I'm always suspicious of people who think intelligence is a thing to have. Anyone who treats it as a settled matter doesn't have the patience for wisdom.

(December 16, 2013 at 9:55 pm)whateverist Wrote: I'm always suspicious of people who think intelligence is a thing to have. Anyone who treats it as a settled matter doesn't have the patience for wisdom.

Do you mean knowledge? You can be intelligent, but not knowledgeable. A fraud once stated that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

(December 16, 2013 at 10:13 pm)Polaris Wrote:

(December 16, 2013 at 9:55 pm)whateverist Wrote: I'm always suspicious of people who think intelligence is a thing to have. Anyone who treats it as a settled matter doesn't have the patience for wisdom.

Do you mean knowledge? You can be intelligent, but not knowledgeable. A fraud once stated that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

No, definitely not knowledgeable. But I think "intelligence" is a very poorly understood concept. It seems to refer to something more general than expertise within any one field and yet can't be measured except in one context or another.

Whether someone may be smarter than we are is irrelevant. If we aren't smart enough to appreciate what makes them smarter then we're in no position to take their advice. In the end, we can only choose the expert that we're smart enough to recognize. It's like buying stereo speakers: if you can't hear a difference, it doesn't make a difference. Better to just suck it up and do the best you can.

One other thing I like to add, something atheists forget. No cause is so righteous one cannot find a fool following it.

(December 16, 2013 at 9:55 pm)whateverist Wrote: I'm always suspicious of people who think intelligence is a thing to have. Anyone who treats it as a settled matter doesn't have the patience for wisdom.

I like this a lot. Not sure exactly how wisdom would be defined in this context but it reminds me of a saying,

When a wise man believes himself to be a wise man, he becomes a fool. When a fool becomes aware of his foolishness he becomes a wise man.

The most staggeringly unintelligent people i've known have one thing in common, that they are sublimely convinced of their own intelligence. The cleverest people are generally humble about their own intelligence.

(December 17, 2013 at 4:54 am)Jacob(smooth) Wrote:

(December 16, 2013 at 9:55 pm)whateverist Wrote: I'm always suspicious of people who think intelligence is a thing to have. Anyone who treats it as a settled matter doesn't have the patience for wisdom.

I like this a lot. Not sure exactly how wisdom would be defined in this context but it reminds me of a saying,

When a wise man believes himself to be a wise man, he becomes a fool. When a fool becomes aware of his foolishness he becomes a wise man.

The most staggeringly unintelligent people i've known have one thing in common, that they are sublimely convinced of their own intelligence. The cleverest people are generally humble about their own intelligence.

There is also third kind of people who try to look humble so that other people will think they are intelligent *cough cough*

(December 17, 2013 at 5:31 am)feeling Wrote: [quote='Jacob(smooth)' pid='564914' dateline='1387270486']


There is also third kind of people who try to look humble so that other people will think they are intelligent *cough cough*

Gesundheit

I think I am smarter then Sleepy and nineteen and DOS.

I think there are things growing growing damp bread which can make that boast!

Actually, that's unfair. Nineteen is, I guess, a teenager. I'd have been little better at that age I suspect. Dos is insular and I guess a product of his environment. Sleepy is so inculculated into his own believe system he has lost the ability to be objective about it. In their own way they may each be intelligent...