Knowledge and Intelligence

Good day all.

Following on from my previous thread on 'Is it logical to question the logic of logic', I wanted to start a new philosopihcal discussion regarding knowlegdge and intelligence, the difference (?) between the two and what each one means.

--

Here is my premise:

Being knowledgeable is not synonymous of being intelligent.
Being intelligent is not synonymous of being knowledgable.

--

My reasoning:

Being knowledgeable infers that you have acquired tidbits of information and have them grouped into relevant subject 'files' in your brain. These can only get bigger as you become more knowledgeable. One can be knowledgeable but not intelligent. How?

Being intelligent does not infer that you have a lot of knowledge. Intelligence can only be fed with knowledge, thus proving they are neither the same nor synonymous.

--

When you say "He is a very intelligent man", these days, we are referring to his 'knowledge', but I would like to lay claim to the incorrectness of this statement. Many people, you included (?), know people are have huge knowledge banks in their brains and have absorbed many things both intently and unintentionally. But does it make them intelligent? Or merely knowledgeable?

How I see it, if you are only knowledgeable, you do not have much in terms of social interaction, situational awareness, manners and desire for more knowledge. On the other hand, an intelligent person (such as myself and no doubt, yourself), may have much or little knowledge but is intelligently driven to seek more knowledge to enhance his intelligence.

The intelligent person will know how to use people to his advantage (in a positive way, not using them and hanging them out to dry once finished), would understand his situational surroundings and make the most of opportunities. He may not be very knowledgeable, but he is intelligent enough to seek knowledge from all sources.

The knowledgeable person will become distanced from society and feel he is more superior, along with his situational awareness diminishing, coming across as rude towards others because, for example, he feels that nobody is good enough for him because of his far superior knowledge. A clear lack in intelligence.

--

What do you think? Are you an intelligent person or a knowledgeable person?

I am intelligent because I always seek new knowledge, I always open my mind to peoples' comments and I strive to competently interact with my both human and object surroundings, becoming more astute and able to handle various situations.

Sometimes, I wish I could teach those really knowledgeable people a thing or two!

you raise some very true points, and there is an 'illusion' of being intilligent
but i think the most 'intilligent' thing we can do is make the most out of what we know.
we dont know much but knowing what we do know is logical
if we dont learn from what we do know how will we ever expand our knowledge

Originally posted by DB340


Here is my premise:

Being knowledgeable is not synonymous of being intelligent.
Being intelligent is not synonymous of being knowledgable.

I completely agree with this , and without meaning to trivialise your thread I will add a little quote I heard recently;

"Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit.
Intelligence is not putting one in a fruit salad".

I for one see evidence all the time that backs up your quote. I would hope we all do.
S&F

I agree they are different qualities.

Knowledge is the acquisition of facts on a topic and being able to recall these facts when needed.

Intelligence is the ability to reason well and apply this skill to both familiar and unfamiliar situations.

Wisdom is the ability to dispense advice well through the use of Knowledge and Intelligence.

That's how I see them anyway.

What is missing from your knowledge and very deep--so you contend--intellect is wisdom.
Wisdom would have at least prevented the last few lines of your OP.

The OP is quite correct on many points.

All I can add is that intelligence is what we are gifted with by genes and birth, so try not to worry about it as you are stuck with it, as you are your skin colour, or height.

Knowledge on the other hand has to be gained by effort and open-mindedness. I think knowledge is more impportant in a sense of character as it shows hard work, diligence and willingness. You can't fault a man on their intelligence, but you can on their knowledge.

reply to post by DB340


Intelligence is also measured or observed in the ability to learn quickly, memory and sense of humor are indicators.

Definetly a wider range of abilities are possessed by the intelligent man than the one who is in the know.

I'm afraid being intelligent looks a lot more desirable.

reply to post by DB340


I like your deffinitions.

Down here we often say a person has a lot of book smarts. The trouble comes in when they are not smart enough to know how to use it. I know a lot of "educated idiots".

Ignorance means there is something you just don't know. We are all ignorant about something.

Stupid is when you know better and do something anyway.

Intelligence can not truely be measured because it is always growing. An intelligent person will learn from any test you may give them.

Knowledge can be claimed by anyone who will compile a library of facts and extrapulate data to make themselves look smart.

Wisdom is knowing the difference; and using their intelligence and apply their knowledge in a meaninful way.

reply to post by Aliensun


Which ones? The ironic one about teaching knowledgeable people a thing or two; this was actually a little light-hearted additional comment which concluded by post quite well I thought...

...or the one about saying I am intelligent yet always wanting to become more knowledgeable?

It seems Mr Majority is in the intelligent boat and I am happy to see that.

Wisdom. A nice and very accurate addition to my OP. It's nice to see how discussions can develop, n'est-ce pas?

reply to post by DB340


Intelligence is everything. The cosmos, or all of Creation, is infinite intelligence (or intelligent infinity).

Knowledge is the degree of awareness an entity has about (Its) infinite intelligence.

"Less intelligence" and "more intelligent" are relative and subjective, for there's only one intelligence, one Mind.

Therefore... Know Thyself.

Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is knowing it doesn't belong in a fruit salad.

Intelligence is the ability to acquire knowledge and the ability to learn.
Knowlege is acquired information.

But there is a third facet of intellectualism that is wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge responsibly thereby gaining insight into virtuous qualities of existence and social interaction.

Wisdom is the knowledge you gain when walking a "spiritual" path (or w/e you want to call it).

the universe seems to be organized into networks of nested SYSTEMS.

because these systems all arise from the same or similar natural laws, knowledge of one system can be mapped fairly easily onto another system.

in this way, an understanding of relationships BETWEEN things is far more important than understanding the thing, ITSELF.


intelligence increases itself logarithmically.