Intelligence and our perception of it is something which has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. We live in a world which reveres academic ability, but in reality, exactly how valuable is it? Is it more likely to translate to success or happiness than some other attribute or quality - say, determination, creativity or resilience? "Oh, she's so smart, she's going to be a doctor." According to some people, having a PhD. is the high watermark for intelligence. Until of course, the doctor's BMW breaks down in the middle of nowhere - then you might want someone with less intelligence and more common sense around to help the genius get home. Maybe the intelligent person ain't so smart after all? Is smart the same as intelligent? And what about common sense - where does that fit in? Is it a type of intelligence? If so, how do we assess it? Do we need to assess it?

Does it come in different shapes and sizes?

Come to think of it, who would you rather be marooned on an uninhabited island with: the academic with the 180 I.Q. or the bloke that grew up on the farm who's got big arms and is really good at killing stuff and building stuff? Personally, I'll pick Jim-Bob thanks. Who's the clever one now? Maybe the criteria for assessing intelligence might change when you're on a remote island. Maybe someone who is intelligent in suburbia might be stupid in the wilderness. Or perhaps, just less valuable. Less skilled perhaps. Or perhaps intelligent in a different way. Is intelligence something which is relevant or specific to a situation, circumstance, task or even location?

Social intelligence

And what about socially? No offense to my high I.Q. friends, but my cousin the molecular biologist might not be the girl you want to rely on to set your big party alight. Not sure that an impromptu lecture on DNA testing is really what your guests are after. She's great with a microscope, not so good with people. She doesn't really listen, can't create rapport, has no sense of humour, talks too loud, brings every conversation back to herself and constantly offends people. Other than that she's awesome. Maybe she ain't smart after all? But she scores so high on those tests... so she must be.

Creative intelligence

What about creativity, is that a form of intelligence? What about the girl who can't spell cat but can sing in perfect pitch and has a range of five octaves? Is she a dumbo who can sing, or is she creatively intelligent? Or something else? And the guy who can paint like a master but crashed out of school in grade nine, what about him? How do we rate him? In fact, why do we rate him? Maybe it's all the ranking, rating and classifying (labelling) that's the problem?

I.Q. testing

Since the early 1900's conventional wisdom (there's another term worth discussing) and (most) academic thinking has told us that we should measure intelligence via a few standardised and commonly accepted I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient) tests. Subjects complete a written test, receive a score and then discover how intelligent they are. Or aren't. Simple. Participants (often kids) are rated from below average (learning impaired) to genius. Then, they are usually treated accordingly.

Now... is it just me, or does anyone else see a problem with this?

I personally know quite a few intelligent people who (in certain situations and circumstances) can be kinda stupid. I'm know 'cause I'm one of them! I'm no genius (clearly) but I score reasonably well on I.Q. tests. However, put me in a situation where I need to do anything remotely mechanical and instantly I have the I.Q. of a wombat (see photo). A stupid wombat. If anything needs to be fixed, don't ring me. I'm about as mechanical as an apple. And if you wanna know what's going on with the storyline in a movie, don't ask me - I never know. "Who's that guy with the gun again... and why does he wanna shoot her?

The Matrix nearly killed me.

No, they're not mutually exclusive

Now, before you highly intelligent folk get all offended and write to me, don't misinterpret what I'm saying. I'm not saying that having a high I.Q. automatically equates to zero common sense, negligible people skills, no sense of humour or limited creative ability. Of course not. But isn't it interesting to consider some of those absolutely brilliant, gifted, amazing and clever people that you and I both know who, when 'rated' by an I.Q. test, would possibly be told that they're below average intelligence.

Functional intelligence

Maybe we should forget about rating academic intelligence and focus more on identifying and developing functional intelligence for life. The type of intelligence that allows us to deal most effectively, realistically and practically with life and it's numerous challenges. Intelligence which lets us negotiate our way through the various situations, circumstances, relationships, lumps and bumps that is our existence here on the big blue ball.

Now that would be smart.

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