<p>The title of the thread pretty much says it all. I'm asking because I've heard that the college I go to is very intellectual, and it's what pops up into people's heads when they think of "intellectual colleges." But what is intellect in the first place? People say that at Swarthmore there are plenty of intellectual conversations. I would say that most conversations at Swarthmore are casual. And what is an intellectual conversation anyway? One author said that Intellect is "intelligence stored up and made into habits of discipline, signs and symbols of meaning, chains of reasoning and spurs to emotion--a shorthand and a wireless by which the mind can skip connectives, recognize ability, and communicate truth." But what does that mean? I've read that sentence so many times, but I can't figure it out.</p>
<p>I need to know where you got that quote about intellect. I’m writing a really important paper on stream of consciousness in James Joyce’s Ulysses, and that quote would fit perfectly into my essay.</p>
<p>Intellect is the ability to use big words that nobody understands/cares.</p>
<p>rockermcr: I got it from a book called The House of Intellect, by Jacques Barzun.</p>
<p>No, I’m serious; like, I actually want to know what intellect is. It’s not a deep philosophical question. I just want to know.</p>
<p>Google and/or dictionaries are your friend.</p>
<p>It’s what helps increase your mana pool.</p>
<p>schiesser: I did look it up in the dictionary but the definition is kind of vague: “the power of knowing.” Doesn’t really help. I mean, what kind of conversation would be called intellectual? What would be an example?</p>
<p>Well different people define it differently. For some it’s just the raw knowledge – more books you read and store in your memory, more intelligent you are (you can use the knowledge you have gained from them for the intellectual discussions.) For others it’s an ability to think creatively and find solutions to original problems, solve iq tests, etc. It really depends on how you define it. Term ‘intellectual conversation’ can be usually applied to conversations about, say, history, quantum physics, astronomy, or any other ‘deep’ knowledge that you would generally not converse about in your everyday life.</p>
<p>think of life experience as a bunch of dots on a piece of paper.
intellect is the number of lines you have in between the dots.</p>
<p>To me, intellect is the ability to apply what you have learned. So, an intellectual conversation would be the ability to discuss a topic at a deeper level than what is commonly reported. For instance, there is a recent story about Japanese Nationals smuggling $134 billion of US Treasury Bonds from Switzerland to Italy. An intellectual conversation might be delving into the many possibilities as to why they were trying to smuggle high quality forgeries that were obviously bogus (who would pay you for a $500 million US Treasury Bearer Bond without authenticating it first?) - subvert the US Dollar?</p>
<p>intellect is the ability to teach yourself. While smart people may be smart simply because they study a lot or have gone to graduate school etc. an intelligent person has the ability to build upon knowledge.</p>
<p>Alone, you seem to be equating intellect with intelligence.</p>
<p>fizix2, I never thought of it like that. Is that something you made up? </p>
<p>It seems like the general consensus is that intellect is the ability to use reason and a common body of knowledge to think about things in more depth. Intellectual conversation doesn’t have to do with academic subjects, but the reasoning behind the arguments probably relate to some aspect of academia.</p>
<p>A lot of times, “intellectual” simply means pretentious.</p>
<p>dchow: yes .</p>
<p>dchow08, among the many discussions that I had at Amherst that I considered “intellectual,” the topics included the following: affirmative action, gender roles, abortion, the death penalty.</p>
<p>These discussions shared the qualities of being objective, open-minded, and substantial. Of course, all of them demand human qualities of respect and empathy.</p>
<p>It’s slightly subjective for everyone.</p>
<p>Intellect simply means being a pretentious liberal from New England or NYC.</p>
<p>I’m sure that there are plenty of pretentious intellectuals, but there are plenty of intellectuals who dislike pretentious people. Considering my definition of what it means to be intellectual, I’d consider myself intellectual but not pretentious. Conversely, I’d consider my roommate I had last year pretentious in a way that masks his lack of intellect. </p>
<p>My roommate, I think, was one of those people who utter “wise,” “philosophical” quotes and who brings up people like Socrates just to sound smart and intellectual, but when you actually think about what’s he’s saying, it’s all just a load of crap. I just can’t stand those people.</p>
<p>Well dchow, that’s my point, it depends on how people define it. If you want an official definition, check the dictionary (I think you have already done that though.) People tend to call intelligence intellect, and vice-versa, so I guess you wanted to hear people’s opinions since you posted this on the forum. It is really subjective, and up to you how to use the words in non ‘official’ (dictionary) way.</p>