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Since the beginning of recorded history, people have recognized that individuals differ in their ability to solve problems, deal with abstractions, and learn new ideas. We call this many-faceted ability intelligence. However, when it comes to defining this enigmatic trait, we face the famous Jainist conundrum in which three blind men grasp the tusk, trunk, …
What has surprised me most about intelligent people is the remarkably dominant role that emotion (as opposed to rational thinking) plays in the determination of their beliefs. That is, otherwise highly intelligent people, in forming social and political opinions tend to believe what they would like to believe, independent of the facts. Amid my colleagues …
Those who have accumulated wealth, rather than inherited it, share certain character traits that are manifest in a variety of different forms. Though some have accumulated substantial wealth through employment and investment, almost all the world’s billionaires are entrepreneurs. When we look at the character traits of these entrepreneurs, what do we discover? At the …
What character traits do the world’s richest people have in common? Read More »
In 1977, when Gene Landrum, was building the prototype for the Chuck E. Cheese chain of restaurants, and installed a ball-crawl apparatus within the restaurant, conventional restauranteurs were aghast. Many said the idea was absurd, because allocating space to a children’s playground in a restaurant was not cost effective. Others said the noise would interfere …
Over 2300 years ago, Aristotle wrote in Nicomachean Ethics: Although the young may be experts in geometry and mathematics and similar branches of knowledge, we do not consider that a young man can have Prudence. The reason is that Prudence includes a knowledge of particular facts, and this is derived from experience, which a young …
How do you find what you consider experts/the most intelligent thinkers? Read More »
Over 2300 years ago, Aristotle wrote in Nicomachean Ethics: Although the young may be experts in geometry and mathematics and similar branches of knowledge, we do not consider that a young man can have Prudence. The reason is that Prudence includes a knowledge of particular facts, and this is derived from experience, which a young …
Intelligence is a characteristic spanning several cognitive dimensions, including neural efficiency, memory, intuition, creativity, capacity for abstraction and power of visualization, among others. Although the IQ test provides the best measure of intelligence that we have, it addresses only some of these dimensions. For that reason, it is correlated to intelligence rather than providing a …
Is a Person’s IQ the same as their Intelligence? Read More »
Today, April 15, is the birthday of one of the most celebrated geniuses in history–Leonardo da Vinci. Described as the “quintessential Renaissance Man,” Leonardoi–a person compelled by an insatiable curiosity to address the broadest spectrum of intellectual disciplines ever embraced by a human being–became the icon for the polymath. Born out of wedlock in the …
There is, of course, an overlap between those who are street smart and those who are book-smart. Many people of high IQ, like Ben Franklin were also students of human nature, so they were able to share their visions with others and achieve goals by persuading them to their causes. However, many book-smart people like …
How differently do street-smart people think compared to book-smart people? Read More »
During most of the 20th century, there were extensive debates about the extent to which intelligence was determined by the genes we inherit. The popular consensus was that intelligence is mainly a result of environmental experience. To some extent, this tacit assumption was wishful thinking by those who hoped to promote equity and inclusion, yet …
Why does the Heritability of Intelligence Increase with Age? Read More »
