20 Replies
I am not sure if an intelligent person is well-read or a well- read person is intelligent.It all has something to do with the upper storey.The sharpness of the intellect one is born with that determines the product of assimilation of the essence of any book which it is impregnated with between its two covers.I firmly believe that meaning
always lies bewteen the lines of a book.
chinmoymukherjee wrote:I am not sure if an intelligent person is well-read or a well- read person is intelligent.It all has something to do with the upper storey.The sharpness of the intellect one is born with that determines the product of assimilation of the essence of any book which it is impregnated with between its two covers.I firmly believe that meaning
always lies bewteen the lines of a book.
To be frank, that was too complicated for me to understand in totality but what I could make out of it was that well-read and intelligence have no direct relations. But as usual I am open to correction if found totally unintelligent in this case.
chinmoymukherjee wrote:I am not sure if an intelligent person is well-read or a well- read person is intelligent.It all has something to do with the upper storey.The sharpness of the intellect one is born with that determines the product of assimilation of the essence of any book which it is impregnated with between its two covers.I firmly believe that meaning
always lies bewteen the lines of a book.
I agree, the meaning also lies in how it gets assimilated y the person, right ? Some go just by what is written but a more intelligent person might try to connect it to different things in life.. Even a small piece of information that may seem unimportant to others would be used to its maximum advantage by an intelligent person , or is that being street smart ?
usha manohar wrote:chinmoymukherjee wrote:I am not sure if an intelligent person is well-read or a well- read person is intelligent.It all has something to do with the upper storey.The sharpness of the intellect one is born with that determines the product of assimilation of the essence of any book which it is impregnated with between its two covers.I firmly believe that meaning
always lies bewteen the lines of a book.
I agree, the meaning also lies in how it gets assimilated y the person, right ? Some go just by what is written but a more intelligent person might try to connect it to different things in life.. Even a small piece of information that may seem unimportant to others would be used to its maximum advantage by an intelligent person , or is that being street smart ?
I would call that being a wise person for a well-read person can be an intelligent person or vice versa, but a person who is neither well-read nor intelligent but is able to take wise decisions according to his or own experiences and is able to act accordingly is much better than the aforementioned categories. A well read person may or may not be able to put into application what he has learned or read in books and an intelligent person may not possess the wisdom to be able to connect the dots, as you have put forth in your post. So what matters, according to me is, wisdom to apply things and process intelligence as more important.
@ chinmoy, That was a fine example you gave ...In fact I wondered why a person who is able to complete his PHd should be so hard pressed for a job? and by the way very few can come up to your level with regard to the fluency and complexity of the English language
I am learning all the time !
All are born equal. It is the environment in which one grows which shapes his intellect levels as that determines his/her levels of exposure to the contents of the world outside. The home and school and teachers also play a very important role in one's intelligence level attainment. Exceptions in both directions also occur. An intelligent person usually is well read the converse may not necessarily be true. Experience acts like a chisel sharpening the intellect.
vijay wrote:All are born equal. It is the environment in which one grows which shapes his intellect levels as that determines his/her levels of exposure to the contents of the world outside. The home and school and teachers also play a very important role in one's intelligence level attainment. Exceptions in both directions also occur. An intelligent person usually is well read the converse may not necessarily be true. Experience acts like a chisel sharpening the intellect.
I am tempted to narrate some stories. There is a Sanskrit language story of a boy who learnt astrology. He weant to king's court with his father. The king tried to test his knolwdge. He asked what was in his hand. The boy found out astrologocally that the king had something round shaped with some hole. He quickly told. The king joyously asked- Correct. Now tell what is exactly this. The boy said- ginding machine. He could not even understand that the grinding machine was too big to hide in hands. The king had a ring in his palm. This shows that knowledgeable person may not be intelligent.
another story. a very learned man crossed a river in a boat. He asked the boatman if he knew Sanskrit. The boatman replied- No. Then 25% of your life is wasted- said the man. Nest he asked if he knew mathematics. The boatman did not knbow. He was illiterate. As illuck would have it, a fierce storm and heavy rain disbalanced the boat. The boatman asked- Do you know swimming? No- said the learned man. Boatman said- Your whole life is waste.
Everyone has knowlege. But all knowledge is not useful everywhere. Where swimming is needed, maths, Sanskrit, Vedas are of no use.
You are intelligent if tyou can use your knowledge correctly. You are intelligent if your knowledge is practical.
Gulshan Kumar Ajmani wrote:vijay wrote:All are born equal. It is the environment in which one grows which shapes his intellect levels as that determines his/her levels of exposure to the contents of the world outside. The home and school and teachers also play a very important role in one's intelligence level attainment. Exceptions in both directions also occur. An intelligent person usually is well read the converse may not necessarily be true. Experience acts like a chisel sharpening the intellect.
I am tempted to narrate some stories. There is a Sanskrit language story of a boy who learnt astrology. He weant to king's court with his father. The king tried to test his knolwdge. He asked what was in his hand. The boy found out astrologocally that the king had something round shaped with some hole. He quickly told. The king joyously asked- Correct. Now tell what is exactly this. The boy said- ginding machine. He could not even understand that the grinding machine was too big to hide in hands. The king had a ring in his palm. This shows that knowledgeable person may not be intelligent.
another story. a very learned man crossed a river in a boat. He asked the boatman if he knew Sanskrit. The boatman replied- No. Then 25% of your life is wasted- said the man. Nest he asked if he knew mathematics. The boatman did not knbow. He was illiterate. As illuck would have it, a fierce storm and heavy rain disbalanced the boat. The boatman asked- Do you know swimming? No- said the learned man. Boatman said- Your whole life is waste.
Everyone has knowlege. But all knowledge is not useful everywhere. Where swimming is needed, maths, Sanskrit, Vedas are of no use.
You are intelligent if tyou can use your knowledge correctly. You are intelligent if your knowledge is practical.
Both the examples say in no uncertain terms that knowledge without application to real life situation is an exercise in futility.
I totally agree that environment plays an essential part in shaping ones intelligent.A child born in a middle class home with an average intelligence if given the right exposure would be able to fine tune its intellectual skills , which probably will not be possible if there is no such exposure.
Gulshan Kumar Ajmani wrote:vijay wrote:All are born equal. It is the environment in which one grows which shapes his intellect levels as that determines his/her levels of exposure to the contents of the world outside. The home and school and teachers also play a very important role in one's intelligence level attainment. Exceptions in both directions also occur. An intelligent person usually is well read the converse may not necessarily be true. Experience acts like a chisel sharpening the intellect.
I am tempted to narrate some stories. There is a Sanskrit language story of a boy who learnt astrology. He weant to king's court with his father. The king tried to test his knolwdge. He asked what was in his hand. The boy found out astrologocally that the king had something round shaped with some hole. He quickly told. The king joyously asked- Correct. Now tell what is exactly this. The boy said- ginding machine. He could not even understand that the grinding machine was too big to hide in hands. The king had a ring in his palm. This shows that knowledgeable person may not be intelligent.
another story. a very learned man crossed a river in a boat. He asked the boatman if he knew Sanskrit. The boatman replied- No. Then 25% of your life is wasted- said the man. Nest he asked if he knew mathematics. The boatman did not knbow. He was illiterate. As illuck would have it, a fierce storm and heavy rain disbalanced the boat. The boatman asked- Do you know swimming? No- said the learned man. Boatman said- Your whole life is waste.
Everyone has knowlege. But all knowledge is not useful everywhere. Where swimming is needed, maths, Sanskrit, Vedas are of no use.
You are intelligent if tyou can use your knowledge correctly. You are intelligent if your knowledge is practical.
All of us people are a sum total of our experiences and knowledge gained through books , education and life. And we all have beliefs and prejudices and an intelligent mind would analyse before believing in anything, also evaluate and use knowledge to their advantage. It is also true that you are constantly learning and changing ideas , unless one is extremely rigid ! An intelligent person is not wary of being exposed to new ideas and gaining new knowledge irrespective of it being bad or good because he or she is able to discern the useful from the dross !
Topic Author
usha manohar
@kiran8