What is intelligence?

 

What do you think for example of the following definition?

Human intelligence is the capability to learn, form concepts, understand, and apply logic and reason ... recognize patterns, plan, innovate, solve problems, make decisions, retain information, and use language to communicate (adapted from Wikipedia).

In my view such definitions are misleading: because in this way they only define what intelligence is used for, not of what it consists. A car is used for travelling: does travelling define what a car is? I don't think so.

If we ask "What is a house?", the Oxford dictionary tells us of what a house consists, not only what it is used for.
=> a building [a structure with a roof and walls] for human habitation, especially one that consists of a ground floor and one or more upper storeys. (1)

So, of what does intelligence consists?

Piaget in 1937 suggested to view intelligence as follows:

"Intelligence ... organises the world by organising itself" 
(original: "L’intelligence . . . organise le monde en s’organisant elle-même." (2)).

This suggests that intelligence consists of the ability of :

• shaping experiences into a structured world ("organises the world") 
• by organising its own methods (the subject's action schemes) for shaping experiences ("organising itself").

The first, according to Piaget, is implemented as the function of "accomodation", the second as the function of "assimilation". This is what intelligence consists of: assimilation & accomodation, two complementary funtions which depend the one of the other and interact the one with the other (2).

In his interpretation of Piaget's epistemology, Ernts von Glasersfeld suggested that understanding Piaget’s epistemological beliefs may be very difficult, but was convinced that it would be worth struggling for it because it could lead to "a view of human knowledge and the process of knowing which, it seems to me, is more coherent and more plausible than any other." (3).

Thank you, Ernst, I totally agree!


Notes:

(1) https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/
(2)  Piaget, J. (1937) La Construction du Réel Chez l’Enfant. Neuchâtel: Delachaux et Niestlé. 5th edition (1973).
(3) von Glasersfeld, E. (1982) An Interpretation of Piaget’s Constructivism. In: Revue Internationale de Philosophie, 36 (4), 612–635, 1982.