Intelligence is a set that forms all intellectual characteristics of an individual, that is, the faculty of knowing, understanding, reasoning, thinking and interpreting. Intelligence is one of the main distinctions between humans and other animals.
Etymologically, the word "intelligence" originated from the Latin intelligentia, from intelligent, where the prefix inter means "between", and legere it means "choice". Therefore, the original meaning of this term refers to an individual's ability to choose among the various possibilities or options that are presented to him.
In order to choose the best and most suitable opportunity, among the various options, a person needs to evaluate all the advantages and disadvantages of the hypotheses, requiring for this the ability to reason, think and understand, that is, the basis of what forms the intelligence.
Among the faculties that constitute intelligence, there is also the functioning and use of memory, judgment, abstraction, imagination and conception.
The concepts and definitions of intelligence vary according to the group to which they refer. For example, in psychology, the so-called "psychological intelligence" is the ability to learn and relate, that is, the cognition of an individual; while in the field of biology, "biological intelligence" would be the ability to adapt to new habitats or situations.
intelligence test
Intelligence tests emerged between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in an attempt to "measure" the size of the intelligence of individuals.
The first test developed to measure intellectual ability was created by French psychologist Alfred Binet (1859-1911), which was applied in French schools to identify students with difficulties in apprenticeship.
A few years later, the German psychologist William Stern (1871-1938) coined the expression Intelligence quotient, known by the acronym IQ (Intelligenz-Quotient, in German), introducing the terms "IM (Mental Age)" and "IC (Chronological Age)" to relate a person's intellectual capacity to their age.
Learn more about the meaning of IQ.
Types of intelligence
However, the concept employed by the Intelligence Quotient began to be discredited when individuals with IQ were observed. low, but with great success in professional life, while people considered "smarter" presented situations lower.
Psychologist Howard Gardner introduced the Multiple Intelligences Theory, which claim that intelligence is a set of at least 8 different mental processes existing within the brain.
According to this theory, each human being has a little of each of these "intelligences", and, in some people, there is always a type of a specific process that can be more developed than in others, making it stand out in certain fields or areas of activity.
- linguistic intelligence: people with ease to express themselves, orally and through writing. People with this kind of more developed intelligence tend to learn other languages more easily, besides having a high degree of attention.
- logical intelligence: people with ease in working with logic in general, such as mathematical operations or scientific work, for example. They usually have good memory and are able to solve complex problems easily. They can still be considered more organized and disciplined.
- spatial intelligence: people easily understand and manipulate the visual world, such as 2D or 3D images. They are well developed by architects and professionals linked to graphic art.
- motor intelligence: people who can perform complex movements with their own bodies, having for this an amazing notion of space, distance and depth of environments.
- musical intelligence: people who can easily identify and reproduce different types of sound patterns, in addition to creating new songs or harmonies. This is one of the rare types of intelligence present among people.
- interpersonal intelligence: people with ease to lead, from the understanding of the point of view and intentions of others. They are considered very active individuals, who enjoy responsibility and who find it easy to convince others to do what they want.
- intrapersonal intelligence: people who are easy to observe, analyze and understand themselves. They can also influence people, but in a more subjective way, using ideas rather than actions.
- naturalistic intelligence: are people who can easily identify and differentiate different patterns present in nature.
Emotional intelligence
The concept of emotional intelligence is present within psychology and was created by the American psychologist Daniel Goleman.
An individual considered emotionally intelligent is one who can identify their emotions, motivating himself to persist in his goals even in frustrating situations, by example.
Among the other features of the emotional intelligence there is the ability to control impulses, channel emotions into appropriate situations, motivate people, practice gratitude, among other qualities that can help to encourage others.
Learn more about Emotional intelligence.
Artificial intelligence
THE artificial intelligence or A.I. is a branch of computer science study that is concerned with developing mechanisms and technological devices that can simulate the reasoning system of human beings, that is, their intelligence.
Research related to artificial intelligence is slow, but it has already shown significant results on how devices can interpret and synthesize the voice or human movements, for example. But, there is still a long way to go for machines to reach the closest possible concept of what human intelligence would be.
Learn more about Artificial intelligence.
See too:
- Types of intelligence
- what is knowledge
- what is creativity
