Intelligence: definition, essence and examples. What is intelligence: definition, examples. An educated, cultured and intelligent person. What kind of person can be considered intelligent?

Intelligence is not only high intelligence and brilliant education, it is also good manners, the ability to live in harmony with oneself and others, in accordance with one’s conscience, it is an active civic position, the concept of honor and dignity, the desire for truth.

In order to educate yourself and not stand below the level of the environment in which you find yourself, it is not enough to read only Pickwick and memorize a monologue from Faust.<…>Here you need continuous day and night work, eternal reading, studying, will... Every hour is precious here...

And while someone quietly laughs at intellectuals because of their emphasized correctness and intellectuality, all over the world they are talking about the Russian intelligentsia as a cultural phenomenon, a phenomenon that originated in the Russian Empire and marked the beginning of the identification of a special, albeit very small, stratum of society throughout the rest of the world.

A nation that does not value intelligence is doomed to destruction. The history of the Russian intelligentsia is the history of Russian thought.

D. S. Likhachev, “The Book of Worries”

A.P. Chekhov and D.S. Likhachev are considered to be true Russian intellectuals. In a letter to his brother Nikolai, young Chekhov cited a kind of code of an intelligent person, on which the following advice is largely based.

How to become more intelligent

1. Respect others

Moreover, this respect should go beyond compliance with subordination and basic rules of behavior. It is also respect for the feelings and desires of others, empathy, and to some extent even sympathy. Yes, it is not easy to force yourself to sympathize with others if you are not used to doing this. But it is work on oneself that distinguishes intelligent people.

They respect the human personality, and therefore are always condescending, gentle, polite, compliant...

A.P. Chekhov, letter to his brother Nikolai, 1886

2. Don't lie

Remember that first of all you are lying to yourself. Intelligent people also consider meaningless grandstanding, flattery, and throwing dust into the eyes of lies. Any deception is unacceptable for them.

They are sincere and fear lies like fire. They don't lie even about trifles. A lie is offensive to the listener and vulgarizes the speaker in his eyes. They don’t show off, they behave on the street the same way as at home, they don’t show off dust in the eyes of the smaller brethren...

A.P. Chekhov, letter to his brother Nikolai, 1886

3. Be humble

Intelligent people have a slightly different perception of values. They are not vain.

They are not interested in such fake diamonds as meeting celebrities, the handshake of a drunken Plevako, the delight of someone they meet at the Salon, fame from porter...

A.P. Chekhov, letter to his brother Nikolai, 1886

More often they are silent and prefer not to impose their opinions on others, especially when they are not asked. They do not open up in vain and do not seek the attention of others by humiliating themselves.

In this, it is definitely worth taking an example from intellectuals. Modesty and moderation will help you in many areas of life, you just have to try on yourself and accept this philosophy.

4. Strive for aesthetics

An intellectual is an esthete. He admires the harmony of thought, talent, sophistication of images, grace and humanity. It is the intellectuals who are the main guardians of what we are accustomed to calling “eternal values.” Try to be like them. You don't have to have a degree to understand and admire literature. You don’t need to paint pictures yourself to receive aesthetic pleasure from artists’ works.

They cultivate aesthetics in themselves. They cannot sleep in their clothes, see cracks with bugs on the wall, breathe crappy air, walk on a spit-stained floor, or eat from a kerosene stove. They try to tame and refine the sexual instinct as much as possible.

A.P. Chekhov, letter to his brother Nikolai, 1886

5. Protect your talent

Believe that you are talented. And take care of your gift. Intelligent people value talent above everything else, and this is what allows them to remain representatives of the “intellectual elite”, to create and create.

If they have talent, they respect it. They sacrifice peace, women, wine, vanity for him... They are proud of their talent.

A.P. Chekhov, letter to his brother Nikolai, 1886

6. Strive for inner freedom

Someone generally puts the feeling of freedom at the forefront of the issue of intellectuals and intelligence. Indeed, an intelligent person is free from a lot of things that others are dependent on.

The basic principle of intelligence is intellectual freedom, freedom as a moral category. An intelligent person is not free only from his conscience and his thoughts.

D. S. Likhachev, “On the Russian intelligentsia. Letter to the editor", 1993

Intelligence is a difficult path that is not suitable for everyone. Not everyone is ready to “squeeze out a slave drop by drop” every day. But there is no doubt that those who take this path receive something immeasurably more than just a set of positive qualities.

The Latin verb intellego gave the concept of “intelligence” its first meaning, which was widely used until the 19th century. It characterized an intellectual as an intelligent, active person, striving for knowledge. Later, the intelligentsia began to be called a whole class of society, which included people engaged in mental work. During the Soviet period, the content of the word “intelligence” was somewhat distorted, and even had a negative meaning for some time. Only towards the end of the 20th century did the definition finally acquire its true meaning. Now an intelligent person is the standard that most cultured people strive to meet.

What should a cultured person be like?

Who is he, the intellectual of our days? Is it enough to have a high level of development and excellent ability to assimilate new information to be considered cultured? Definitely not.

• An intelligent person is educated and erudite, constantly improving himself. His mind knows no peace.
• He observes the laws of decency and behaves culturally in any social environment, regardless of the level of intelligence, status and material wealth of those around him. When communicating with him, people begin to suspect that he absorbed the norms of etiquette with his mother’s milk.
• Knows how to control oneself - restrain impulses and negative emotions. Objectively evaluates his actions and calmly admits mistakes.
• It is never used as a tool to humiliate others. On the contrary, sympathy and the ability to empathize guide actions. And, by the way, his philanthropy often helps him gain public recognition, although statuses and awards are not the goal of his life.

We can say that modern intelligence is a fusion of the best intellectual and moral traits collected in one person.

How to become an intelligent person

Some psychologists and teachers believe that intelligence is an innate feature. In any case, those who were lucky enough to be born with certain character traits, inclinations and inclinations subsequently find it much easier to achieve the standard of development. And if a child is born into an intelligent family, where norms, principles and rules are learned as a natural way of life, the result of upbringing does not surprise anyone - the child often grows up to be a wonderful person.

However, not only people born in appropriate conditions are capable of becoming intelligent. It’s just that others have to make serious efforts, constantly work on themselves. What is the value of one ability to control oneself or the ability to perceive people positively, without criticism and condemnation. If a person experiences inner fire, a thirst for knowledge, tries, and is at the same time pleasant to others, cultured and peaceful, most likely, people will consider him intelligent, regardless of his origin. Simply based on what qualities an intelligent person should have.

But material wealth has nothing to do with the definition of this word. The presence or absence of intelligence does not depend on the number of zeros in a bank account.

Intelligence and intelligentsia

When faced with related concepts, it is worth learning to clearly distinguish between the layer of society called the intelligentsia, and intelligence, as a combination of personality traits. Not every representative of the intelligentsia is actually a cultured person. An old woman who once received her primary education in a parochial school may have all the virtues of an intelligent person. Conversely, a doctor, a member of a profession traditionally belonging to the class mentioned above, can be a brute.

Honestly answering the question, “What qualities do you value in people?”, everyone determines their personal attitude towards intelligence. And, depending on the answer, he will reject this path as alien. Or he will begin to work on himself, so that after a while he will hear addressed to himself: “How pleasant it is to communicate with an intelligent person!”

Intelligent, educated, enlightened. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. INTELLIGENT mentally developed; one whose mental demands force him to be interested in the surrounding reality from the point of view... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Cm … Synonym dictionary

INTELLIGENT, intelligent, intelligent; intelligent, intelligent, intelligent. 1. Educated, cultured, inherent in the intelligentsia. He turned out to be quite an intelligent person. Intelligent look. 2. adj. to the intelligentsia (bookish).... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

intelligent- oh, oh. intelligent adj. 1. Mentally developed; educated, cultured. BAS 1. Katya, Borschov interrupted: It really upsets me that you treat the most intelligent of our women this way. Intelligent, Lisa noted: C est intelligent!… … Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

INTELLIGENT, oh, oh; ten, tna. 1. Belonging to the intelligentsia, and also generally possessing great internal culture. I. man. Intelligent behavior. 2. Characteristic of an intellectual. I. view. | noun intelligence, and, women. Intelligent... ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Adj. 1. ratio with noun intelligentsia, associated with it 2. Characteristic of the intelligentsia, characteristic of it. 3. Characterized by deep internal culture and independent thinking. Ephraim's explanatory dictionary. T. F. Efremova. 2000... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by Efremova

Intelligent, intelligent, intelligent, intelligent, intelligent, intelligent, intelligent, intelligent, intelligent, intelligent, intelligent, intelligent, intelligent, intelligent, intelligent,... ... Forms of words

intelligent- intelligent; briefly form ten, tna... Russian spelling dictionary

intelligent- cr.f. intellige/nten, intellige/ntna, tno, tny; more intelligent... Spelling dictionary of the Russian language

Aya, oh; ten, tna, tno. 1. only full. to Intellectual and Intelligentsia. And other professions. And oh society. 2. Characteristic, inherent in an intellectual, intelligentsia. I. view. And ah speech. 3. Possessing great internal culture. I. man. He's deep... encyclopedic Dictionary

Books

• Oh-fairy tales, Blizzard Vera. The intelligent Cat and the simple-minded Grandfather live on the Kotodedovo farm. The cat is a creative person: a lover of music, painting and Pushkin’s poetry, and Grandfather is a lover of mint gingerbread and sleep. They are different,…
• Oh-fairy tales, Blizzard V.. An intelligent Cat and a simple-minded Grandfather live on the Kotodedovo farm. The cat is a creative person: a lover of music, painting and Pushkin’s poetry, and Grandfather is a lover of mint gingerbread and sleep. They are different,…

Hello dear readers. In this article you will learn what the problem of intelligence is in the modern world. Find out the meaning of this concept. Check out the examples. Find out what traits characterize an intelligent person. You will know what you need to do to become like this yourself.

Definition of the concept

Intelligence (translated from Latin means thinking, understanding) is a set of qualities of an individual that meets the expectations of a cultural society. There are also other definitions of this concept.

1. The ability to think, the ability to make independent judgments about the universe, about the manifestations of human actions.
2. Tolerant character, nobility, intelligence and reliability of words.
3. A combination of a hard-working mind, a noble soul and a truthful heart.
4. The ability to understand, accept everything new, always respect the opinions of other people, demonstrate one’s emotions, and not allow interference in the personal space of another person.
5. The ability to withstand rudeness, uncultured behavior, and fight back against injustice. Such an individual has high moral values ​​and a developed sense of nobility.

You need to know what advantages intelligence has:

• allows you to show emotions and gain new knowledge;
• gives freedom, allowing you to express your thoughts;
• an intelligent person can understand the meaning of the common good;
• rewards with strength to resist evil injustice and rude civilization;
• confidence in one's strengths and capabilities, self-belief;
• An intelligent man or woman has the opportunity to show interest in life and be friendly to the people around him.

Characteristics of an intellectual

An intelligent person can be identified by the presence of certain qualities, especially if we consider an intellectual of the old school.

1. Pure patriotism, which is manifested by real actions.
2. Feeling compassion for the pain of other people and animals.
3. Soft, polite, compliant character.
4. Absence of a rude attitude towards any person, even if he behaves rudely towards an intellectual.
5. Craving for everything beautiful.
6. The ability to forgive people.
7. Sincere truthfulness, decent attitude towards others, respect.
8. Passion for education, constant self-development.
9. In the speech of such an individual, quotes and aphorisms are often used. catchphrases, no rude phrases.

Examples in the modern world

In everyday life, a person meets intelligent people on his way and does not give it any importance, but it is they who make our life better, increasing its quality, they preserve spiritual and moral values.

An example of intelligence is a person who shows good manners, but does not behave in a pretentious way, and does not indulge in narcissism. Such an individual does not condemn anyone for wrong actions, but tries to determine their cause.

An example of intelligence is the writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970. At one time, the political system tried to destroy him, he was sent to camps, into exile, censorship was imposed, but he could not be broken. Alexander Isaevich faced cancer and was able to defeat it. Not only was he educated, he also helped others and society as a whole. He was tolerant of people's personal shortcomings, while opposing social vices. Solzhenitsyn was a man of strong spirit, body and mind.

The situation with intelligence in the modern world is under threat. The fact is that today there is an acute problem of personal degradation, the consequences of the media, social networks. However, you need to understand that human values ​​will be preserved at any time, there will always be a place for compassion, the ability to put oneself in the place of other people, treat them with respect, and be tolerant. A sharp mind, together with inner freedom, a deep soul and a thirst for everything beautiful will always occupy a significant place in the process of evolution.

The current intelligentsia is not very different from the representatives of the last century. Such people are strong, they have a kind soul, they do not boast about their achievements and actions, they do everything to change the world for the better.

How to become an intellectual

1. Great attention must be paid. Here we are not talking about some kind of fantasy or romance novels, but about classical literature.
2. Education plays an important role. You need to understand that not every person with a higher education is an intellectual, while all intelligent people are highly educated.
3. Proper upbringing is of the greatest importance. If I raise a child, I instill respect for other people, the ability to listen to others, the ability to sensibly relate to the point of view of each individual, then he will begin to develop the makings of intelligence.
4. Educational activities and charity also allow you to become an intellectual.
5. The inseparability of actions from words. A person who strives to become an intellectual will definitely be responsible for his words and actions.

Now you know what the essence of intelligence is. People must believe that intelligence is the culture of the soul. This is not an indicator of the level of education, these are actions that correspond to moral principles. Humanity vitally needs individuals with a bright soul, who will indicate the need for pure relationships without commercialism, the need to gain knowledge with subsequent development and spiritual growth.

Just imagine - you came to the district administration for a certificate and stood at office No. 158, waiting for the moment to slip through. And the citizens who arrived even earlier to guard the treasured office politely say: “Woman, you weren’t standing here.” Notice that they tell you this not rudely, but very affectionately. It turns out that the citizens did not humiliate themselves with rudeness, and you were not offended.

And why all? Because intelligent people gathered in line. By the way, who are they?

What is it anyway, intelligence - a sensitive state of mind, a Buddhist level of emotional maturity, multi-degree status or skyscrapers of books read?

Each statement has criteria: if in early spring your garden is a pioneer in terms of tulips, you are without a doubt a talented gardener; if yesterday you brought home a hungry kitten again, you are a kind and sensitive person; If you can conduct a reasoned debate for hours about the opposition to the literary significance of Pushkin and Karamzin, you are smart and erudite. At the same time, it is not a fact that he is an intellectual.

The debate about who can be classified as an intelligentsia has been going on for several centuries and continues today. Historical events and social norms have repeatedly changed the portrait of an intellectual. We have compiled our own shortlist of definitions of this cultural phenomenon, written by personalities of national and municipal scale.

Repost in Russia is more than repost

In Latin, the word intellego was a verb and meant “to think, to understand,” i.e. broadcast the action.

Today's intellectuals are more inclined to observe and make assessments than to climb onto the barricades and from there, from nine to six, recklessly change the world.

The easiest way to find a Russian intellectual of the 21st century is on Facebook. It is here that he collects or sows a harvest of opinions, exchanges curtsies with pleasant citizens, picks with unpleasant ones and desperately resists evil - hypocrisy, stupidity and hypocrisy. Evil has a rating - the first place is occupied by any politics and arbitrariness of power, the second is the decline of morals, the third is near-religious debates, the fourth is the callousness and rudeness of officials, the fifth is all sorts of little things, such as PR nonsense of show business stars.

In terms of goodness, the modern intelligentsia is a club concept. Thanks to the spread of social networks, the intellectual is no longer an individualist. An intellectual shares bright thoughts, fiery appeals and spontaneous manifestos with club members - fortunately, today this is done with a simple repost. A repost in Russia is more than a repost.

And yes, whether you agree with it or not, trend of the modern Russian intelligentsia - mat. Moreover, the carriers of the ideology of swearing themselves have reliable arguments in this regard, like a safe door - firstly, we are not prudes, secondly, swearing gives imagery to speech, thirdly, swearing is a demonstration of personal freedom. It seems to us that intelligent swearing is simple foppishness. However, the intelligentsia does not like this argument.

Intellectuals vs intellectuals

In Russia it is generally accepted that, on average in the ward, the nature of a Russian person is subtler, more sensitive and sharper in perception than the nature of a thick-skinned European. This is partly confirmed by the emergence of an intelligentsia in Russia.

The West did not understand the subtleties and nuances of this phenomenon, but simply divided society into two teams - mental workers and manual workers. During the formation in Russia of a special class of idealists with a fiery heart and a sensitive soul, Western empires appointed lawyers and philosophers as the flower of the nation, calling them intellectuals. It turns out that Europeans simply did not single out the intellectual Jedi, the guardians of the spirituality and honor of their civilization, into a separate group, believing that an educated and law-abiding person brings comprehensive benefits to society and does not need additional social burdens.

Intelligentsia from encyclopedists

Now let's try to figure out the definitions.

The 1988 Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary defines intelligentsia as "society, a layer of people professionally engaged in mental, mainly complex, creative work, development and dissemination of culture"

Indeed, everything seems to be in its place - it’s not clear where to find the creative component in the work of an educated and even well-read local therapist? And an ideological downshifter - an inspired baker who once defended a dissertation on the influence of the north wind on Tsvetaeva’s poetic form - also has no chance of intelligence in this definition.

Intelligent Negativity

Lev Gumilev. Photo: gumilevica.kulichki.net

Many Russian philosophers did not hide their negative attitude towards the intelligentsia. So when Lev Gumilyov asked if he considered himself an intellectual, the historian replied:

« God save me! The current intelligentsia is such a spiritual sect. What’s typical is that they don’t know anything, they can’t do anything, but they judge everything and don’t accept dissent at all.”

Vyacheslav Pleve spoke about the intelligentsia like this:

“The Russian intelligentsia has one feature that is predominantly inherent to it: it fundamentally and, moreover, enthusiastically perceives every idea, every fact, even rumor, aimed at discrediting the state, as well as the spiritual-Orthodox power, but it is indifferent to everything else in the life of the country.”

Subsequently, Plehve, who spoke contemptuously of the intelligentsia, was killed by an intellectual bomber. So, “whoever comes to us with a sword...”

Here's an opinion Nikolai Berdyaev :

“The intelligentsia resembles a monastic order or a religious sect, with its own special morality, very intolerant, with its obligatory worldview... The intelligentsia is characterized by groundlessness, a break with all class life and traditions...”

Ivan Bunin also spoke quite sharply about the subject of controversy:

“If it weren’t for the people’s disasters, thousands of intellectuals would be downright miserable people. How then to sit, protest, what to shout and write about? And without this, life wouldn’t exist.”

It turns out that the main complaints that significant Russian thinkers made about the concept of the intelligentsia were superficiality, covered by a tendency to ostentatious restlessness and fussiness against the background of apathy and lack of initiative.

Today it looks like this: a significant person with high humane principles throws a sarcastic post online, scolding and ridiculing, say, the stupidity of official N. The post ends with the author’s piercing bitterness about the rusted system. That's all. No offers. No action. Every like and repost passed off as an action is not. This is a convenient illusion that you are bringing goodness and justice to the world. Just. Comfortable. For you!

Intelligent positive

Fortunately, there is an opposite view of the intelligentsia.

After the ideologists of the concept - Nikolai Chernyshevsky and Nikolai Dobrolyubov, the most prominent representative of the beautiful-hearted Russian intelligentsia was the intellectual“striving not so much for a political, but for a moral reorganization of the world.”

Continued the baton of intellectualophiles Leonid Andreev:

“First of all, this was not singing along with the powers that be. Secondly, a person with a heightened, downright debilitating sense of conscience. And thirdly, no matter how much you drink, you still remain a cultured person.”

Vasily Makarovich Shukshin

There are also more modern positive definitions. Vasily Shukshin wrote this:

« An intelligent person is a troubled conscience, a mind, ... a bitter discord with himself because of the damned question: “what is truth,” pride ... And compassion for the fate of the people. Inevitable, painful»

The subtleties of perception of the intelligentsia in modern history were clearly outlined by Alexander Solzhenitsyn:

“In the Soviet Union, this word acquired a completely perverted meaning... All party, state, military and trade union bureaucrats ended up here... All clerical employees. With all the greater ease they include all teachers here (and those who are nothing more than a talking textbook and have neither independent knowledge nor an independent view of education). All doctors (and those who are only able to dabble in medical history with a pen). And without any hesitation they include here everyone who just walks around editorial offices, publishing houses, film factories, philharmonic societies, not to mention those who publish, make films or play the bow.

Meanwhile, based on none of these signs, a person cannot be included in the intelligentsia. If we do not want to lose this concept, we should not exchange it. An intellectual is not determined by his professional affiliation or occupation. A good upbringing and a good family also do not necessarily produce an intellectual. An intellectual is one whose interests and will towards the spiritual side of life are persistent and constant, not forced by external circumstances and even in spite of them. An intellectual is one whose thought is not imitative."

Based on the opinion of adepts, it can be argued that the most important characteristics of an intelligent person are genuine sincerity, keen mercy, an unquenchable thirst for spirituality and stubborn, reckless cultivation of one’s own personality. Say what you think. Help quietly. Be sure to thank. Always think. Something like this…

What do the intelligentsia think about this?

“And no one knew what the Rabbit thought about this, since the Rabbit was very well-mannered.” Remember, y? With the intelligentsia, despite their good upbringing, everything is different. A thin layer of society continues to make capacious, simple, laconic attempts at self-determination, which can be classified as aphorisms:

— An intelligent person is educated and erudite, constantly improving himself. His mind knows no peace;

— An intellectual observes the laws of decency and behaves culturally in any social environment, regardless of the level of intelligence, status and material wealth of those around him. When communicating with him, people begin to suspect that he absorbed the norms of etiquette with his mother’s milk;

— An intellectual is a person who can write this word without errors;

— An intellectual is a person who has three higher educations: the first was received by his grandfather, the second by his father, and the third by himself;

— An intellectual has intellect and knowledge, knows how to use them for his own benefit and not to the detriment of others, is tolerant, tolerant of the shortcomings of others and wise enough not to argue with fools;

— You can’t play an intellectual;

You can try on all the above definitions. You can consider yourself an intelligentsia or not. You don’t have to think about your own “classification” at all.

But we would be very interested to know your opinion - do you consider yourself an intelligent person and what do you mean by this concept?