If a boy is over 30 and he wears his baseball cap backwards or sideways, I'm gonna think his bulb doesn't burn too brightly.


Call me old fashioned, but I DO take points off for consistent bad spelling and grammar.
If you seen the sun rise to many times, well, sorry.
If we can't communicate, we can't work together.
Luckily for me, my little team is pretty smart.

quote Originally posted by NEPTUNE: Call me old fashioned, but I DO take points off for consistent bad spelling and grammar. If you *seen* the sun rise *to* many times, well, sorry.

I'm sorry for people who haven't seen the sun rise often enough.

quote Originally posted by NEPTUNE: Call me old fashioned, but I DO take points off for consistent bad spelling and grammar. If you seen the sun rise to many times, well, sorry.

That was a joke, right?

43 replies and no one has got it right, , ?
a) Not asking dumb questions
b) Living in Texas
c) Being able to listen and think about others thoughts

A vote for applied education. I had a buddy that got great grades but, at the store or when trying to get him to apply physics to a lever, he was helpless. He told me that he learned stuff long enough to take the test and moved on. Stuff I learn is usually stuck in my head as fact for many years, it takes lots of effort for me to learn things to my satisfaction.

quote Originally posted by NEPTUNE: Call me old fashioned, .

Hyphen required.

quote Originally posted by Wichita: Hyphen required.

Sorry, no.

quote Originally posted by theBDub: That was a joke, right?

Yes.

[This message has been edited by NEPTUNE (edited 10-17-2011).]

quote If a boy is over 30

The problem, has been identified.

I too think there is probably no one key.
Plus you'd have to start by choosing a category of "smart", here are a few off the top of my head, they break down further after one is chosen too.

Creative smart?
Book smart?
Good memory?
Street smart?
People smart?
Smart in regards to knowing ones self?


Wise?

[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 10-17-2011).]

The easiest indicator of someone’s intelligence is how much time they spend on PFF in the TO section.

quote Originally posted by theBDub: Really? Education doesn't even cross my mind when I think of intelligence. It's a measurement of your ability to learn. Intelligence exists far outside of the classroom, IMO.

Jazzman asked for "the" key indicator. Singular. Just one. If you use any other standard to measure intelligence, you'll need multiple standards to evaluate each subject.

But by looking only at education, you'll most likely come closer than any one other indicator.

You're getting an education right now. Hard isn't it? Worked hard in high school too, didn't you? They don't hand out college degrees in boxes of Crackerjack. I've called them and asked. They said "No."

All that being said, are there completely useless idiots with degrees? Absolutely. I'm just thinking the statistical proportion of idiots is slightly lower in people who've graduated college. But a lot of that has to do with the ones I run into. I meet people with degrees in things like Engineering, Physics, Biology, and Metallurgy. People who actually have to produce something. And will get weeded out right quick if they can't. If I spent more time with people with degrees in Conversational Latin, English Literature, or Poetry, I'd probably think differently.

Perhaps I'm being overly restrictive in my interpretation of the OP's question by limiting it to ONE quality.

One passing thought: If you got a degree in something you know there is virtually no chance of you making a living at, how smart can you be?

quote Originally posted by Zeb: Jazzman asked for "the" key indicator. Singular. Just one. If you use any other standard to measure intelligence, you'll need multiple standards to evaluate each subject. But by looking only at education, you'll most likely come closer than any one other indicator. You're getting an education right now. Hard isn't it? Worked hard in high school too, didn't you? They don't hand out college degrees in boxes of Crackerjack. I've called them and asked. They said "No." All that being said, are there completely useless idiots with degrees? Absolutely. I'm just thinking the statistical proportion of idiots is slightly lower in people who've graduated college. But a lot of that has to do with the ones I run into. I meet people with degrees in things like Engineering, Physics, Biology, and Metallurgy. People who actually have to produce something. And will get weeded out right quick if they can't. If I spent more time with people with degrees in Conversational Latin, English Literature, or Poetry, I'd probably think differently. Perhaps I'm being overly restrictive in my interpretation of the OP's question by limiting it to ONE quality. One passing thought: If you got a degree in something you know there is virtually no chance of you making a living at, how smart can you be?

Alright. That makes sense. I guess it's the best indicator so that answers the question.

quote Originally posted by cliffw: 43 replies and no one has got it right, , ? a) Not asking dumb questions b) Living in Texas c) Being able to listen and think about others thoughts

Should have read:

a) Not asking dumb questions
b) Not willing to live in Texas
c) Being able to listen and think about others thoughts

[This message has been edited by Xyster (edited 10-17-2011).]

quote Originally posted by NEPTUNE: If a boy is over 30 and he wears his baseball cap backwards or sideways, I'm gonna think his bulb doesn't burn too brightly. Call me old fashioned, but I DO take points off for consistent bad spelling and grammar. If you seen the sun rise to many times, well, sorry. If we can't communicate, we can't work together. Luckily for me, my little team is pretty smart.

One of the most intelligent guys I have ever met was too poor to go to school and can barley read and never writes.

And there are millions over the world who have never been to school, guess they are all idiots in your mind.

quote Originally posted by partfiero: One of the most intelligent guys I have ever met was too poor to go to school and can barley read and never writes. And there are millions over the world who have never been to school, guess they are all idiots in your mind.

Oh, turn your hat around. You look silly.

“Education in the general sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character, or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, and values from one generation to another. Education can also be defined as the process of becoming an educated person.[1] An educated person refers to a person that has access to optimal states of mind regardless of the situation they are in.[1] That person is able to perceive accurately, think clearly and act effectively to achieve self-selected goals and aspirations.[1]”
-wiki

-
Education doesn’t just mean school, or formal education. The one thing I noticed about this definition of education is at least at first, it does not differentiate between educating something good, or bad. I mean a grandparent teaching a kid racial prejudice is technically education too, bad education. Experiences can sort of teach, but if you react poorly to the experience, maybe you didn’t learn from it positively. Some societies that teach people promises mean nothing, or life means nothing, marriage/divorce and abortion for example. There is a lot of bad education that goes on in our world.

But maybe education would come closest to being a one word answer, as it encompasses the reason for poor intelligence and great intelligence. The cool thing about education is you can be educated by watching other people get educated.

quote Originally posted by NEPTUNE: Oh, turn your hat around. You look silly.

Have never worn one, looked silly no matter which way I turned it.
Hats are for women.

quote Originally posted by Wichita: Hyphen required.

That's one that has always baffled me. I could never figure out what punctuation to use where in the sentence. Lately it's gotten worse because, well the internet stinks is teh stink for grammerz.

In school I would get "in trouble" in English class because I used too many comma's, not enough, put them in the wrong place, or not at all. Then there was the Period, Exclamation, Question Mark, etc. To me understanding string theory is much easier than basic grammar.


Anyway, sorry to carry this OT.

Brad

quote Originally posted by theBDub: Education doesn't even cross my mind when I think of intelligence. It's a measurement of your ability to learn. Intelligence exists far outside of the classroom, IMO.

quote Originally posted by theBDub: Really? Education doesn't even cross my mind when I think of intelligence. It's a measurement of your ability to learn. Intelligence exists far outside of the classroom, IMO.

X2.

quote Originally posted by Xyster: Should have read: a) Not asking dumb questions b) Not willing to live in Texas c) Being able to listen and think about others thoughts

, ok, I got your number.
[sarcasm]Your ex's puzzy is still that strong ? [/sarcasm]
It has been said that you could pull a battleship with a crunt hair, .
Let me try the intelligence indicator again.
"You gotta know when to hold them
know when to fold them
know when to walk away, know when to run ...."

quote Originally posted by cliffw: "You gotta know when to hold them know when to fold them know when to walk away, know when to run ...."

Now that is intelligence!

quote Originally posted by spark1: Curiosity.

quote Originally posted by Formula88: ... the ability to learn.

Excellent observations, but neither alone is sufficient. Both are required.

I have known plenty of people who are curious but unable to understand many of the answers. One example is the people who read Popular Science ... or the Internet ... and unquestioningly believe everything they read there.

I have also known people who had the ability to learn but preferred not to. An example here is people who are content to learn everything by rote, and never seek to understand the "why?" of things. They limit themselves to "knowing" only what they have been taught. That's a mystery to me.

Another defining characteristic of "intelligence" is the ability for abstract reasoning. A parrot can learn to "speak" human language, and it may even seem to use words appropriately in limited contexts, but a parrot will never really understand what it's saying. Dogs show evidence of great social intelligence and many exhibit the ability to learn complex tasks, but no dog on Earth is able to grasp the concept of "tomorrow."

I tend to reject the idea that education alone is an indicator of intelligence. Education nurtures and develops intelligence, but does not define it. "Education" implies a more-or-less formal and unidirectional process ... and a rather narrow process at that ... of acquiring knowledge. I agree that most PhDs are more intelligent than the average person, but I also know many very intelligent people who lack the credentials of a formal education beyond high school. Again and again in my life I have observed that some of the most competent people in an occupation received their formal education in a tottally different field of study. True intelligence facilitates the transfer of knowledge from one area of narrow specialization to another.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 10-17-2011).]

quote Originally posted by Marvin McInnis: I tend to reject the idea that education alone is an indicator of intelligence. "Education" implies a more-or-less formal and unidirectional process ... and a rather narrow process at that ... of acquiring knowledge. I agree that most PhDs are more intelligent than the average person, but I also know many very intelligent people who lack the credentials of a formal education beyond high school. Again and again in my life I have observed that some of the most competent people in an occupation received their formal education in a tottally different field of study. True intelligence facilitates the transfer of knowledge from one area of narrow specialization to another.

reminded me of this quote..

I've never met a genius. A genius to me is someone who does well at something he hates. Anybody can do well at something he loves - it's just a question of finding the subject.
-Clint Eastwood

obviously... it is whether or not one can grasp the humor in the New Yorker editorial cartoon...

quote Originally posted by 2.5: I've never met a genius. A genius to me is someone who does well at something he hates. Anybody can do well at something he loves - it's just a question of finding the subject. -Clint Eastwood

I have to disagree with Clint. I've encountered several true geniuses in my life, and all of them were working at occupations they loved ... or at least they loved what they were doing at the time. A colloary to Clint's observation, though, is that anyone who considers himself/herself a genius is almost certainly not one.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 10-18-2011).]

quote Originally posted by Marvin McInnis: I have to disagree with Clint. I've encountered several true geniuses in my life, and all of them were working at occupations they loved ... or at least they loved what they were doing at the time. A colloary to Clint's observation, though, is that anyone who considers himself/herself a genius is almost certainly not one.

Yeah, could be they love challenge, or came to love the job too. I guess his point is it should be more difficult to be a "genius" at something you don't like. He just has his own idea of what genius is, probably his way of putting people who think they are one (as you mentioned) in check.