Difference Between Intellectual and Intelligent

Intellectual vs Intelligent
 

The phrase artificial intelligence and the question “is there any other intelligent race in the universe” is enough to tell all about intelligence to us. We call a boy intelligent if he understands complex concepts easily and shows mental and logical reasoning to solve a problem and arrive at a solution. There is another word in English language called intellectual, which has somewhat similar connotations. People remain confused between intellectual and intelligent because of these perceived similarities. The truth lies somewhere in between as there are subtle differences that will be highlighted in this article.

Intellectual

When we see or hear the word intellectual, the first image that crosses out minds is that of bald and bearded people debating with each other on a burning social issue on television or film makers known for their off beat movies making comments about their films. This means that we think of such people as intelligent, and even these people recognize the fact. A physics professor may be intelligent but, it is when he has attained all possible degrees and is regarded as the best in a place or an institution that he starts to think of himself as an intellectual.

However, in the word of great scholars, all intellectuality is borrowed and none of it is original. One can become a great scholar or mathematician by just understanding the body of knowledge that is already there for thousands of years. These scholars, physicians or philosophers become intellectuals in their own right by simply manipulating and rearranging words here and there in a body of knowledge already there.

However, there is no gainsaying that intellectuals can be, and are often intelligent if we were to discard rare cases where we encounter pseudo intellectuals.

Intelligent

Anyone having a high degree of mental capacity for logic and reasoning qualifies as an intelligent person. Being intelligent does not mean having academic qualifications, as a person living in a tribe in a jungle can be intelligent just like a student studying in Harvard University. High intelligence quotient is considered to be proof enough of a person being intelligent. Anyone, who can make a quick and reasonable judgment when facing a problem, can qualify to be called intelligent. It is not necessary to be a space scientist or a great doctor to be called intelligent. Intelligence does not see age or sex as it is an attribute that is there or not there in an individual.