Human Intelligence

Although it seems easily defined intelligence is a very broad subject. A vast amount of

meanings are given to intelligence as a concept from various cultures and sciences. Intelligence

can be classified in two ways one way is fluid intelligence and the other is crystalized

intelligence. Fluid intelligence is closely tied to biology as well as nature and is responsible for

our quick thinking abilities. An example of fluid intelligence would be thinking of an escape

route to flee a burning house or ripping the peel off a banana to eat it. While fluid intelligence

requires us to act upon our instinctual thoughts, crystallized intelligence is the opposite because

it is knowledge learned from our environment’s that has accumulated overtime such as the ability

to play a musical instrument.

Throughout history psychologists and sociologist have been trying to devise a way to

reveal the level of intellect that animals or humans possess. In contrast to humans, no raven can

compose music, no honeybee can speak in rhymes, and no manatee can solve equations with

two unknowns. Only humans can perform such intellectual tasks because we have the ability to

reflect back on our accumulated knowledge to help us achieve a goal or accomplish a task.

It is natural to assume that our superior ability in several areas of mental function

correlates to distinct characteristics of the human brain that are not found within other animals.

One of the key differences is the size of the human brain. While humans don’t have the largest

mammalian brain, we do have the largest brain mass relative to body mass. The development

of the human brain has developed at a most rapid pace than that of animals and perhaps is the

reason why our level of intelligence surpasses that of animals. It is obvious to presume that both

our fluid and crystallized intelligence are at a higher level of that than animals. What separates

humans from animals in the field of intelligence is our ability to reason, think and rationalize

how we feel emotionally.

Humans have the ability to incorporate and communicate how we feel to others by

describing our feelings. As far as we know, animals only act on instincts for example a zebra

lacks the communication skills to tell the lion to not eat it but acts on their instincts to run

away when they see a lion approaching. Research intelligence is essential in understanding the

complex aspects of human intelligence. Scientists for example have found that primates and

humans use the same styles to communicate such as hand signals, body gestures and verbal

communications.

Scientists have found the genome of the chimpanzee and found that humans are 96

percent similar to the great ape species meaning that our genetic build up is 96% similar to that

of a chimpanzee. Because chimpanzees are our closest living relatives, the chimpanzee genome

is the most useful key to understanding human intelligence and evolution. By comparing human

and chimpanzee genomes, the researchers have identified several sequences of genetic code that

differ between humans and chimps. One of these differences is our advancement in the brain and

its development for example humans have the ability to feel emotion this is due to our amygdala,

while our frontal lobe allows us to choose between the good and bad as well as allow us to

recognize future consequences resulting from our actions.

As the science of psychology has developed, one of the biggest questions proposed

concerned the nature of intelligence. Some of the definitions that have been given for

intelligence have been the ability to adjust to one’s environment. Is intelligence a product of

hereditary or is it a product of an individual's environment? What makes up our intelligence? Is

it our life experiences or our DNA? The nature versus nurture debate regarding intelligence is

one that has raged long and hard. Innumerable studies have been conducted on this issue and the

findings point that that human intelligence is a combination of both nature and nurture.

In many cases, it has been found that genes may have a substantial contribution in

both biological traits and psychological traits such as intelligence and personality. Yet these

traits are both largely influenced by environment and heredity. In twin studies, identical twins

whose genotypes are duplicates of each meant that if one twin has dark hair, then the other twin

has dark hair as well. This is where the issue of nature vs. nurtures comes into play. Scientists

have known for years that traits such as eye color and hair color are determined by specific genes

encoded in each human cell. But intelligence can be a combination of both nature and nurture.

For the nature side it argues that a person maintains their mental ability solely based on what

they are born with genetically. For example if a musical ability was genetic, and a child was

passed a musical ability trait, then the child would most likely have musically talented parents.

Their parents then would provide them with the genes to promote the development of that

ability. The nurture side argues that a person’s environment plays a large role in their mental

development. Similarly, if we take identical twins, and give one the best environment possible,

and put the other one in closet for eighteen years the differences will be reflected. We would

then be able to compare the intelligence of both identical twins and see if the environment

reflected any differences in intelligence. At the extreme the proponents of the nurture side of the

controversy would have us believe that the differences in human behavior are like the differences

in the twin's behavior. Though this is one of the hardest debates I can say that nature vs nurture

can be settled as nature and nurture. Our physical appearance is decided before birth, it's in our

genes, but the type of person we are is decided after birth, by the way we are brought up, the

environment we live in. Even the people we meet have an influence. Our genes and our

environment affect the person that we turn out to be later in life.

The factors that have contributed to my intelligence include both biological factors as

well as environmental factors. The biological factors that have contributed to my intelligence

is that both my mom and dad are of average intelligence. But the other aspect would be the

environmental factors such as a proper upbringing, going to school to build and accumulate

knowledge and trial and error that have contributed to my intelligence.