<p>Is it just me of are grades a very poor measurement of intelligence? Of everyone in the top 50 ranks in my school, I would only place 5 of them at or above what I consider my level. I'm not trying to be arrogant but everyone else is just..stupid. I feel like I'm just crazy and cocky, but the 5 people I mentioned all tell me they feel the same way...</p>
<ol>
<li>You’re overestimating yourself. </li>
<li>Below the top 50 they’re even worse.</li>
</ol>
<p>Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s just you. BTW, your methodology likely leaves a lot to be desired. E.G. Are you considering social life, or the ability to communicate, or the hardships within one’s own family?</p>
<p>Grades don’t measure intelligence, but they do play somewhat of a factor. I’m pretty sure there is a correlation between the two for the most part.</p>
<p>Are you sure they’re stupid? I’m in the top of my class and not until these past few months have they realized I was the person who was “beating” them. I act pretty stupid to people at times.</p>
<p>OP, what’s your rank?</p>
<p>I don’t think its just you. Almost everyone at some part of their life has felt some superiority to another just like some parts you feel inferior. The truth is that the kids in the top either: Try hard and deserve their grades or cheat. Cheaters will face karma so don’t worry about that. :-P</p>
<p>On another note answering your question, grades demonstrate your ability to comprehend and apply knowledge. Some schools demand a more in-depth application of your knowledge while others just skim the surface. </p>
<p>So to answer you question, grades do measure intelligence, but not to the extent in which you can say you’re smarter than others.</p>
<p>I just mean I’m pretty sure at least 50% of them cheated their way or kissed up. I don’t mean stupid as in not knowing things and not understanding. I mean “airheadedness”. Cluelessness. They just don’t “get it” as quick. That’s what I mean.</p>
<p>It’s different, joking around and acting stupid is one thing, but just being dopey and not catching on quickly…
I’m making myself look like a real jerk, but I’m just saying…
They’re not innovative. They learn the textbook, not the reasons behind it.
They’re highly ranked because they study the test over and over. Not because they’re intelligent and deductive like the others I mentioned.</p>
<p>That doesn’t make them inherently stupid/airheaded/whatever. Critical thinking can be learned, but they’re just doing what they’ve always been taught to do. It’s the way most people operate in my experience - you learn stuff for the test and then forget it. It doesn’t mean they lack the ability to think critically, but they don’t want to and see no reason to because high school tends to reward shallow learning.</p>
<p>Grades aren’t meant to be a measure of intelligence. They are supposed to measure how well a student learned the material. </p>
<p>Hardworking student + “not being smart” = Good Grades
Lazy student + “being smart” = Good Grades (sometimes)</p>
<p>Intelligence has no bearing once you get out into the real world, so long as get the job done. Why does the input matter if the output is the same?</p>
<p>This argument is based loosely on the concept of intelligence which is already impossible to debate considering that there’s no actual way of measuring the ability of people in comparison to others.</p>
<p>It’s confusing. I too, believe that there may be some people who don’t deserve their rank. Your defining intelligence is those who grasp concepts easily; but, maybe the people at the top grasp the concept on a deeper level. Maybe they perform better on tests. Maybe they’re just lucky. Grades don’t measure intelligence, but then again, nothing can measure intelligence.</p>
<p>^^
Because thinking intelligently (which to me doesn’t mean the same thing as being born intelligent) can make your life more fulfilling, I guess. Not necessarily happier, and I think smarter people are probably more depressed than average anyway, but I think it must be rewarding on some level to be more aware and knowledgeable and less worried about your own problems because you’re conscious of your relative insignificance in the grand scheme of things.</p>
<p>See every now and then, ill be feeling real inadequate and ill feel like the stupid one, but then I look at others and I realize…
I don’t know. I just feel like if you put everyone in a high stress quick paced environment (when learning quickly is critical) like say college finals week, an emergency situation, or a very quickly timed test with un-studible(Thats not a word…) material, I know for a fact the people I mentioned and myself would be sooooo much more equipped than most high ranks.</p>
<p>I also think that you have quite a high opinion of yourself. I actually feel the opposite, most days. I had an incredibly high rank when I left my old HS (2 out of 1200), but I wasn’t nearly as deserving as many of my peers. I actually respect those who put in unbelivable amounts of time and effort into their classes-- that’s really what’s going to take them far in life. Their work ethic is part terrifying and part humbling-- but it’s what is going to make them successful, as opposed to a self-styled egotistic jerk.</p>
<p>You’ll quickly learn that there will always be somebody who’s going to get it better than you, and it’s the people willing to acknowledge their faults that will learn the quickest and improve the fastest. Once you realize you know nothing, you can begin to learn something. If you keep on thinking you have it all (and speak only to people who tell you have it all), you’ll be stuck there for a while.</p>
<p>
Well, sure you’d be more “equipped” but that’s not the environment you’re in. You’re not playing the right game.</p>
<p>“I know for a fact the people I mentioned and myself would be sooooo much more equipped than most high ranks.”</p>
<p>Why? What would you be able to do differently from them?</p>
<p>You guys are completely missing the point I’m trying to get at. I guess a better question is, what do you define intelligence with? Grades? Know how? Ability to pick up knowledge? Ability to stay focused and work hard?</p>
<p>You miss the point. I’m not just trying to bash on the people at my school, I’m just trying to understand what you think. “I can’t be the only one” who defines intelligence like this.</p>
<p>I assume that you may not at the very top, but, considering what you’ve said, I guess you strive to understand the knowledge presented at a deeper level. This is what I’ve done, and it could be that maybe the people at the top are those only skimming the surface of what you’ve dove into.</p>
<p>Maybe this is why, you feel like you deserve to have a higher rank. That’s why I agreed with “you not being the only one who thinks like this.”</p>
<p>You’re trying to tell yourself that your way of learning is superior to everyone elses’, and you want us to agree with you. </p>
<p>It’s like a guy working 2 hours a day every day studying for a course to get a 99, while his slacker friend gets a 94 from working 1 hour a day. They both get As (the same output), but the first guy tries to tell himself that all that work wasn’t for naught, and he creates hypothetical situations in his mind in order to make himself feel better.</p>
<p>Don’t have the mindset of the first guy. People like him spend their entire lives wallowing in a sea of jealousy.</p>
<p>No, I accept my rank (top 30). I didn’t work at all. If I wanted to be valedictorian, maybe I could, and maybe I couldn’t. I’m not questioning my rank; I wasn’t unfairly treated, I deserve it. I just really want to know what you define an intelligent person as.</p>