Smart or Intelligent

Good question! My huband is very intelligent. Even though he never went to college, he has several patents to his name for medical devices that he designed. He was one of the first people the put video on the internet, etc... however, he can't for the life of him measure a piece of wood to fix a window frame, or figure out how to change the oil on the car or many other simple tasks. He can't keep a calendar and has a hard time buttoning his shirt straight. I think it's like one other poster suggested, their brains are just so tied up with other stuff, that the common sense things just don't get any brain power. Hummm, that's my guess anyway.

That comes down to semantics, I think. I look at it more that we have talents in certain directions. Some people who are very smart in one area, can be total dunces in others. Specialists, like doctors or lawyers, often make the mistake of thinking that their knowledge in one topic makes them an expert in everything. NOT so. Also, I have found by experience, that people with obviously first class brains, can act like total idiots (in almost anything) because their emotions trip them up, and they are unable to overcome that. Many people will succumb to their emotions, even when their mind tells them not to. There is a very interesting quote in the book The Rich, the well born and the powerful: Wisdom cannot be taught in graduate and professional schools. It is a rare commodity, not because it is the monopoly of the privileged classes, but because it occurs so seldom. It is not the appanage of the rich, well borne, and well educated. It can be found among the poorest and most ignorant peasants, as well as occasionally in the posh clubs of urbanized, international intellectuals.

I agree with you. I have a daughter who is exceptionally intelligent with a great career. She makes bad choices financially and with men. Her financial priorities are all wrong but she won't listen to our advice. It haunts her constantly. I think people who are this intelligent sometimes lack the common sense it takes to live life in a happy and content manner. Life is always in the fast lane. I don't consider myself smart or intelligent. I'm an average person with average intelligence. My personality and disposition is what carries me through life. My job is just a job, not a career. I'm happy and that's what life is all about.

Yes like the others said, you could have an IQ of 200 but have NO common sense. And I also feel I am very educated through life. I have been through a lot and have learned a lot as a result.

I think there is a different between being smart and intelligent, although for me to have the absolute definition would be foolish, a direct contrast to the subject at hand. : ) To me, smart is having knowledge. Intelligence is knowing what to do with it and then doing it.

I agree.I guess I am more intelligent than smart.I can algebra but I can never remember which way we change the clocks.

Intelligence is a kind of just putting your good knowledge about a certain thing as such. Smartness is a kind of using the same with further creativity, taking lesser time, resources.

I have a younger brother that is the most intelligent person the world has, but you want to talk about stupid!!! When we went to school he never studied and never got less than a 98. I studied till my eyes nearly bleed and lucky if I got an 80, but I have always done well and consider myself a fairly smart person. There is a big difference in the fact that you need to know how to apply intelligence with common sense. Just my thoughts.

No, they are not the same thing and they do not always go hand in hand.. Inteligence is the capacity to learn, I would say. and smartness is the ability to put what is learned to use. Intelligence neither negates nor proves smartness nor wisdom. my mother is a wise woman, but does not learn very easily from books.

I think there is a difference between book smart and common sense smart.

That is funny. I have a brother that was tested as border line genius years ago.He served in the marines on the secret service. He could stay up and party all nite and still Ace a test that I could stay up all nite studying for and still only get a b or c. there are different kinds of smart...book smarts and street smarts.

Smart is the way we work, think and react. Intelligent is normally about studying. Mean bright and fast pickup.

Yes I know a lot of people who are intelligent but lack common sense, I also know a lot of people that are streetwise and are educated on real life so yes I agree with you there is a definate difference between smart and intelligent. Ellie :D

both you are intelligent

This can also be said about intelligence and having common sense. I would say I am intelligent but I have very little common sense whereas by boyfriend is just chock full of common sense but isn't overly intelectual. I'm not saying he is dumb because I don't think anyone is truly dumb, we just all seem to think in different ways. I also think that we all have a particular thing that we are good at but everthing else just doesn't seem to matter.

I think your right. I am smart .. well i have my moments. But i am not book smart.. i'm street and life smart. . I would say anyways. . I learn from experience and others experiences instead of from a book. . I think there are a lot of intellegent people out there who are not smart at all!! Or they are only smart in one area. . like i have a friend whom knows TONS about one subject in piticular, but he knows absolultely nothing about anything else! i used to look up to him cause i thought he was smart.. then i realized, he talks about the exact same thing to everyone everytime.. Not so smart..

In my opinion who is using their common sense in time that person is smart who is just know about his skill/knowledge and use it is intelligent.

Being very smart doesn't necessarily make you more educated....common sense is what some very smart people are lacking....common sense is what you have learned from life...not books. You have imagination and education, you are smart and have common sense....good combination.

I think Smart and Intelligent are the same...and maybe its an overload of information in his head that makes him weaker in other areas like you said, no concept of simple things and short memory lapse etc... You see, your brother studied so much and can design parts for space shuttle and that is really something a very intelligent person could develop....But our brains can only accomodate that much of information and leaving no space for other information or data would make him what he is now. If you think about it, great scientists like Einstein and Edison....They have the brains for inventions, but they probably don't have for other things... It could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it though