Is one born intelligent, or does one become intelligent?

Below we will answer questions that we commonly ask ourselves at some point in our lives.

In fact some people continually think of them when they meet someone who is "smarter".

Is intelligence hereditary?

It is generally easy to identify the most prominent people:

at school,
in college,
at work,
etc.

Are these people smarter because they were born with that gift? Is it because they are the great-grandchildren of a scientist?

To understand it we must take into account 2 factors:

Factor 1: Understand the meaning of Intelligence

The first thing to keep in mind is that when we talk about intelligence we can refer to many things.

One can be considered very smart for mathematics, and very bad at playing sports and cooking.

Other people understand the feelings of others very well, and are very good at encouraging, being great communicators, or acting as mediators.

Therefore, the first thing is to understand that there are different types of intelligence

Let me cite a few examples. We have:

emotional intelligence
logical-mathematical intelligence,
musical intelligence.

But likewise, we have several theories to classify intelligence into types.

I invite you to investigate more about it. And so as not to deviate further from the subject, let's move on to the next factor.

Factor 2: Not always who seems to be clever is really smarter than others.

The second thing to keep in mind is that being smart is different than demonstrating your intelligence

And in order for this to be better understood, let me give you some examples.

Have you found yourself in one of the following situations or have you witnessed them?

A person who was not very participative in your classroom had the same or higher marks than the most participative group.
Suddenly, the person you thought was less capable due to having low grades proves to be an excellent artist: be it drawing, singing or playing a musical instrument.
You know a person who is very bad with numbers but he or she is already learning his third or fourth language and speaks them perfectly.
You find out that a renowned businessman achieved success without having a good education, but he was always an excellent salesman / cook.
You were envious of a person who seemed to be very talented in everything, but then you find out that there are very basic and everyday things that he does not understand.

There is certainly a correlation between our genes and our intelligence, but that is just one of many factors.

Intelligence is mainly influenced by:

The environment and the way we live our first years of life.
The people we spend the most time with, and those we have adopted as a role model.
Our curiosity and how we serve it.
The set of problems that we have had throughout our lives, and the way in which we face them.
The basic rules that we learned and cultural patterns that we have perceived during our childhood.

For example, according to the previous list, a person born into a family with high purchasing power, it is very likely for he or she to:

Study in better colleges and universities.
Spend family time where all or the vast majority have professional degrees.
Get financial literacy and to be challenged or demanded more at an early age.

For this reason, many researchers determine that "being born with luck" favors the development of intelligence.

However, according to classical logic, this does not imply that those born in unfavorable desires are not or cannot develop the same or higher levels of intelligence.

I will give you some examples:

If you are born in unfavorable conditions, you have more problems. But this means that you also have the opportunity to solve bigger challenges, and therefore further develop your intelligence.
A person born poor, if he has to work from an early age, learns things sooner and his world view is different.
Instead of receiving strict directions, a person born into a poor family must discover different solutions for himself and influence his loved ones, developing many positive skills.

To summarize this section I ask you 3 questions.

If there are many types of intelligence, which one do you excel at the most?
If you still can't find it, what do you plan to do to find your true passion, what you are made for?
Have you understood that there are no limits to human curiosity and that it is a key point to develop your skills?

Which is more important, attitude or intelligence?

Having a high IQ is the ideal complement for those who have the attitude of not giving up and taking advantage of adversities.

However, those who possess such blessing do not always have a good attitude to exploit their gift.

In fact there is a tendency for those who are endowed with a high IQ not to be very happy, and as a consequence, in some cases they fall into failure.

You will ask yourself:

1. What is the reason for the unhappiness in the gifted?

I mention some of the reasons:

Lack of interest in common activities at their age.
Low self-esteem.
Anguish or anxiety due to over-analysis of many things.
Insomnia because of a mind that does not stop.

All this can result in deep social isolation.

Furthermore, a gifted being does not always make good decisions. Rather, he or she may be confused by everyday situations, which are easily resolved by people with an average IQ.

Making successful decisions is mainly associated with having a broad vision of how the world works

A person with high IQ can analyze many scenarios, but if their estimates are not very realistic, there is not much difference with the less exhaustive but more accurate analysis of an average person.

2. If I have a good attitude, can I be successful?

On the other hand:

Those who do not have a privileged IQ often stand out in perseverance, determination and a good dose of positivity in situations that seem unsustainable.

So: we all have an equal chance of success.

If you are not a genius that can do impressive things such as:

Develop algorithms that 90% of the population is not capable of.
Calculate 10 different chess plays and estimate possible final results.
Perform complex mathematical operations in seconds.
Or any activity that most people can't do.

No need to worry!

People with few academic achievements and many problems in the day to day have managed to give a resounding turn to their lives, and today they are great benchmarks for success.

3. How to be smarter?

It is important to keep in mind that although a high IQ is not a guarantee of success, it is necessary to be rational and work on it.

Here are some habits that you can include in your life if you want to boost your analytical skills, be more effective in your work and, likewise, make better personal decisions:

Make a list of your daily activities.
Play games that put your brain to work like chess or scrabble.
Surround yourself with friends who like to think (the fair and necessary).
Get used to reading at least 20 minutes a day. It can be a daily article or a couple of pages of the book of your choice.
Learn a new language. You don't need to be fluent.
Write, or better yet, teach what you learn.

In conclusion we can affirm that:

Although a high IQ is not synonymous with success, these are factors that have a significant influence on the way to achieve it:

Attitude: Be persistent, positive and enjoy whatever you are doing.
Wisdom: Understanding how people and the world in general work, as a consequence of our lived experiences.
Rationality: Observe, analyze and act based on your own or universal principles, without neglecting your instincts.