I actually knew someone who is really very intelligent. He is actually like a spelling whiz and he really tops all the spelling contests. I was thinking how he became that intelligent and how could he know lots of things. Some of my classmates actually asked him how he became very good in spelling and he said that it was because he has been reading the whole dictionary and some encyclopedia. My mom actually knew his mother and she told me that his mother is also very intelligent too just like him.
It actually came to my mind that he maybe became intelligent because he inherited it from his mother. Or it could just possibly be that he is just very studious that is why he became intelligent.
What do you think about this?
Do you think being intelligent is something that is hereditary?
Or do you think people become intelligent because of their hard work?
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Comments: 16
I think its both genes and hard work!
I have to agree with Savo Heleta. I do think however, it is more the HARD WORK.
I think it is a combination of both.
I agree with the others that it is a combination of genes and effort. If either is lacking, the result will be less than optimal.
However, I do believe that genes place a limit on potential.
Music and artistic ability has a very strong genetic indication. However, I could take singing lessons for the next 10 years, practice 8 hours a day and still sound awful!
I think it's a combination of both. It's through hard work and sometimes it's inheritied. The reverse is also true.
I am totally not sure,, I have two children both are birght yet one is smarter then both of his parents, , well anyone is smarter the a bag of rocks for a real father,, I am not sure where he got his intellentgence, looks me of course the sperm donor is both stupid dumb and ugly,, he he he
No I do not think so. I have some very smart individuals whose parents are totally stupid and the opposite is also true.
A large part of intelligence is heredity. But a large part of intelligence is also environment. The two aspects interact and influence each other. Intelligence can be reduced by diet, lack of sleep, sensory deprivation (boredom is bad for smarts), and experiences (like exposure to drugs). There's no point in attempting to explain intelligence without bring lots of factors into play.
Now sensible as opposed to foolish is mostly learned (but not all).
Memory can be acquired by technique. I am old enough that my memory isn't so good any more but I use memory tricks that I have learned to make up for it. You can too.
Hard work does not yield intelligence though it can yield education. It isn't how hard you work, it's how you work that can maximize intelligence. Looking at things from many perspectives helps. Reading a lot of ideas helps. Discussing things with thoughtful people as an equal helps. Trying to answer the question "why does it work that way?" about lots of things (not just physical objects but social things, too) helps. You can actually affect the way your physical brain develops in that way and your brain develops all your life.
I think it's both.... I also think it skips a generation!
The psychiatrist told me my son was a genius.... that his IQ is well over 150! He's 14 and has been fixing computers for about 3 years now. He buys old computer parts and builds new ones and sells them. He just recently got hired by a computer recycle company in their repair department. I think he got his intelligence from my father.
I truly believe my dad was a genius. He never even graduated from high school, but he could fix ANYTHING. When his shop was on strike, and he had 9 kids to feed, we'd make regular trips to the city dump. We'd go through and find any TV, radio, record player or 8 track tape player (dating myself here) that we could find. We'd take them home and dad would fix them, and then on the weekends we'd go to the fleamarket to sell them. He made enough money to feed us and pay all the bills, and I honestly think if we'd lived somewhere where it was nice enough to flea market all year, he could have quit his job and did that instead. He loved to fix things.
I don't think I got the genius, just normal intelligence. But I'm happy with that if I can move on to do what I want to do in life.
I think it is both too.
Most important though is heredity. Environment influences us in many areas but basic intelligence is not one of those.
If you do not know your I. Q., you can take a free test on the internet. Google "free IQ test." I took one and the results were within three points of the IQ test I took in college. To "pay" for the test I took, I had to agree to being sent a few pamphlets from a list. One that I accepted was a vacation guide to Colorado.
Intelligence is hereditary, but in the same way hair color is hereditary. In the, admittedly simplistic, Malthusan model, two black-haired or brunette people will most likely have dark-haired children, but they MAY have a child who is blond or red-haired (about a 25% chance), if they both carry a recessive gene for that color. The same is true of inherited intelligence. Two highly intelligent people are most likely to have children as intelligent as, or more intellighent than, either of them. But there's about a 25% chance that at least one child will be LESS intelligent.
Intelligence can be honed, as well. Oh, not by memorizing facts, but by working on critical thinking skills, and learning to follow logic trails.
There are actually a good many studies that indicate that different factors during pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood can affect someone's overall I.Q. These are as varied as what the mother eats, what/how the child is fed, and parental interaction. So, that's something else to consider.
I think both influence intelligence, but I'd say it was mainly the way the mind is excercised.
It is both nature and nurture. Without one, the other can't go very far. BTW, there have been several studies that show there is no correlation between high intelligence and spelling. I was so happy when I ran across those studies. There is a correlation between handedness and spelling. Left-handers are generally worse spellers than right-handers.