Is Intelligence Valued In Society Today?

[sam86]

Intelligence with conscious no sadly, you get squashed
The less conscious you have the better chance you rise in society, or just simply avoid them

[Grym]

A lot of kids wanted to grow up and become a TV star or footballer, but how many of them actually managed to make it through? For those that did not make it through, after wasting half their life trying for it, ended up not being able to get much further in life. Example, I know a friend, since I first knew him, he always wanted to be a film director, went to college doing film studies, did all these projects, did he make it through? No. What does he do now 10 years down the line? Work in a call centre.

Intelligent will always be valued where it matters, especially if you plan to climb that social ladder, and in any professional work place, without showing that you are intelligent you will never get anywhere, and people most likely wouldn't want to get to know you either. (My office is like that, an office of management accountants, say something stupid once it will be dug up against you everytime someone want to make you sound stupid, it is almost like brain power discrimination lol)

[Orestis]

Let's be real though, most people aren't bright enough to do science if they wanted to.

Is it the people, or the education system? Science and Math education in the US isn't viewed favorably when compared to most other countries. Especially since parts of scientific education are highly "disputed"...

[This name sucks]

Is it the people, or the education system? Science and Math education in the US isn't viewed favorably when compared to most other countries. Especially since parts of scientific education are highly "disputed"...

Its a sad day when scientific knowledge is actively being fought again.

[yurano]

Its been my experience that most people just never explain it right to people. The ones teaching it see it as a numbers game. Those who love it see it for how it applies and what you can make.

Except, science as it is practiced is mostly a numbers game. The nice awesome articles you read in PopSci and Scientific American are general-population versions written by those with HSS inclinations.

[teddytous]

Intelligence alone isn't enough. The most successful people have teams, you have smart people, backed by social people, backed by doers.

Social people provide what to do. Very few.
Smart people provide how to do it. A little more.
And doers get it done. The majority.

The rarity is the social smart, the smart doer.....

Your social smart doers, thos are your self made billionaires.

[Komati]

Ever met a dumb engineer? Me neither. So yeah, intelligence is valued.

[Simulacrum]

Except, science as it is practiced is mostly a numbers game. The nice awesome articles you read in PopSci and Scientific American are general-population versions written by those with HSS inclinations.

How you get the nubmers isn't, nor is their accuracy; it's not like the information is just floating there in the ether for us to pluck at will. Even interpreting the numbers can be difficult without exeprtise.

[Letmesleep]

I feel intelligence is overrated. In my opinion, stupid people stick out far more than intelligent folks. Most people I know are fairly intelligent and can hold a deep discussion if it's required of them. I get the feeling many people think they are a special snowflakes for holding a decent amount of intelligence when in fact most people hold comparable levels. Someone could probably throw statistics at me to launch my argument right out the window, but I truly feel most people are "pretty smart".

[Deleted]

yes,in fact it's overrated,about 1/3 of the intelligent people i know are as*holes.

[Deleted]

Depends on what do you consider "intelligent people". Having on degree and a good job in one field doesn't mean you are intelligent. While being rich helps you to get the best studies possible and learn more or better it does not make you inteliigent. Just like I don't consier a lawyer or a surgeon "intelligent" just because he is decent in good in his field.

Intelligent people are the ones that know, learns or talks about different things from different fields. People that want to learn, like to read/talk about new stuff and don't settle.

And from my experiences people that are only good in one or maybe two areas are the ones that overate themself and act like douchebags. People that try to be good in a lot of other areas are the ones that know that they will never be "the best" and just push their limits higher and higher each time.

[Shepherd57]

I think people value timeliness more than anything else. We are all going to die, so our time is the most valuable thing we have. As for intellect, I assume you are talking about the retention of information, and that is not as valuable as it once was. Critical thinking, reasoning skills, understanding your own limits, and knowing when to rely on others' information are more important that pure intellect.

[Wikiy]

Its been my experience that most people just never explain it right to people. The ones teaching it see it as a numbers game. Those who love it see it for how it applies and what you can make.

You need to be intelligent to be able to do proper research. You can't just be taught to do it. Also, I'd argue that those who love it love it because they see it mostly in the same light as artists see art. At least that's what I've noticed from famous scientists, my science teachers, and, well, myself as someone who loves science. I don't love it because it's useful. I love it because it's actually aesthetically beautiful. It actually triggers emotions in me. Astrophysics especially.

I feel intelligence is overrated. In my opinion, stupid people stick out far more than intelligent folks. Most people I know are fairly intelligent and can hold a deep discussion if it's required of them. I get the feeling many people think they are a special snowflakes for holding a decent amount of intelligence when in fact most people hold comparable levels. Someone could probably throw statistics at me to launch my argument right out the window, but I truly feel most people are "pretty smart".

That actually makes no logical sense. If most people are pretty smart, then they're by definition average and of normal intelligence. You still need people of above-average intelligence for certain fields such as medicine, law (well, in most countries), science, etc. Okay, maybe you don't need them, but such people will always be more useful to those fields.

[Thes]

Ever met a dumb engineer? Me neither. So yeah, intelligence is valued.

However engineers view other engineers (and sometimes themselves) as dumb beings...

[Spectral]

Ever met a dumb engineer?

I wouldn't say "dumb" exactly, but I've met some engineers that I'm wildly unimpressed with. There's a bad habit that people with expertise tend to have in thinking that their expertise extends farther than it does; quite a few engineers seem to believe that what they do is quite similar to science.

Most engineers are quite smart though, this isn't supposed to be a shot at the profession.

[Thes]

I wouldn't say "dumb" exactly, but I've met some engineers that I'm wildly unimpressed with. There's a bad habit that people with expertise tend to have in thinking that their expertise extends farther than it does; quite a few engineers seem to believe that what they do is quite similar to science.

Most engineers are quite smart though, this isn't supposed to be a shot at the profession.

It's not far off though.. Engineers apply sciences. They could possibly switch to being actual scientists with a little more education in that direction.

[mvaliz]

I believe it depends on the culture you're in and which particular branch of society you belong to.

Even here in America, society is greatly divided into smaller pockets. Even cities are sub-divided into vastly different cultures.

You have to remember that the part of society you deal with, see on TV and read on the forums is only a small fraction of the entire population. Not the population as a whole.

As much as I love the movie "Idiocracy" and its points - there is also reason it only obtained a relatively low cult following. :P

So... don't lump everybody into "Society". Those who watch the Keeping up with the Cardassians (sic) do not represent the majority of the world's society. Hell, they probably don't even represent the majority of American society.