Difference between Intellect and Intelligence
Intellect is a small subset of memories which we use to make informed decisions. It is through this knowledge we deduce or interpret a scene in the objective world.
It involves the use of reasoning or analytical mind.
But the truth is “Using intellect alone we only operate from a limited memory perceiving/interpreting only a tiny fraction of reality.
Therefore our limited reservoir of knowledge makes us feel that we have reached the best possible decision. This also leads us to unknowingly use our intellect far greater than required.
Intelligence is something which is beyond these limited interpretations.
Unlike intellect, it is not something which is bound to operate within a certain perspective, instead it incorporates infinite other perspectives with each perspective having its own set of cognitive interpretations.
Great philosophers and inventors of the past dared to move past a limited perception and questioned the very nature of reality moment to moment put forth in front of them by their ancestors.
As their revolutionary ideas challenged the accepted norms, they even got ridiculed and were called mad until the final invention was brought to an objective form.
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This daring nature was the very cause which allows us to enjoy most of the advanced inventions which ease our life today.
Though intelligence is necessary to provide us a perception, intellect is also necessary to make effective use of that perception.
For example, intelligence can allow us to know which type of stage is better for the performance but how we perform in that play is an intellectual task.
A simple definition of intellect and intelligence can be quoted as “ Intelligence is how we perceive the world. A different person can have a different perception of a similar situation. Intellect or cognition is how we use that perception to our fullest advantage”.
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Characteristics of an Intellectual person
- Reason based thinking
- Take calculated risks
- Looks for facts
- Courage
Characteristics of an Intelligent person
- Disorganised
- Enticed with deep talks
- Curious
- Open minded
- Loners
Freeing the perception
Intelligence comes from our subconscious which is also the mind of our eternal soul. Our higher soul knows what is good for us.
In the current age of turmoil and stress we are not so proficient enough to pay even a tiny bit of attention to listen to our intelligence as most of the time our perception is derived from what has been taught to us since childhood through teachers, parents, and environment.
Most of the times, our stored memories doesn’t allow us to free our perception so that it can reveal a new reality corresponding to a new perception.
One of the significances of being human is we’re capable of thought and conscious thought. It’s wonderful! But a foot-scale is wonderful if you’re measuring your height, but not for the ocean; it’s a wrong thing, that’s all. Nothing wrong with a foot-scale; it’s very useful. If you’re a tailor, it’s useful. If you’re a mason, it’s useful. For so many things it’s useful, but if you’re an oceanographer, don’t go with a foot-scale, you’re going to waste your time and life and come with wrong conclusions Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Where in fact intelligence was required to develop a new perception, intellect is working from its tiny reservoir only to encounter defeat and in turn label the problem as impossible.
This is what intellect does when we overuse it.
I know that I am intelligent because I know that I know nothing. Socrates
Whenever any new thinking sprouts in society, it is being viewed of as a potential harm or maybe as unnecessary as it might not fit their past experiences and anticipations.
In times to come many more inventions might come which will first conflict with our intellect but in times to come it will be accepted as trivial.
I’m grateful to intelligent people. That doesn’t mean educated. That doesn’t mean intellectual. I mean really intelligent. What black old people used to call ‘mother wit’ means intelligence that you had in your mother’s womb. That’s what you rely on. You know what’s right to do. Maya Angelou
CONCLUSION
To make a better use of our intelligence we must learn to loosen our grip on rigid ideologies and concepts which we accept as true. An open mind with a possibility oriented outlook allows intelligence to flow in.
This is one of the most prominent reasons why intelligent people question at every moment.
I’ve always felt that a person’s intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting points of view he can entertain simultaneously on the same topic. Abigail Adams
As a normal human being, we can’t deal with the earthly matters through intelligence alone. We can instead learn to balance intellect and intelligence in such a way that both corroborate us in the salvation of our soul.
There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits to human intelligence, imagination, and wonder. Ronald Reagan
Thank you for making clearer something i have always suspected but could not quite see the difference even though i knew that they actually fitted together to make the whole. I am 84 years old and proof you are never too old to learn.
Thanks for liking it.