Is 'intelligent' relative or absolute? By definition.

[TechBoyJK]

Question.

By definition,'intelligent' seems to be fairly absolute in it's meaning. Basically it's an ability to reason, etc.

I understand that someone can be more/less intelligent than someone else.

But let's say you are in a group of 4 people and you have an IQ of 80, and the others IQ's of 100,120,150, etc. (i forget the IQ range).

Someone is arguing that if you are the person with the much lower IQ, relative to the others, you aren't intelligent.

I think that's wrong. You may have less intelligence, but you would still be considered intelligent, correct? For the same reason 'intelligent life' has a fairly agreed upon scientific definition and that life is either intelligent, or it isn't.

 

[mjrpes3]

Intelligence is a complex idea. It's not just the ability to reason. It's the ability to reason about matters to achieve certain goals in the real world. It's the right goals that really matter, and if someone has high intelligence to work minor details but misses the big picture, you have failure. Someone may not be smart with working with analogies on an SAT test, but they might have excellent intuition, skill, and success at their job as a manager.

I believe it's a persons ability to successfully deals with issues and problems in the real world that is a good standard of intelligence. Maybe intelligence is the wrong word.

 

[Numenorean]

No. IQ of 80 is not intelligent. That's actually below average.

 

[dank69]

120 is borderline retarded.

 

[mmntech]

Four years in humanities at a major university taught me that so called "intelligent" people can be really thick.

Intelligence is a lot of things. Complex. IQ measures your raw brain power and compares it others in your age group. True intelligence goes beyond that. It's the culmination of your experience plus a willingness to think outside the box.

 

[Malak]

By definition, yes you would still be considered "intelligent life" regardless of IQ. But that doesn't mean you are "intelligent". When someone is referred to as intelligent it generally implies being above average.

IQ levels are not accurate to intelligence, however. The tests don't factor in the many things a person can be intelligent about, which is why the theory of multiple intelligences has been around for 30 years.

 

[JS80]

Execution > Intelligence