A few modern philosopher's assert that an individual's intelligence is a fixed quantity, a quantity which cannot be increased. We must protest and react against this brutal pessimism.... With practice, training, and above all, method, we manage to increase our attention, our memory, our judgment and literally to become more intelligent than we were before.
Interpretation
Intelligence can be developed through effort and practice, contrary to the belief that it is fixed.
Alfred Binet challenges the notion that intelligence is immutable and encourages a proactive approach to personal development. He emphasizes that through methodical training and practice, individuals can enhance their mental faculties, including attention, memory, and judgment, thus allowing them to become smarter than they were initially. This perspective promotes a growth mindset, highlighting the importance of persistence and dedication in fostering intellectual growth.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal development, one could use this quote to inspire students to believe in their ability to learn and grow.
Some recent philosophers seem to have given their moral approval to these deplorable verdicts that affirm that the intelligence of an individual is a fixed quantity, a quantity that cannot be augmented. We must protest and react against this brutal pessimism; we will try to demonstrate that it is founded on nothing.
Far too often, girls are not given the space and opportunities they need to achieve their full potential.
Ah yes, the head is full of books. The hard part is to force them down through the bloodstream and out through the fingers.
Students and scholars of all kinds and of every age aim, as a rule, only at information, not insight. They make it a point of honour to have information about everything, every stone, plant, battle, or experiment and about all books, collectively and individually. It never occurs to them that information is merely a means to insight, but in itself is of little or no value.
In the new economy, information, education, and motivation are everything.
I'm a visual thinker, really bad at algebra. There's others that are a pattern thinker. These are the music and math minds. They think in patterns instead of pictures. Then there's another type that's not a visual thinker at all, and they're the ones that memorize all of the sports statistics, all of the weather statistics.
There are books of the same chemical composition as dynamite. The only difference is that a piece of dynamite explodes once, whereas a book explodes a thousand times.
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