intelligence
noun \ in-ˈte-lə-jən(t)s \
Definition of intelligence
Ability to apply and improve collective knowledge by taking an active part in testing and exchanging memes.
Information, especially when it is concealed (by enemy, competitor or inherent complexity of the source). Gathering of such information.
Often confused with the intellect. The difference between these two definitions is the practical application of knowledge, as well as in interaction with other people. Intelligence is the ability to apply knowledge to improve the environment, processes or the knowledge itself. To paraphrase Miles Kington: “Intellect is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, intelligence is not putting it in a fruit salad.” Without developed intellect, intelligence is reduced to collecting information from other people, which in such cases is extremely useful.
For a lonely thinker who does not apply his knowledge in practice, these two terms merge into one. Thomas Sowell defines intellectuals as those whose career is based on the creation and dissemination of ideas. He also uses the word intelligentsia to describe intellectuals as a class. In his book Intellectuals and Society, Thomas Sowell explains how dangerous it is to blindly trust intellectuals without validating their memes in practice. Intelligence does not exist without natural selection of ideas, and “the intelligentsia pay no price for being wrong.”
for Knowmen: see intellect.
for Masters and some Ludens: intellect is the manifestation of the second and third impulses, respectively. Many believe that intelligence is the source or cause of innovative thinking.