applications of the principles of movement and force are high,
special functions of the intelligence. That people differ
enormously in this skill, that it is not necessarily associated
with other phases of intelligence are commonplaces. The dealer in
abstract ideas of great value to the race may be unable to drive
a nail straight, while the man who can build the most intricate
mechanism out of crude iron, wood and metal may be unable to
express any but the commonplaces of existence. Intelligence,
acting through skill, has evolved machinery and the industrial
evolution; acting to discover constant principles operating in
experience, it has established science. Seeking to explain and
control the world of unknown forces, it has evolved theory and
practice. A very essential division of people is on the one hand
those whose effort is to explain things, and who are called
theorists, and those who seek to control things, the practical
persons. There is a constant duel between these two types of
personalities, and since the practical usually control the power
of the world, the theorists and explainers have had rather a hard
time of it, though they are slowly coming into their own.
Another difference between minds is this: that intelligence deals
with the relations between things (this being a prime function of
speech), and intelligence only becomes intellect when it is able
to see the world from the standpoint of abstract ideas, such as
truth, beauty, love, honor, goodness, evil, justice, race,
individual, etc. The wider one can generalize correctly, the
higher the intellect. The practical man rarely seeks wide
generalizations because the truth of these and their value can
only be demonstrated through the course of long periods of time,
during which no good to the individual himself is seen. Besides
which, the practical man knows that the wide generalization may
be an error. Practical aims are usually immediate aims, whereas
the aims of intellect are essentially remote and may project
beyond the life of the thinker himself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account