Some people describe getting older as gaining more knowledge and ways to express ideas, while still feeling there was a familiar mind underneath it all. Do you see intelligence as something that changes, or something that becomes easier to notice?
Does your intelligence feel like the same thing it was when you were younger?
Asked by
MossyTeacup
Answers
I’d separate intelligence from what a person can do with it. Vocabulary, knowledge, attention, and judgment can all develop, so an adult may handle problems a child couldn’t. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the sense of being the same person has changed. The feeling of continuity and the growth in abilities can both be real.
Reply to this answer
There’s a memory wrinkle here too. Looking back, we’re seeing the past through what we know now, and that can make an old way of thinking feel like a smaller version of the present one. A sense of continuity is meaningful, but it doesn’t tell us exactly how similar our thinking was at every age.
Reply to this answer
Maybe “same intelligence” is a way of describing the same basic curiosity or knack for noticing patterns, rather than the same level of skill. The mind gets more information and better tools, but its familiar style can still come through. I’d keep those ideas separate instead of treating one as proof of the other.
Reply to this answer
Add your answer
Answers are reviewed before publication.