What is intelligent? Smart? Brilliant? Genius? All these words have slightly different meanings. Most people have brilliant ideas, whereas others are brilliant. The brilliant idea is good enough to sustain a family for a lifetime. For example, inventors have changed the way of life. Who would have thought to put glue on the back of paper so that is stuck to things? Not me. The inventor - brilliant. Brilliant people stand out in a crowd, beg to be noticed, merely because they are wonderful and intelligent. Brilliance suggests a bright shining light, like a brilliant actress. We have many "brilliant" actresses and award them Oscars.
Smart people exhibit undeniable book smarts. This term is reserved for the highly academic who are highly specialized in their respective fields. Some that jump to my mind - E.O. Wilson - amazing biologist and philosopher. He is smart - he looks at the world around him and makes observations that no one else would see.
Genius - now that's a word that is usually associated with IQ. Einstein is a genius that almost every person knows. If not from a textbook that mentions his theories, then from his all too famous picture with his hair haphazardly hung around his face.
But intelligence hold a completely different meaning that is not relegated to "brilliant," "genius," or "smart." These people hold more than book intelligence and emotional intelligence. This intelligence could pertain to any subject or field. I would like to believe that each person is intelligent in one area of expertise. Our culture certainly promotes this theory - each person should pick one thing in which to excel. I think that of all labels given to a person for their achievements, intelligence would be the most accurate. For only some are smart, genius, or brilliant. I believe that each is intelligent in his or her way.
