Brilliance!
A descriptive, not prescriptive, definition41 total reviews
Comment from Shirley B
Great job Alvin. Best of luck to you in the contest. I am with you, a truly brilliant person can speak to others at their education level in words the person can understand. My husband is very intelligent. IQ over 180. I can understand him, but sometimes he can't break it down for people. Your Dad and your mentor sound very intelligent. Good luck, Shirley
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
  |
Great job Alvin. Best of luck to you in the contest. I am with you, a truly brilliant person can speak to others at their education level in words the person can understand. My husband is very intelligent. IQ over 180. I can understand him, but sometimes he can't break it down for people. Your Dad and your mentor sound very intelligent. Good luck, Shirley
Comment Written 26-Oct-2011
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
-
Thanks for your very kind review.
Comment from Belinda
Hi, Alvin, while following the entries of this contest I have gathered quite a lot of definitions of intelligence. Yours is the best (so far) It is simple, comprehensible, aptly described with the examples of your father and mentor. Thanks for sharing.
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
 |
Hi, Alvin, while following the entries of this contest I have gathered quite a lot of definitions of intelligence. Yours is the best (so far) It is simple, comprehensible, aptly described with the examples of your father and mentor. Thanks for sharing.
Comment Written 26-Oct-2011
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
-
You are far too kind, I fear.
Comment from Semchuva
I enjoyed your entry. Was your tone tongue-in-cheek at the beginning? I had to go back and re-read it and still wasn't quite sure. Without being clearly tongue in cheek, the following phrases could be easily misconstrued as talking down to the reader:
"By academic standards, I do quite well."
and "I have learned some things in my life and I would like to impart my wisdom to you. (Isn't that what we intelligent people are supposed to do?)"
In fact, at the beginning, I thought that you were going to develop the theme that intelligent people shouldn't feel like they are above others and you do provide a nice example (of your father), and mention it again towards the end. But the discussion meandered around and each paragraph wasn't clearly tied back to your theme. Since you are a teacher, I'm holding you to a higher standard, hope that is OK?
reply by the author on 26-Oct-2011
 |
I enjoyed your entry. Was your tone tongue-in-cheek at the beginning? I had to go back and re-read it and still wasn't quite sure. Without being clearly tongue in cheek, the following phrases could be easily misconstrued as talking down to the reader:
"By academic standards, I do quite well."
and "I have learned some things in my life and I would like to impart my wisdom to you. (Isn't that what we intelligent people are supposed to do?)"
In fact, at the beginning, I thought that you were going to develop the theme that intelligent people shouldn't feel like they are above others and you do provide a nice example (of your father), and mention it again towards the end. But the discussion meandered around and each paragraph wasn't clearly tied back to your theme. Since you are a teacher, I'm holding you to a higher standard, hope that is OK?
Comment Written 26-Oct-2011
reply by the author on 26-Oct-2011
-
That's fine. Yes, the tone of the whole piece was meant to be subtly self-deprecating. I regret that didn't come through clearly.
-
Also, this is an informal essay, not the tightly structured five paragraph essay that American schoolchildren are taught. I add that for clarification.
-
I didn't even know about a five paragraph essay, interesting!
-
I understand, subtlety is extremely difficult to accomplish in the written word.
-
Yes, American schoolchildren are taught to write a tightly structure essay of five paragraphs with a paragraph of introduction and a paragraph for the conclusion. The form is hightly repetitive and not suitable for publication.
Comment from kiwisteveh
Some nice touches of humour here before you get to the serious stuff at the end. You have followed the path of choosing two outstanding people as exemplars of 'intelligence' and done a great job of shoeing their humility in the face of unbounded knowledge.
Good luck in the contest.
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
|
Some nice touches of humour here before you get to the serious stuff at the end. You have followed the path of choosing two outstanding people as exemplars of 'intelligence' and done a great job of shoeing their humility in the face of unbounded knowledge.
Good luck in the contest.
Comment Written 26-Oct-2011
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
-
Thanks for a great review.
Comment from Gert sherwood
Hello Alvin nice to see you posting an essay for this contest-
Yes you have done well acquiring a your intelligence.
I believe we all learn in our own way how to be intelligent.
Here is a quote I like
Sally Kempton quotes
Men define intelligence, men define usefulness, men tell us what is beautiful, men even tell us what is womanly.
Gert
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
|
Hello Alvin nice to see you posting an essay for this contest-
Yes you have done well acquiring a your intelligence.
I believe we all learn in our own way how to be intelligent.
Here is a quote I like
Sally Kempton quotes
Men define intelligence, men define usefulness, men tell us what is beautiful, men even tell us what is womanly.
Gert
Comment Written 26-Oct-2011
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
-
What a great quotation!
-
I'm glad you like it Alvin.
Gert
Comment from Joan E.
I know you have been busy teaching, but I am glad you found the time to enter this contest. I admired your essay on intelligence and particularly liked your focus of "compassion for others," which allows us to learn from almost anyone. Thank you for sharing your wise experience and "creativity." Best wishes in the contest. -Joan
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
|
I know you have been busy teaching, but I am glad you found the time to enter this contest. I admired your essay on intelligence and particularly liked your focus of "compassion for others," which allows us to learn from almost anyone. Thank you for sharing your wise experience and "creativity." Best wishes in the contest. -Joan
Comment Written 26-Oct-2011
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
-
Thanks for your very kind review.
Comment from Kingsland
This article is a self biography and not a dissertation on the meaning of intelligence. This goes on and on about your educational background and about your personal life.But I failed to see anything in this article about what intelligence is. This is a well written article for what it was relaying.but if I was to judge it on the subject matter it was supposed to be relaying. You would fail miserably. So if I am to rate it for just the article itself it would get a five star review. But if I am to rate it on the question at hand it would get a two star. But the article for me is well written enough for me to go somewhere in between those two ratings. So I'll be more than fair and give it a four... John
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
reply by the author on 26-Oct-2011
|
This article is a self biography and not a dissertation on the meaning of intelligence. This goes on and on about your educational background and about your personal life.But I failed to see anything in this article about what intelligence is. This is a well written article for what it was relaying.but if I was to judge it on the subject matter it was supposed to be relaying. You would fail miserably. So if I am to rate it for just the article itself it would get a five star review. But if I am to rate it on the question at hand it would get a two star. But the article for me is well written enough for me to go somewhere in between those two ratings. So I'll be more than fair and give it a four... John
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
Comment Written 26-Oct-2011
reply by the author on 26-Oct-2011
-
I don't quite follow your review; I thought I defined intelligence in the last paragraph and the whole article is describing the process of how I employ that definition of intelligence. What am I missing?
-
You ended this article talking about you father. This article in biographical and not about the meaning of intelligence. I will admit you added in the ending of what your father thought intelligence to be. But that is not nearly enough in this to be considered an artice defining intelligence.It was an article that told about your and your education and then just thew in one item on the meaning of intelligence. It would be like writing and article on the game of football and then describing the velocity of a fast ball and how to strike out a batter...
-
Thank you. I added notes for clarification.
Comment from c_lucas
A truly intelligent person does not have to put down those around him. This is very well written with a smooth flow of words. Good luck in your contest.
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
|
A truly intelligent person does not have to put down those around him. This is very well written with a smooth flow of words. Good luck in your contest.
Comment Written 26-Oct-2011
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
-
Thank you for understanding what I wanted to say.
-
You're welcome, Alvin. Charlie
Comment from cheyennewy
Hi Al,
I haven't read anything from your talented pen in a long time. I suppose you are busy teaching your classes on FS and hope you are doing well. Your mentor and your father must be the two people you admire the most. Somehow I think their intelligence has rubbed of on you. To me those with a high IQ that still have common sense is true intelligence. I enjoyed your essay. It is well written and compelling. Well done and good luck in the contest....chey
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
|
Hi Al,
I haven't read anything from your talented pen in a long time. I suppose you are busy teaching your classes on FS and hope you are doing well. Your mentor and your father must be the two people you admire the most. Somehow I think their intelligence has rubbed of on you. To me those with a high IQ that still have common sense is true intelligence. I enjoyed your essay. It is well written and compelling. Well done and good luck in the contest....chey
Comment Written 26-Oct-2011
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
-
Thanks for understanding exactly what I wanted to say.
-
We are often on the same page!
Comment from sgalletti
Nicely composed essay, Alvin, focusing on the characteristics of two intelligent men in your life, and how they influenced you to be intelligent. I also entered this contest and really enjoyed reflecting on this topic as opposed to espousing the hundreds of studies that have been done at an attempt to define intelligence. Please check the phrase "mentor was a brilliant.." I believe you need to remove the "a." Best of luck in this contest. Sue
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
|
Nicely composed essay, Alvin, focusing on the characteristics of two intelligent men in your life, and how they influenced you to be intelligent. I also entered this contest and really enjoyed reflecting on this topic as opposed to espousing the hundreds of studies that have been done at an attempt to define intelligence. Please check the phrase "mentor was a brilliant.." I believe you need to remove the "a." Best of luck in this contest. Sue
Comment Written 26-Oct-2011
reply by the author on 16-Sep-2012
-
I wanted to emphasize his uniqueness. Can you think of a better way to do it? Thanks for a great review.
