Rabbit CohenI used to buy into the common leftist idea that intelligence isn't real, that outside of people with intellectual disabilities, everyone is pretty much equally smart (albeit in different ways). And honestly? As a smart person, it made me less compassionate.
You have to understand and take responsibility for your strengths in order to be understanding of people who lack those strengths. When I bought into the "intelligence is fake" bullshit, I got really frustrated with people for having difficulty with things that were easy for me.
Intelligence is hard to measure, but it does exist. I mean, think about it. We all know that intellectually disabled people exist, and most of us acknowledge that disability and ability are a spectrum. Why would intellectual disabilities be exceptions? Why would intellectual disability be a binary off/on switch, not a gradient?
And even outside of intellectual disabilities, how are we supposed to help people with intellectual weaknesses if we don't acknowledge that such weaknesses exist?
IQ tests are generally not very good, mind. But they are useful in some contexts. For example, they're often used in testing for ADHD and evaluating what people's needs are by allowing for observation of what impedes them in the tasks and observing the discrepancy between intellectual ability and ADHD related deficits.
It's not necessary for diagnosis, but it can give insight about what would be helpful in terms of accommodations, coaching, etc.
Anyway, it seems like a lot of leftists reject the idea of intelligence because it's an easy way to reject race science and eugenics type bullshit. But it's not really an effective way to do that, because it avoids tackling the actual flaws in those things, and it's obvious to anyone who isn't a leftist that it's a cop-out.
Instead of saying "intelligence isn't real" or "differences in intelligence aren't real", we should be saying "smart people don't carry more ethical weight".
You can be smart, but being smart doesn't make you more valuable than other people. It doesn't make your experiences and emotions more important.
Intelligence doesn't make anyone more or less worthy of quality of life.
Mind, "you're smart" doesn't mean just one thing, but neither does "you're pretty". That doesn't mean attractive people don't have any advantages.
Coach Pāṇini ®
Intelligence vs Smarts — Superversive
There is a reason “superintelligent” is not the same as “supersmart.” Nobody says “Artificial Smartness”. It’s just not a thing. Some folks who hug their synthetic hammer think that flying too close to the sun is an innovative idea. I encourage colleagues who are embedding synthetic machines int
Talya (she/her) 🏳️⚧️✡️@BathysphereHat
and also, these skills are varied! one can be objectively smart at one thing and have an advantage in it, while struggling in others!
I'm objectively good at reading stuff like contracts etc even having not studied law. like I genuinely have that advantage over other people.
but I'm also a dummy who wouldn't think of starting the laundry machine first because that way I can do other chores while it's running.
flatlining people always makes our understanding of them worse.
Elizabeth@BathysphereHat I agree that most leftist criticisms of intelligence are predictable and uninteresting. I was given an IQ test twice as a kid. I remember both times — I was in second grade and then fourth grade. The first time I scored average and the second time I scored really high. Not sure if someone just gave me the test wrong one of those times but I remember feeling much more comfortable and connected the second time and that’s when I did better.
@Elizabeth3 Yeah, the idea that IQ is immutable is silly, and obviously testing conditions can be very different. Also, different tests have different strengths and weaknesses - I scored in the 120's in one in middle school, but it was explained to me that that test was primarily used to test disabled people and had a low ceiling. I later scored over 20 points higher on a different test. So yeah, it's very variable even when the testing conditions are good.
Jeremy Mallin@Elizabeth3
@BathysphereHat
Also people have this idea that intelligence is static and unchanging throughout one's life. That's not true at all. The brain itself is constantly changing throughout a person's life and many of those changes can affect intelligence. We both grow and decline for various reasons.
@BathysphereHat
Also people have this idea that intelligence is static and unchanging throughout one's life. That's not true at all. The brain itself is constantly changing throughout a person's life and many of those changes can affect intelligence. We both grow and decline for various reasons.
Jeffy 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🇺🇦 ❤️🇱🇺@BathysphereHat intelligence as a monolith isn’t accurate. You can put a dozen “super smart” people in a room together and they’ll be “intelligent” in 12 different ways. Watch them interact and you’ll see way more than 12 different ways.
@godofbiscuits I didn't say it was a monolith, though?
@BathysphereHat its reading that way, but I wasn’t contradicting or challenging you, I was giving an option to the “is it real or is it not” binary.