Essay on What Sets the Human Race Apart from Other Species

There are a slew of tests that attempt to measure how intelligent human beings are. They all measure different aspects and those factors will be covered here. One of the misconceptions is that the tests measure inborn intelligence. Few of the activities are designed for that purpose. They actually measure a person’s interaction with the environment and what they have learned from that interaction. The most common tested aspect is critical thinking. Instead of straightforward questions, intelligence tests offer questions with a twist. It is assumed that the most intelligent people will see obvious flaws in the obvious answers (Steinberg & Williams, 2015). Some intelligence tests also measure reflexes, both mental and physical. The assumption is quick reaction times reflect an active brain and in the line of thinking, a more intelligent person.

What is intelligence exactly? Intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills or “the ability to learn and understand things to

Gottfredson, (1997) stated that intelligence is ‘a very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience.

One of the preferred definitions by Dr Jenny Taylor, a clinical physiologist is that “intelligence is the ability for the organism to adapt itself to the environment in which it finds itself.” This is an extremely broad expression which could be applied to any living thing.

Intelligence by definition is “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills” (Oxford Dictionary, 2014). However, many psychologists argue that there is no standard definition of ‘intelligence’, and there have been many different theories over time as psychologists try to find better ways to define this concept (Boundless 2013). While some believe in a single, general intelligence, others believe that intelligence involves multiple abilities and skills. Another largely debated concept is whether intelligence is genetically determined and fixed, or whether is it open to change, through learning and environmental influence. This is commonly known as the nature vs. nurture debate.

“Not because you think you know everything without questioning, but rather because you question everything you think you know.”What is intelligence? Some think its only academic smarts others think there are different types of intelligences. Some examples of the multiple intelligences, like artistic, emotional, and logical mathematical. Artistic intelligence is being able to paint, and make sculptures with ease. Emotional intelligence includes interpersonal which refers to knowing others feeling, and intrapersonal which regers with knowing your own feelings. Also logical mathematical deals with being good with math, but also being connected to it somehow.

How is intelligence measured? How is it possible to just have one way to measure intelligence? Is there really only one way to measure every individual’s intelligence? According to psychologists Howard Gardner and Robert Sternberg there is. Gardner and Sternberg have developed two different theories to do so. Howard Gardner’s theory of intelligence is the way in which one carries out life goals. Gardner chose eight abilities that held to meet criteria: linguistic (speak and write well), logical-mathematical (use logical and mathematical skills to solve problems such as scientific quotations), spatial (think and reason about objects in three dimensional space), musical (preform, understand and enjoy music), bodily-kinesthetic (manipulate

“What makes us human?”, is an unanswered question asked by many. Is it because of our ability to have empathy for others? Or is it because of our cognitive ability which allows us to look into the future? One of the main arguments made that separates humans from animals is our communication style; our language. Is language inherently unique to human? To answer such a question, we first operationally define language as; “a system of communication based upon words and the combination of words into sentences” (University of Oslo). The purpose of language is for us to be able to convey an infinite amount of ideas to one another. Sign language in general also falls under this definition as it has a complex system of rules and syntax that allow the signed figures to function as words. Animal communication on the other hand, is operationally defined as, “the transmission of a signal from one animal to another such that the sender benefits, on average, from the response of the recipient” (Pearce 1987). With this in mind, current research has shown that the answer is that language is inherently unique to humans.

Intelligence tests are inaccurate to measures true ability of a person because genes affect how a person responds to their surroundings, the tests cannot measure the person biological makeup or his true potential for being “smart”.

Every person is born with a unique sense of characteristics and qualities. The ability to think and to use reason is what sets us apart from all other species. But what sets us apart from each other? Imagination and creativity, the ability to generate new ideas, and finding new ways to problem solve are what sets someone

What makes us unique? What makes us human? These are complex questions to which humans have struggled to find an adequate answer, even after the course of hundreds of years. I personally believe there are many reasons and factors as to why humans today are in control of the planet, with the most defining feature of our species being collective learning, empowered by the creation of symbolic language.

Everything created has specie specific qualities. Human beings are closely linked to animals because of the similarities of these specie specific qualities, but these alone do not make humans animals or animals humans. While there are quite a few characteristics that are similar there are enormous differences. One is

In conclusion, I must say that intelligence can certainly be considered a broad word. It is a word that has varying definitions depending on the source from which the definition comes. The reason for this seems to be because people

Although intelligence is a concept, there are many definitions that try to describe and interpret intelligence for people. One of the many definitions is the “capacity to understand” (World English Dictionary: Intelligence). This definition is describing intelligence and giving one facet of the diamond that is the various definitions of intelligence. This simple definition is often used by many common people, but a more in depth definition is “the ability to derive information, learn from experience, adapt to the environment, understand, and correctly utilize thought and reaction” (APA Dictionary of Psychology: Intelligence). This definition delves deeper into intelligence and paints a general picture of intelligence but is unable to define intelligence for a simple reason. Intelligence is a concept and thus is impossible to completely define by one comprehensive definition.

Intelligence is used by everyone to help them in everyday life. Where people get their intelligence, however, is debatable. A person is born with an amount of inherited intelligence; this intelligence is considered nature, genetic, or heredity. Then there is intelligence that comes from the ability to learn from experience; this intelligence is impacted by nurture or the environment. It is known that both genetic and environmental factors determine intelligence, but the subject is controversial among professionals. Does nature or nurture have a bigger impact on intelligence? Is it true that some people are born with high intelligence, but are limited by their environment? Given the proper tools, can a person increase their intelligence? How accurate are IQ tests?