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Lordandmaster -> RE: Intellect and Wisdom (8/3/2005 11:08:54 AM)
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We're getting into some fuzzy semantic territory here, but in my mind "intellect" is a lot closer to "intelligence" than to "intellectual." "Intellect" is usually defined as the ability to think and reason, which anyone can possess, whether educated or not, whether intellectual or not. I usually think of "intelligence" as something much broader than that, since there has to be something like musical intelligence, artistic intelligence, even emotional intelligence--and those things are not directly related to one's ability to think and reason.
To be an "intellectual," on the other hand, I think you do have to place an emphasis on education, especially of a formal kind, and on participation in high culture. I can't really imagine an illiterate intellectual, for example. I don't think you need to be exceptionally intelligent to be an intellectual (believe me, I know some stupid ones), and you certainly don't need to be an intellectual in order to be intelligent.
Lam
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ORIGINAL: dark~angel
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I don't believe you need to read books to be intelligent.
Something I notice often that being intelligent is linked to intellect - which IMO isnt true.
Intellect is a process. You could read all the books in the world, know all the knoweldge and be intellectually minded, but that doesn't mean you are intellegent, just intellectual.
I think that being intellectual stops you from being able to see past the information gained vicariously. It has no compassion, it is cold and cannot feel or project any emotion. Intellect cannot understand emotion at all and therefore cannot utilize it. There is no intellegence other than being able to read - intellegence is not needed to be intellectual. And Intellect wishes no other subject to asist it, not even wisdom.
Wisdom is compassionate and emotional. But to use wisdom, one must also understand intellect. Wisdom is used by the intellegent because they see where intellect can fail. But the intellegence used to embrace wisdom isn't intellectual, but personal.
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