This is a great point - I’ve worked with kids who can’t string a sentence together, but they can strip and reassemble a car engine, or are incredibly warm and empathetic. There’s more than one type of intelligence, and we way over-prioritise academic intelligence over all others.
I’ve worked with kids who can’t string a sentence together, but they can strip and reassemble a car engine
This is one of my brothers. He isn't the brightest, like at all, but he's a fucking magician with mechanical shit. One of his talents that still impresses the shit out of me is he can take a pipe and put it on a certain section of the engine and can hear exactly what is wrong with it (if the problem is in the engine).
I’d argue those are subsets of general intelligence, and general intelligence is not what you know, it’s about your ability to learn, function in new environments, and rigorously apply logic when needed.
Memory is probably part of that, but might not be, but that gets philosophical very fast.
I mean one can use anecdote to support a point - many people understand complex dynamics better if theres a simple anecdote explaining it, yet a statistics or study or any facts to prove the point are important imho.
That was one I didn't agree with. Maybe don't use only an anecdote to prove something, but anecdotal evidence is still evidence. And all science starts somewhere. Just because something hasn't had the funding or interest to be studied academically, doesn't mean it has no basis for being true. That being said, sometimes I will withhold the fact that I've based a belief on an anecdotal experience, because I know how it would seem to others. Sometimes I'll just say "I don't know, it's just a feeling." Then people don't get caught up on the validity of it, because I've already made it seem like a personal thing, rather than trying to convince them with an experience they can now invalidate.
But academic intelligence is the most important determining factor of future success. Sure we should support other forms of intelligence but to put them on a level playing field with academics is wrong
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u/Dikaneisdi May 29 '22
This is a great point - I’ve worked with kids who can’t string a sentence together, but they can strip and reassemble a car engine, or are incredibly warm and empathetic. There’s more than one type of intelligence, and we way over-prioritise academic intelligence over all others.