Smart, intelligent, wise, brilliant — what’s the difference?
People have told me, “You’re so smart, Rachel.” That’s nice to hear! Please, continue your praise. ;p
We call each other intelligent less often. Wise is more reserved for older folks. Brilliant seems to be a confusing term when describing people. Let me tell you what I mean.
Smarts
There are two types of smarts: street smarts and book smarts. I hope you have both.
Street smarts mean you are aware of your surroundings and know how to prepare for and respond to various types of adversity. You won’t invite trouble and you’ll know how to handle it if it does come your way. Book smarts mean you’re studious and good at school. You pass tests with good grades. You can spout off facts, handle math and science, and make references to art and literature. People who are good at trivia are considered smart.
Both of these are good to have in your arsenal but if I could only have one, I’d have street smarts. At least I’d know how to minimize my chances of getting my ass kicked, and if it did get kicked, I’d know how to probably stop it from happening again. Street smarts mean you probably won’t let pride be an obstacle when opting for practicality so you can care for yourself and your loved ones.
I see book smarts being celebrated quite a bit, but it’s more of a status symbol and not so useful in daily life. There’s confusion about how the smart kids in school, and the college educated (the higher ranked the school, the better), will make all the money and have the best lives. That’s actually not logical. Yes, some of these people will have good lives, but it’s in no way a given that because you’re book smart, you’ll do well in life. If you go to an Ivy League or similar school, you will have a chance at being part of the elite network that runs the world. And that will mean you’re set (for a certain type of life). But education and college in themselves won’t save you from anything. Your life will still involve suffering. It will still ask you to make deals that make you uncomfortable. You will need grit, backbone, and courage to navigate it all. They don’t teach you that in school. It’s not part of the cirriculum.
Intelligence
If you have a wealth of information (book smarts), have honed your critical thinking skills, and have a brain that’s strong at making connections between seemingly unrelated pieces of information (the seat of creativity), congratulations! You’re intelligent.
Intelligence is very useful on a daily basis. It makes you powerful. People cannot buy intelligence, and it’s often mistyfing when it’s witnessed. Intelligent people can quickly assess what’s being presented to them, determine whether it stacks up factually and logically, and expose any holes. They can also pinpoint where they might be confused, and further explore that area before arriving at a conclusion. Wit and intelligence go together, so intelligent people can be refreshing and a lot of fun.
Intelligence means considering new ideas constantly, and not having blinders on to one’s own experiences and bias. It’s not scary for an intelligent person to try on an idea that may be foreign to them, and challenge their preconceived notions about how the world should be. Intelligent people have the perspective to know that their views are limited, and they need to constantly work at expanding them by entertaining new ideas, lest they will lose this muscle they’ve worked so hard to build. Intelligence is something that we do.
Sensitivity
I recently learned from Krishnamurti that sensitivity is when your inner experiences line up with your outer experiences. Often there’s a disconnect. People believe their inner world — thoughts and emotions — are separate from their outer world — other people, the physical world in which they live. They’re most definitely bound together, and they influence each other every moment.
The idea of success in America is typically about money and power. It’s about succeeding in the material world. In this view, sensitivity is an impediment. We need to build a wall around our emotions so we can keep pushing ourselves to achieve. This view is toxic.
Sensitivity means we will experience discomfort and pain, and for many people, this makes them turn away. It’s very sad this is the case because life is comprised of dualities. We can’t have one thing — pleasure — without its opposite — pain. They are bound up in each other. To experience happiness, we must know its opposite. And we are most healthy when we can sit with both.
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same
Wisdom
Sensitivity is crucial to wisdom. And it helps to have quite a few years of experience as a human under your belt.
Wisdom requires objectivity. You can’t be wise if you think every thought you have is worth considering, and every emotion you experience has importance. Wise people have space around their thoughts and emotions. They can keep an eye on them, and choose which ones to engage with and the ones to let flow through them and pass on by.
Wise people see life as a river. They know which currents and tides they’ve seen before, and their typical pattern. They can advise people accordingly.
Brilliance
I hear people say things like, “What a brilliant director!” or “She’s a brilliant artist.” That’s high praise. We can have relative brilliance in a specific discipline, which means when you engage your craft, you are completely immersed in it and lose track of time. What you create is bigger than yourself because you relaxed and allowed yourself to work outside of your usual boundaries.
Or we can have general brilliance which means our minds shine like diamonds. When you’re brilliant, you have no more confusion about what reality is. You have complete clarity. The mind, which is different than the brain, is infinite and it is tied in with the heart. You cannot be brilliant if your heart is cloudy. And you can actually achieve brilliance with a clear and open heart. Wisdom and love go hand in hand.
Sensitivity and wisdom lead to brilliance. Book smarts are not required.
I wrote this in an attempt to clarify these terms for myself. Of course, you will probably not agree with all of it, or maybe even any of it. That’s fine! A lot of my life as a philosophy student has been spent defining terms and then arguing over those definitions. Debate is useful when the point of it is clarity, rather than competition. I love clarity because it means my mind is calmer and I have a better chance of seeing the world for what it is. Anything that is a step toward brilliance is worthwhile in my view.
