The difference between Intelligence & Wisdom!
Samiel
Member Posts: 156
I have a buddy in my gaming circle who puts this brilliantly when asked this by new roleplayers:
"Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad!"
Anyone else have any other good ones?
"Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad!"
Anyone else have any other good ones?
2
Comments
A person with high Intelligence knows a lot of facts, can easily recall them, and can quickly absorb new facts.
A person with high Wisdom has really well thought-out, insightful opinions and is good at reading people.
An Intelligent man invents a doomsday device.
A Wise man decides never to use it.
Mind you I don't think an IQ test is a very good judge of intelligence in real life, just theoretically speaking
All I'm saying is I've taken an IQ test, and one of the first questions I was asked was something to the effect of who George Washington is, or who was the first president of the United States.
I guess in something similar to the salad example I would say, intelligence is how sharp your knife is, and wisdom is how well you've learned to use it. They can make up for one another somewhat, but they're not the same thing and they can't fully take each other's place.
The closest construct I can think of thats in vogue today is a set of models on human cognition collectively referred to as "dual process" models.
the basic idea is that cognition can be generally categorized as either "reflexive" (aka "type one")or "reflective" (type two).
Reflexive cognition is generally considered automatic, effortless, conformist, statistically blind, "fast and frugal", biased, heuristic, inflexible, sentimental etc.
Reflexive cognition is considered effortful, better with numbers and in novel situations, rational limited and so on.
But this is a gross oversimplification. For example, skill expertise is governed primarily by "type one thinking" and generally involves superior "information processing" in the domain of expertise. further, there is evidence that the way information is originally categorized/taught influences how well it's used in novel situations.
If you've ever tried to learn a new language compare comprehension in the new language with that of your first. or compare driving a car now to how it was when you first learned. You might get a sense of how limited reflection is and how nicest reflexion is.
But this doesn't really work for d &d intelligence and wisdom. Mathematical ability is considered a linchpin of "g factor"theories of intelligence (which I think are wrong btw but not relevant)
But mathematical genius is, among other things, a gift of mathematical intuition. There are simple mathematical problems that the vast majority gets wrong. I'll give you a sample but don't feel too proud if you get it right. I've primed you to reflect on it.
A surprisingly large majority of people get the following problem wrong especially when given little time to answer: "a bat and ball costs $1.10. The bat costs one dollar more than the ball. How much is each?"
Anyway there is a very small percentage of people-even among mathematicians and statisticians!-that get that question wrong. The few that get it right, especially when timed, can be considered candidates for having an unusually good mathematical intuition. But mathematical ability is supposed to be governed by intelligence and intuition by wisdom so which is it?
Also, even people that score high on an iq test can get that question wrong. And what about the iq test? Standardized math tests? we vastly underestimate the role situational factors play in our performance measurements. We tend to think of traits as fixed and innate but there is overwhelming evidence that they aren't.
If you give an math test to a room full of asian woman you can measurably influence the results of the test by asking them to write their gender (which will lower it) or their ethnicity (which will raise it). If you give an iq test to a room full of african americans they will score within the normal range unless you tell them it's an iq test!
Most traits are situational and variable at least to some degree. People can get better at taking iq tests (e.g. See the flynn effect). Even an individuals personal theory of intelligence can influence their scores (for example the scores discussed above will normalize if a developmental theory of intelligence is discussed)
It's great fun to talk about these things in a game but the real worlds is much more messy...
Unfortunately, 'these terms are meaningless in the real world because the real world is so complicated' is not really an acceptable answer when it comes to the question of how mechanics represent your character as a pseudo-realistic entity.
My mistake
For instance, Edwin the Red Wizard has a very high Intelligence, but a merely average Wisdom. This means he knows much and learns fast, but isn't particularly empathetic, perceptive, or intuitive. He also has a habit of whispering asides to himself that some of the other characters can hear, which is very unwise. ;P
Wisdom = religion
in other words rely on facts or rely on beliefs. Neither must produce results though, so it is entirely possible to be stupid as hell and still base an opinion on facts, so an intelligent guy is not necessarily smart, and a guy with lots of opinions is not necessarily wise. These are just the possible ways to a solution, not the solution itself.
Wisdom 3
Behavior : AHA! That's an ogre berserker. They use two handed weapons as if they were one handed, they aren't that fast but are kinda sturdy as hell. Their motto is to smash things to goo as the-- *PC asplodes from Ogre berserker attack*
Intelligence 10
Wisdom 18
Behavior : HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, RUUUN, EVERYONE RUN!!!!
Intelligence 3
Wisdom 18
Behavior : Ugh... argh... me run fast... cus I 'fraid. A big big lot!
Basically, intelligence is your ability to reason and use logic when presented with a problem and no prior knowledge. An example would be handing someone a rubix cube without telling them what it is (assume in this case that the person has never heard of one before) - an intelligent person will realise what the device does and attempt to solve it correctly. The level of intelligence will dictate the speed at which this occurs.
Wisdom on the other hand is usually referred to as collected knowledge or intuition. An example of this is when you see a person wearing dark clothes and a hooded top loitering next to an ATM cash machine in a remote location at night. A wise person will recognise the situation as potentially dangerous and will regard the individual with suspicion. This could be either due to a gut feeling (intuition) or because they were in a similar position previously and got robbed (memory/knowledge). The level of wisdom in this case may alter your behaviour and perception of the situation, e.g. you may approach the ATM with caution or leave the area.
These may not be the best examples but it's all I could think of right now.
To stay within D&D terms, the skills associated with each stat in D&D, 3rd Edition:
Intelligence:
Appraise, Craft, Decipher Script, Disable Device, Forgery, Knowledge, Search, and Spellcraft, plus it affects the number of skillpoints gained per level.
Wisdom
Heal, Listen, Profession, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks plus Will saving throws.
Intelligence governs crafting and knowledge of craftlike skills (Craft, Appraise, Decipher script, Forgery) plus the various knowledgable skills (Knowledge and Spellcraft). It also governs active perception (Search) and disabling fine machinery (disable device) and increases your learning speed (by giving you more skillpoints with more intelligence).
Wisdom has the passive perceptions (Listen, Spot, Sense motive) as well governing the more self-sufficient skills (Heal, Survival). While it does not give crafting skill, it does improve the ability to run a business (Profession) It also grants the character a stronger will to resist the influence of others.
From that, we can conclude that the D&D divide between the two stats has Intelligence govern learning and skill, and Wisdom governs observation and self-suffiency.
An intelligent, low wisdom character would spend days reading books or crafting items while forgetting the world around him. While he's busy, you can stroll into his house and take his stuff, brushing him off with an easy lie if he makes his (abysmally low) spot check (bluff vs abysmally low Sense Motive). He is focused on one task and fulfills that to perfection. He may understand great parts of the world, but easily misses the bigger picture.
A wise, low intelligence character knows what's going on. His high spot and listen skills alert him of all the things people around him talk about and his Sense Motive skill tells him what people aren't saying but feeling. He may not understand everything or get why neighbour Bob is worried about losing his job (he's got money right?), but he can see that neighbour Bob's sour mood affects his wife, children and pets and ruins his chances of finding another job if he does get fired. He is in tune with the world around him, even if he doesn't understand how it works exactly.
But see, there are more factors to the mind and person then just what's on your char sheet. I've been considered a genius by iq tests and everyone i'm around for awhile, but i lack common sense, but i have a good amount of wisdom.
but then i'm odd so who know? :P
For instance Jed Clampett from the Beverly Hillbillies was not a very intelligent man, but he was quite wise. Whereas a mad scientist like Hienz Doofinshmirtz (I have no idea if you know the reference) Is intelligent but lacks the wisdom for his evil schemes to work properly.