceedingly stupid about basic civics that should have been covered in depth by the 12th grade, just go watch some of Justin Awad's videos.  If you aren't sick to your stomach after 30 minutes, something is dreadfully wrong.  Mark Dice has covered quite a bit of this as well.

 

And then there's how we have kept lowering the standards for testing.  How "average" and "passing" are lower than they were previously.  And now we have a push to label certain subjects as bigoted--because of higher failure rates among some.  Abolishing the measure of skills needed in order to appease the masses--does nothing to uphold the standard.

 

I get that over time the skills/knowledge needed can and do shift as technology advances and society changes.  Perhaps it isn't as important to know how to field-dress a deer in 2022 as it was in 1896.  But there are certainly some things that we don't cover--and it shows.  It would have been unthinkable to send a child out into the world of being an adult--50 years ago--without equipping them with the knowledge of how to write a check, balance a checkbook, run a load of laundry, change their own oil, fill up a car, use a vacuum, etc--shit that most of us take for granted as basic ADL's.

 

Fast forward to today, and you have average people on the street who would fail 2nd grade math.

[Wictorian]

2 minutes ago, IPD said:

Not all-around intelligence (for gen-x).  There was definitely some things that the greatest generation and baby-boomers know/understand much better than gen-x.  Gen-x understands tech far better than either one of these two preceding generations though--without completely losing touch with some of the knowledge from those generations.

 

If you don't think the young generations (after gen-x) are exceedingly stupid about basic civics that should have been covered in depth by the 12th grade, just go watch some of Justin Awad's videos.  If you aren't sick to your stomach after 30 minutes, something is dreadfully wrong.  Mark Dice has covered quite a bit of this as well. 

 

I get that over time the skills/knowledge needed can and do shift as technology advances and society changes.  Perhaps it isn't as important to know how to field-dress a deer in 2022 as it was in 1896.  But there are certainly some things that we don't cover--and it shows.  It would have been unthinkable to send a child out into the world of being an adult--50 years ago--without equipping them with the knowledge of how to write a check, balance a checkbook, run a load of laundry, change their own oil, fill up a car, use a vacuum, etc--shit that most of us take for granted as basic ADL's.

 

Fast forward to today, and you have average people on the street who would fail 2nd grade math.

Nowadays could as well be an exception. For instance compare 17th century people to 14th century people.

[IPD]

I think that there has generally been an upward trend in intelligence among successive generations.  But I think it peaked and is on the decline.  Heck, if you look at nothing more than self-reliance as a metric for how likely someone will be to gather skills/knowledge to self-improve--we are well beyond the pale.

[Mihle]

Intelligence and knowledge is two different things, our knowledge have been increasing but our intelligence is the same.

[Wictorian]

12 minutes ago, Mihle said:

Intelligence and knowledge is two different things, our knowledge have been increasing but our intelligence is the same.

If it is the same we are equally intelligent as apes.

[Mihle]

1 hour ago, Wictorian said:

If it is the same we are equally intelligent as apes.

I ment in the last few hundred to thousands years.

[dalekphalm]

3 hours ago, Wictorian said:

If it is the same we are equally intelligent as apes.

Given that there are biological brain differences between anatomically modern humans and the rest of the great apes, that logic doesn't follow.

 

Evolution has increased our intelligence, but evolution is very slowwww most of the time.

 

If that argument holds (that knowledge increases but intelligence does not), then we've likely been the same intelligence for something like 50,000 years. Note: I'm not arguing that this is true, just clarifying how the argument would make sense if it were true.

 

Intelligence is definitely impacted by external environmental aspects, including climate, exposure to environmental toxins, and most especially, your diet - so I think it's pretty reasonable to conclude that intelligence has increased in the last 50,000 years. Though one might conclude that the environmental aspects flattened out over the last 100 years due to more consistent diet, and regulatory control over things like environmental pollutants, etc.

[Vishera]

On 9/29/2022 at 12:36 PM, Wictorian said:

Still come on you know you can deal with most people

Arguing with fanatics and populists is not an easy thing, these guys never listen to reason.

On 9/29/2022 at 12:36 PM, Wictorian said:

plus people get more intelligent over time.

Just because humanity accumulates knowledge over time it doesn't mean that it becomes more intelligent over time.

On 9/29/2022 at 6:29 PM, dalekphalm said:

Plus other things, like environmental factors. Look up Leaded Gasoline in the US - Leaded gasoline literally caused an entire generation to be less smart than the one before, back in the 60's, 70's and 80's.

There are also cultural and societal aspects that affects the intelligence of people.

There are periods in history when science, logic and reason were pushed forward by society and culture,

Such as in ancient Greece and Rome, the Renaissance and the age of Enlightenment. 

 

When the environment you grow in gives you the tools to learn and explore knowledge, and encourages you to learn and develop your intellectual skills - You will be more intelligent than someone who don't.

That's why the average IQ in African countries is significantly lower than in western countries and east Asian countries.

 

Sadly in recent years there have been popular movements that are dangerous to critical thinking and go against reason, and those movements are taking over institutes of science and education (they also get hold of positions of power in other areas as well) in a large number of western countries, especially in the USA.

For example i have seen those guys attacking a history professor for merely pointing out a historical fact.

[Wictorian]

35 minutes ago, Vishera said:

Arguing with fanatics and populists is not an easy thing, these guys never listen to reason.

Just because humanity accumulates knowledge over time it doesn't mean that it becomes more intelligent over time.

There are also cultural and societal aspects that affects the intelligence of people.

There are periods in history when science, logic and reason were pushed forward by society and culture,

Such as in ancient Greece and Rome, the Renaissance and the age of Enlightenment. 

 

When the environment you grow in gives you the tools to learn and explore knowledge, and encourages you to learn and develop your intellectual skills - You will be more intelligent than someone who don't.

That's why the average IQ in African countries is significantly lower than in western countries and east Asian countries.

 

Sadly in recent years there have been popular movements that are dangerous to critical thinking and go against reason, and those movements are taking over institutes of science and education (they also get hold of positions of power in other areas as well) in a large number of western countries, especially in the USA.

For example i have seen those guys attacking a history professor for merely pointing out a historical fact.

yeah these are truly saddening..

 

[Just that Mario]

On 9/29/2022 at 10:23 PM, dalekphalm said:

Can you post some metrics that support your conclusion that intelligence is falling?

 

And what exactly made you conclude that Gen X was the "last generation" to increase in intelligence compared to the previous? Is this a US-Centric thing? I have no idea where you live, and "the education system" failing us is so generic and location-dependent that I have a hard time believing it would apply globally.

Personally I think majority of kids/teens I see are idiots. Though I also think so about people my age and people older than me. Though from personal experience, when I was at school, we knew how to use the internet as an information source. Many kids I've seen, including kids in my own family seem to only understand how to use internet for social media, video games and memes.

Overall I would want to say that common sense and intelligence has dropped, but not only in young generations, but also in older. For some reason people have stopped using their brains for everyday tasks. Perhaps it is to do with the fact that information is readily available and we've got too comfortable with social media, being an idiot and being babysat and with less and less responsibility on our own stupidity.

[ToboRobot]

A track record of predicting events tends to be a good way.

[Wictorian]

12 hours ago, Just that Mario said:

Personally I think majority of kids/teens I see are idiots. Though I also think so about people my age and people older than me. Though from personal experience, when I was at school, we knew how to use the internet as an information source. Many kids I've seen, including kids in my own family seem to only understand how to use internet for social media, video games and memes.

Overall I would want to say that common sense and intelligence has dropped, but not only in young generations, but also in older. For some reason people have stopped using their brains for everyday tasks. Perhaps it is to do with the fact that information is readily available and we've got too comfortable with social media, being an idiot and being babysat and with less and less responsibility on our own stupidity.

Dude you can’t compare kids to adults. 

[fUnDaMeNtAl_knobhead]

On 10/6/2022 at 1:34 AM, Just that Mario said:

Personally I think majority of kids/teens I see are idiots. Though I also think so about people my age and people older than me. Though from personal experience, when I was at school, we knew how to use the internet as an information source. Many kids I've seen, including kids in my own family seem to only understand how to use internet for social media, video games and memes.

Overall I would want to say that common sense and intelligence has dropped, but not only in young generations, but also in older. For some reason people have stopped using their brains for everyday tasks. Perhaps it is to do with the fact that information is readily available and we've got too comfortable with social media, being an idiot and being babysat and with less and less responsibility on our own stupidity.

Its called a perspective

[Isuck Assimov]

How do you know if someone is intelligent ?

They didnt join the armed forces.

[Sauron]

On 10/5/2022 at 6:34 PM, Just that Mario said:

Personally I think majority of kids/teens I see are idiots.

You really think people who literally have a younger and less developed brain might have fewer cognifive capabilities than an adult? Incredible...

On 10/5/2022 at 6:34 PM, Just that Mario said:

hough from personal experience, when I was at school, we knew how to use the internet as an information source. Many kids I've seen, including kids in my own family seem to only understand how to use internet for social media, video games and memes.

The internet has changed a lot compared to 10-15 years ago, kids were exposed to different stimuli and learned to use the internet differently. You can't directly compare your experience like this.

On 10/5/2022 at 6:34 PM, Just that Mario said:

Overall I would want to say that common sense and intelligence has dropped, but not only in young generations, but also in older. For some reason people have stopped using their brains for everyday tasks. Perhaps it is to do with the fact that information is readily available and we've got too comfortable with social media, being an idiot and being babysat and with less and less responsibility on our own stupidity.

Considering productivity, technology and research have never been higher in the history of the world I'd say that's empirically not true.

[IPD]

4 hours ago, Assimov said:

How do you know if someone is intelligent ?

They didnt join the armed forces.

I'm just gonna leave this here...

 

3 hours ago, Sauron said:

Considering productivity, technology and research have never been higher in the history of the world I'd say that's empirically not true.

Probably OUTSIDE of the USA.  We're doing pretty terrible compared to 1st world nations WRT education right now.

[Isuck Assimov]

On 10/7/2022 at 9:26 PM, IPD said:

Probably OUTSIDE of the USA.  We're doing pretty terrible compared to 1st world nations WRT education right now.

Of course it has to be considered that many young people get recruited with promises of getting paid for a college education. Sad to see this exploitation of young people who cannot afford higher education otherwise.

[solado]

Quote

How do you know if someone is intelligent.

No idea, I am thick as they come so just assume everyone is far more intelligent than myself.

[IPD]

53 minutes ago, Assimov said:

Of course it has to be considered that many young people get recruited with promises of getting paid for a college education. Sad to see this exploitation of young people who cannot afford higher education otherwise.

Not exploitation at all.  It's a sign of intelligence that someone balances the pros/cons of a quid-pro-quo and decides that military service makes more sense than just piling on student loans against the phantom hope that somehow they'll earn close to 6 figures--the day they graduate.  It's also quite common to find people cycle through an enlistment or 2 just to determine what their forte in life is--or to have a better idea of what they'd like to do professionally in the long term--rather than make it up via changing majors at the 11th our and running up a loan tab for 6 years of schooling.  And if you can get paid for a full-time job where your employer is training you in a skill--and then going to school part-time on the side which is also paid for by your employer....that's pretty much a no-brainer for some people to enlist.

 

If you think the cost is exploitative, I submit you have an issue with the forces that have allowed it to manifest that way.  There are HS students who complete their education with vocational school, and have skilled, trades-jobs already offered pending their HS graduation (making far more than most college grads do starting out).

[Wictorian]

1 hour ago, solado said:

No idea, I am thick as they come so just assume everyone is far more intelligent than myself.

Yeah that’s fair but you have to factor in that some people are also far more dumber than you. Sometimes you should just trust yourself.