Appreciate the difference between information regurgitation, knowledge, and intelligence.

Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, the game show where contestants are tested on knowledge filled me with rage.

As an educator and curriculum designer for children and adults, with over forty years of nurturing others, I cannot remain silent. The producers of that show are encouraging and perpetuating a gross misunderstanding of and bias against intelligence.

The show should have been called: “Can You Recall More Information than a Fifth Grader?” Contestants were tested whether they knew more than a fifth grader would know. For example:

• What makes a square a square? (The answer given was four equal sides. Which is incorrect, by the way. A rhombus has four equal, parallel sides and is not a square. A square is a rectangle of four equal, parallel sides meeting at 90-degree angles. But I digress.)
• How many states made up the US before Alaska and Hawaii joined? (48)
• A father ____ is called a boar. (pig)

Those questions do not test intelligence. They merely test what information the person can recall and regurgitate.

These questions test intelligence:

• Find the sequence to solve a Rubik’s Cube.
• Solve the analogy: 8:4 as 10:___.
• Which of the following can be arranged into an English word: (a) HRGST or (b) RILSA?

Testing intelligence requires evaluating problem-solving skills. Not testing regurgitation of information. We can gear intelligence tests to any age — so a pre-mathematical child would be given pattern analogies instead of number analogies. Smarts and intelligence have zero to do with information acquisition. You can be a college grad and just slightly more clever than a sloth — or be six years old and far more intelligent than a television executive producer.

Mozart was five when he wrote his first concerto. Bobby Fisher was the youngest chess grandmaster at 15. Intelligent children — and adults — can learn anything. They process the information they gather into knowledge and then apply it — not just spit it back out for cash and prizes.

To appreciate my frustration, I offer basic definitions.

WHAT IS SMART?

Intelligent means the person can acquire information and apply knowledge and skill to solve problems. An intelligent person can: (a) acquire knowledge quickly and easily and (b) apply that knowledge effectively.

An intelligent child picks up a book at two years of age and learns to read. Impossible? Very possible. I did it. Intelligence can vary across eight competencies: spatial, kinesthetic, musical, linguistic, logical/mathematical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. Many intelligent people have intelligence across several areas. The proclivity in a particular activity depends on that intelligent person’s interest, physical capacity and talent.

For example, I studied music and voice and simply cannot sing. My vocal cords will not allow it and my ears are deaf to tones. As an intelligent person, I know how people sing, but recognize that I’m incapable of winning a Grammy. I could, however, have become a physicist, engineer, mathematician, physician, veterinarian… I used my logic and linguistic skills to become an attorney, an orator, a teacher, and a writer.

Psychologists also divide intelligence into two expressions: fluid and crystalized. Fluid intelligence involves using reasoning to solve problems. Even a baby can exhibit fluid intelligence! Crystalized intelligence involves using knowledge and experience to solve problems. Both expressions require the ability to transform information into knowledge.

Smart means having a quick-witted intelligence. A smart person typically is cognitively complex. The information the smart person acquires forms into complex connections — webs — inside his or her mind. The smart person knows a lot about a lot — and is able to calculate solutions for simple to complex problems, often connecting things you may see as unrelated. They are often creative and able to think outside the box. To convince a smart person, you need to use logic and evidence.

Smart people are not watching situation comedies which are inane, predictable, and, often, cruel. We have only a general idea that a genius character named Sheldon exists. We may watch House, Sherlock or Breaking Bad.

And we might not have a degree in anything. Smarts have nothing to do with degrees. I don’t care you have lots of little letters after your name. You are only smart if you can apply your knowledge quickly and effectively.

The sole quality of intelligence is being able to apply knowledge effectively.

Intelligent people solve real-life problems. We know what we can do well and where we struggle. We are creative. We are happy because we focus on what makes us so. We rarely waste time on learning to learn, but we recognize the value of being well-rounded. Other intelligent people do not intimidate us — in fact, we get energized when we find someone smarter. We are great at strategizing and predicting the future — which is why we enjoy chess and strategy games. And we prevent problems before they become problems.

Knowledgeable means well informed; having insight or understanding. One can look up the steps of a recipe and follow it. But that person does not need to be intelligent. He or she merely needs to follow those steps of measuring, setting the oven temperature, mixing, timing. Access to the information does not equal knowledge (understanding) or expertise. An intelligent person transforms information (data) into knowledge. He or she can read that recipe, understand the concepts, and create a new recipe, alter that recipe, and so on.

So, you can collect all the information you want, proving you have a splendid memory, perhaps. And you may know more than a fifth grader (goodie for you). But that information does not make you smart. I’m tired of unintelligent people equating their ability to regurgitate information as intelligence. This world equates information access to knowledge and experience. To me, the misguided equation is akin to telling me because you eat Italian food, you’re Italian.

My question is: What do you do well?

RAMIFICATIONS

An internet search does not equate to understanding

My intelligent friend has a not-very-intelligent family member we will call Doris. Doris is homeschooling her daughter. Since Doris is unintelligent, and also not knowledgeable about any topic, including cognitive science or teaching methods, her decision to homeschool is unwise. However, live and let live and all of that.

Doris told my friend: No matter what I’m teaching, I can just look it up on the internet.

No. Wrong. Having information does not mean you know what to do with the information once you have it. Experience, skill, and understanding are not things you can look up. You can search World War II and not understand the causes or the results we still suffer. You can search Pythagorean Theoremand copy it and not understand its significance or use it to build a house.

Years ago, I attended an education conference and found myself in a conversation with a recent graduate. She had earned a degree in early childhood education and landed a position as a math instructor at a middle school. We chatted about education and about curriculum. I noted I had designed a middle-school mathematics curriculum and found most children struggle only after fourth or fifth grade — when they learn fractions. My new friend agreed and asked if I knew why. I suggested students fail to grasp how a fraction is division. They never make the connection.

And she says: “I know. Like they never understand how multiplication is fast addition and division is fast subtraction.”

I not only discontinued our conversation, but also became enraged. Somewhere, an intelligent person is looking for a teaching job, but this unintelligent collector of information is teaching kids. Because she has a degree.

The concept that information acquisition equals knowledge, intelligence, aptitude or smarts is misguided.

Information does not secure skill

The minimal eye-hand coordination and literacy required to search for something on the internet does not make you an experienced professional. The hubris that this simian ability of typing into a search bar makes you as competent as a lawyer, financial investor, mechanic, contractor, race-car driver, or doctor is a serious detriment to society.

WebMD is great for information. But your doctor should diagnose your disease. This I’ll look it up madness exacerbated the Covid-crisis. Everyone was an instant expert in epidemiology and virology.

This gross misunderstanding explains those driving alone in a car, masked. Or the recent uptick in those clamouring for socialist policies. Same goes for people who watch how to build a deck — or worse — a house. Or those who scribble a Last Will and don’t realize it’s more complicated than just typing and signing. Or those who earn degrees and have never applied the information in the real-world.

I’m not saying an intelligent person can’t learn via research and YouTube videos. Intelligent people can. But not everyone can. And I’m certainly not saying that a professional designation means the person is good at that profession. The information-knowledge-intelligence conundrum applies across society.

It’s not the degree, it’s not the internet search acumen, and it’s not a good memory that equals intelligence.

What concerns me is the person who thinks a piece of undigested data is a weapon to advise others. That is the most serious societal danger.