Intelligence

When I was younger and single, I made a list of qualities that I am looking for in a potential husband. The quality that made it to the top is “intelligence”. The reason is that I want to increase the probability that our child will also be intelligent. I thought, if my child would be intelligent, he or she would be successful in life.

I could not believe how I was so narrow-minded. From my youth, I was led to believe that intelligence determines a person’s value. Before, my concept of intelligence was measured by the g factor and academic grades. I focused on Thurstone’s (1938) seven (7) primary mental abilities: verbal comprehension, reasoning, perceptual speed, numerical ability, word fluency, associative memory, and spatial visualization.
I was proud of being always on top and developed a fixed mindset of intelligence. I thought that I would always be good in school and failed to exert effort on other things where I am not good at. I feared failure. I placed myself above other people and put less importance on improving my character.

As I grew in college, experience taught me that intelligence could be manifested in a lot of forms. Readings from Module 2 – “Intelligence” also provided me with a clearer viewpoint.

Intelligence is not just inside the head. You have to adapt and cope with what the world challenges you to do. As an educator, knowing is not enough. The goal is to enable.

Like crystals, intelligence could be acquired by accumulating knowledge from experiences. We can learn many things from older generations even though we have more advanced knowledge in technology and more access to updated information.

Intelligence is not fixed. Our genes are like blueprints but the house will look different based on how we built it. Factors can positively or negatively affect one’s intelligence as he or she matures. Some of these factors are nutrition, upbringing, poverty, years of education, moral support, quality of education, emotional intelligence, and environment. We should start in every child’s early years because some damages could be irepairable in adulthood.

IQ do not solely determine success. We must strike a balance with EQ. Personality tests should also be administered for self-awareness.

Intelligence could come in many forms – multiple intelligences and emotional intelligence. We should seek every person’s potential and hone it.

Intelligence scales are useful for diagnosing children who have special needs and require additional academic help, determining career path, employee selection, and educational program guides. Just as it is useful, it is also a double-edged sword as the misuse of these scales could be detrimental to people’s lives. We should be careful to avoid placing derogatory labels. Scales should be used to improve and propose solutions, not determe limitations.

Do I still value intelligence? Of course! But my perspective has been readjusted in several angles now.