Let's take a quick look at what intelligence is all about before we delve into the question of whether or not getting good grades in school is a reliable indicator of one's intelligence.
There is no one, single, fixed, or universally accepted definition of intelligence. However, most experts are generally in agreement that intelligence involves the proper development of one's mental abilities such as logic, reasoning, problem solving, and planning.
The majority of contemporary definitions of intelligence tend to suggest that it is the capacity to learn from experience, recognise problems, and find solutions to those problems.
In my opinion, intelligence cannot be gauged solely by looking at a student's academic performance, as good grades, to me, are simply an indication of one's level of self-discipline and effort towards their academic cause. Because all it takes is consistent effort and attention to detail, any student can improve their academic performance.
In most studies, the correlation between grades and self-discipline was found to be 67%, which is more than twice as high as the correlation between grades and intelligence, which was found to be 32%.
The results of an academic test are not indicative of a person's true intelligence; rather, intelligence can only be gauged based on the quantity of information possessed and the individual's ability to put that information to use in a given setting.
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
A person's intelligence can be quantified by your IQ score. A student (let's say student A) who puts in a lot of effort may actually receive fewer marks than a student (let's say student B) who studied only the topics that were most relevant to him or her in an examination if that student gets a repeat of the same questions. Using the students' grades as a yardstick, one might come to the conclusion that student B is more intelligent than student A. This is a possibility for anyone who examines the students' grades.
One more illustration is that of a student, let's call them student A, who is trying to cram for an upcoming test (the act of cramming refers to the process of trying to store as much information as possible in your working memory in preparation for an upcoming test) and student B, who concentrates on comprehending what they are reading but ultimately does not cover as much ground. The results are in, and it turns out that student A did significantly better than student B. Following a period of time, student A forgot what was read to them. When comparing A and B's grades, it is easy conclusion that A is the more intelligent of the two students. Is this really the case, though?
There are some people who are intelligent despite not having attended a school, demonstrating that it is not necessary for all of us to go to school in order to be intelligent. The more you learn, whether formally or informally, the more intelligent you will become. This holds true regardless of the setting in which the learning takes place. Although genetics play a part in intelligence, this factor is far from decisive because of the fact that one's intelligence can be improved.
