Intelligence...(Shade...u had betta read this...lol)

The ability to learn or understand. To deal with new situations and manipulate one's environment. to reason. Is intelligence what makes us human? Is it what sets us apart from animals? Do animals have intelligence?

It is a recurring debate that has seen no end. Crows. They've been attributed with intelligence that almost approaches ours. Dolphins. They sometimes appear to understand us better than we do them. Dogs. They can be taught to do many things. Are all these things significant proof of their intelligence? Or are they just mechanical responses instilled in these animals?

We've all grown comfortable with attributing intelligence to people. Some of us may appear to have more of it than others (Einstein is an example of such a genius). Each time we cough up a solution to a problem or manifest thought riddled with abstract ideals and complexities, we conjure an image of intelligence.

Image. Perhaps that is all there is to it. An image.

It is obvious that intelligence is not something that can be clearly seen or observed. How could one know the inner workings of the mind simply by looking at the exterior responses of the body? Could you imagine what goes through the mind of a simple creature such as a cat? What about a dog? Let's make it simpler still. How about a person just passing you by on the train?

The complexities of our own minds is difficult to understand and explain, let alone the minds of others. Each of us thinks differently. Our minds all work of their own accord, taking different paths of thought; Making connections between similarities observed like forming pictures. Similar to the way we form constellations upon the night sky.

With so many different paths of thought, how do you grade intelligence? Is academics enough? What about wisdom, or street smarts? Emotional intelligence, is that even a form of intelligence?

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Inspiration. That is where intelligence comes from. To suddenly realise and see how the environment works. To suddenly notice that the tides come and go with the rising of the sun and moon. To figure out the complex workings of a machine in numbers and scientifical clauses.

The spark of genius to come across radical ideas is what escalates our level of intelligence. It is what makes us more than animals.

But where do our ideas come from? Did we make them? Or were they "Divine Inspirations"? Is that intelligence? Divine Inspiration?

What do you think?