Intelligence

Mark McIlroy

10.12.2025



There are many different types of intelligence. Here are six.


- Common sense
- Street smarts
- Emotional intelligence
- Wisdom
- I.Q.
- Predicting the future



1. Common sense

Common sense is the most important type of intelligence, because lives depend on it. Common sense is the ability to choose actions that result in good outcomes for yourself and others.

In extreme cases a person without common sense can take actions that result in someone dying, either themselves or someone else.


2. Street smarts

Street smart is the ability to know about and navigate through the deception and trickery that occurs in the world, while ensuring the safety of themselves and their loved ones.


3. Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is things like being sensitive to other's feelings and personal space, the ability to be an effective leader and understand what actions are likely to lead to angry and defensive reactions so these can be avoided.


4. Wisdom

Wisdom is an understanding of life and people.


5. I.Q. is the traditional ability for the word 'intelligence' and is the ability to understand and discuss complex ideas.

I.Q. is usually measured by the ability to solve puzzles however this does not suit some people.


6. Predicting the future

The ability to predict what other people will do is a sign of a very smart person.

The other side of this is that if a person does things that you didn't expect, you should revisit your assumptions about the situation.



Notes

Most people are strong in one or two areas. Being strong in one area tends to prevent the ability to be strong in other areas as there is a limited amount of space for a person to think about.

I.Q. is generally considered an ability that a person is born with and it is not possible to improve it. However most types of intelligence can be improved with a combination of learning knowledge and spending time thinking.

If I had to choose two items for myself I would choose items 1. and 2.


Examples that are not smart

1. If something is not working, stop doing it. Don't say 'it's not working so we need to do more of it, it's still not working so we need to do even more of it'.

2. It's not a good thing to think things about other worlds that are totally different to what actually happens in those worlds.

3. Silliness is caused by laziness. Don't be excessively lazy.

4. If you think that other people are silly then it usually means that you are.

5. Don't spend too much time thinking about or looking at yourself. If you do your mind will be filled and there will be no space left for knowing about anything else in the world.