Intelligence: What is it, and how is it measured?

Intelligence: What is it, and how is it measured? Do you consider yourself an intelligent person? Most people believe smart people are the ones we recognize as nerds, but it turns out that intelligence is measured differently. It has nothing to do with school grades or innate abilities.

Intelligence itself is a capacity that people develop throughout their lives, although it also has a lot to do with genetics. However, a person with parents of average intelligence can be born with a high IQ.

For this reason, in this article, we teach you what intelligence is and how it is measured so that you have the opportunity to measure your IQ on time.

But first, what is intelligence?

Intelligence is a very general mental capability that involves reason, plan, problem-solving, abstract thinking, understanding complex ideas, quickly learning, and learning from experience.

It does not involve the mere learning of a text, a specific academic ability, or skillfully solving tests. Rather, it reflects a broad and deep ability to understand the environment, to capture the meaning of things, or to figure out what to do.

We can measure intelligence once we define it, and intelligence tests measure it correctly. Although there are different types of intelligence tests, they all measure the same intelligence.

Characteristics of an intelligent person

Certain characteristic features will allow you to identify the intelligent people around you. Some of the main ones are:

1. Sense of humor, what intelligence is

People with a sense of humor tend to be smarter. A study refers specifically to black humor, indicating that the so-called heavy jokes require a greater cognitive effort to understand and enjoy them. Making others laugh is part of this quality.

2. Creativity

Intelligence reflects the ability to relate diverse, different, and unusual concepts. That out-of-the-box thinking leads the smart to find creative and unconventional answers that not everyone could find.

3. Curiosity, what intelligence is

Exploring and investigating are aspects that help intellectuals to get the answers they are constantly looking for. Curiosity fuels the knowledge of the new.

4. Acceptance of ignorance

Knowing how to say “I don’t know” when asked about their knowledge about something is a characteristic that not all of them demonstrate. Well, intelligent people know how to identify their weaknesses and are not afraid to recognize them, since they are also open to covering that ignorance.

5. Adaptability, what intelligence is

Adverse situations cannot dislodge intelligent people. On the contrary, they are adaptable and rather activated for a purpose without rest. That is why, far from being anchored in conflicts and negative situations, they see an opportunity to find a solution.

6. Self-control

Having controlled emotions and feelings is a matter of the smartest. This includes being emotionally healthy.

7. Provision, what intelligence is

Having an open mind is another quality that denotes intelligence. This arrangement makes it easier to hear different points of view and learn more. It also allows you to be on the lookout for new ideas, opportunities, and answers.

8. Anxiety

Although we are used to seeing anxiety as something negative, in the intelligent it materializes as that need to understand the world quickly and with a certain sense of urgency.

9. Sensitivity, what intelligence is

Being smarter is not something to brag about. Those who know more are interested in explaining their knowledge to others as they develop empathy and emotional intelligence. They do not worry about being recognized because they are not aware of their intelligence, but that does not take them away from their interest in discovering the world.

10. Listening ability

The ability and willingness to listen to the interesting things that others have to say is easy for smart people. It is an attitude that allows them to feed their knowledge and grow emotionally.

11. Isolation, what intelligence is

We usually see people who isolate themselves as people with psychological problems. But the smart ones really spend time alone because they are comfortable without company. In addition, they are so reflective that time goes by thinking and, for this, concentration is essential.

12. Long sleep

The day is not enough for people who are constantly searching for answers. That is why they often sleep late and rest their mind with a long sleep.

13. They reflect deeply, what intelligence is

A study conducted by scientists at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, United States, revealed that people with higher IQs spend long periods of time imbued with their thoughts and reflections.

This long and hard thinking about meaning, for example, could make people more likely to be anxious. David Wilson explains that the fact that people consider and analyze what happens to them from different angles can always make them aware that things can go wrong.

Can we develop intelligence?

Until recently, it was believed that our brain did not develop over the years, but the latest research tells us that it does. New neurons and new connections are continually developing if we know how to train our intelligence.

Although we consider intelligence an inherited potential, we can train it like any other organ in our body, and we can learn to think appropriately in each situation.

With training, we improve our intellectual abilities, and we also get better performance of our intellectual capacity or intelligence.

The innate abilities that Picasso could have as a painting genius had their expression when he learned to paint from a very young age with his father and developed extensively throughout his life, leaving us imperishable works not only as art but also reaching the highest values in the art market paintings.

Different studies confirm that London taxi drivers have more developed brain areas for memorizing city streets. Musicians have more developed areas of the brain that have to do with music. The brain can develop and continue producing neurons continuously. We have to exercise it to get maximum performance and increase our intellectual capacity.

Frequently, even the most intelligent people make decisions illogically without considering very relevant aspects of the situations and without having stopped to reflect. Other times we face situations that require using creative thinking, and we do not know the tools to know how to generate new ideas, ideas that can provide us with viable solutions to problems.

Intellectual Coefficient

We can measure intelligence by the intellectual coefficient. We originally defined this as the ratio between the individual’s mental age and chronological age. Most people have a mental age that corresponds to their chronological age, so most are around 100.

With an Intellectual Coefficient lower than 70, one speaks of intellectual disability, and above 130, one speaks of intellectual giftedness. In some cases, from an IQ greater than or equal to 120, we speak of high capacity, and below 80, we speak of low capacity.

Conclusions

Now that you know what intelligence is and how it is measured, you can train your brain to become the intelligent person you want to be.