What is Intelligence, Anyway?

                                                                                           Isaac Asimov, USA (1920 – 1992)

Summary in English

Asimov argues that intelligence is not absolute but is a function of the society we live in and of the fact that a small subsection of that society has managed to impose itself on the rest as an arbiter of such matters. Asimov explains that there is more than one kind of intelligence. He realizes that if an intelligence test required to him to use his hand to repair something, he would get a low score. First, being intelligence can have many ways. Academic education is one way of it. Second, the universe and knowledge in the world are limitless while a human being's intelligence is limited.

According to the writer, intelligence can never be determined by only one dimensional IQ test. Human minds are the unique mixture of intelligence and stupidity. In fact, our intelligence and skills are the products of the small subsection of the society where we live in.

When Asimov was in the Army, he received the kind of aptitude test and scored 160, against a normal of 100. In the one hand, he is pleased to have such intelligence. At the same time, he is not more intelligence because he can't fix a car by himself. So, he must go take help of an autorepair man. Therefore, he assumes that he is inferior to farmer, carpenter or autorepair man in terms of intelligence they have in the particular field. He says that even the great scholars as academicians can be proved to be foolish in the fields where their academic training does not work. The writer criticizes western tradition of measuring intelligence which is based on prejudices and discrimination, too.