Going into school, we tend to notice that students labeled as intelligent are those who are good at math, physics & science, in addition to having high grades.
Well, it happens that i was one of those students, high grades, great at every scientific subject (math, physics, etc.), and an above-average I.Q. ;p.
Having developed vast knowledge and diverse skills at a very young age, i started noticing that although i was considered intelligent & could think and resonate better than my peers, a few people that i considered “less intelligent than me” appeared to be better than me at some things, not only more talented, but they could hit targets that i couldn’t even see. That got me a little bit confused, were they more intelligent than me ? Or did they have more knowledge than me ?
After thinking about it for several days, and comparing selected people’s thinking to one another, i came to a very simple conclusion.
In the fields i was most prolific at, i could see things others couldn’t even think of; in the fields other people were most prolific at, they could see things i couldn’t even think of.
Therefore, intelligence is subjective, and to each person his own area of intelligence, some are good at math, while others can’t even multiply two numbers but still manage to paint masterpieces.
So each one of us has his own intersection of the different types of intelligence, mine happened to be more of logical-mathematical/intrapersonal/linguistic intelligence while yours might be completely different.
For instance, a friend of mine had an amazing inborn skill that i lacked, which was the ability to understand other people’s feelings, motives, and psychology, this would usually signal a high E.Q. (Emotional Intelligence) that fits more into the “interpersonal” intelligence as shown in the image above.
Briefly, each one of us constitutes a unique blend, consisting of diverse types of skills & intelligence; so to each one of us the responsibility to discover his own intelligence/genius.
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
~Albert Einstein
Going further, i noticed as well that we tend to confuse knowledge with intelligence, we tend to think that those who have knowledge are smart.
It is certainly true that intelligent people have knowledge, but having solely knowledge doesn’t make you intelligent.
I like to think about it that way : knowledge is the map of a territory, while intelligence is the ability to adapt to any territory, to create your own map.
Here’s a good definition as well :
Knowledge is the collection of skills and information a person has acquired through experience. Intelligence is the ability to apply knowledge. Just because someone lacks knowledge of a particular subject doesn’t mean they can’t apply their intelligence to help solve problems. (source)
Altogether, knowledge can be no substitute for intelligence, but having good knowledge helps you better navigate the world, the territory. So knowledge alone isn’t enough, but that doesn’t discard the importance of knowledge; i believe as well that truly intelligent people will attain great knowledge sooner or later, but the sooner it is acquired, the faster the progress.
Another comparison of this idea might go as follow: in a Machine Learning model, data is needed to train the program, but data can’t replace the processing mind of the program or the thinking behind the interpretation done by the program, yet it is needed & essential to help it improve, just like experience/knowledge. So i refer to knowledge as being “data” in this example, & intelligence being the program itself, or “the mind that interprets data”. They’re both different, and essential.
In conclusion, as human beings, we differ in our abilities, talents, and intelligence. Each one of us has his own inborn genius waiting to be unleashed.
In addition to that, knowledge is important for you, but never a substitute for intelligence, so make sure you work and develop both.
You don’t need an above-average I.Q. or high grades to be intelligent or successful, lots of school smarts can’t even get their things together in the real world. Put no excuses, discover your inner genius, develop yourself, and acquire knowledge and experience as you go.
As Naval Ravikant puts it :
“The only real test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life.”