Intelligence or memory... what's more important in life?
 

I've met plenty of professionals (doctors, lawyers) who must have good memories as they don't come across as being very smart.

Seems like a combination of the two is preferred, but which will take you farther in life - intelligence or memory.

It must be intelligence, cause my memory sucks! ;)
Les

It is all in how the head is wired, some excel at language, some math, some have great ability to visualize things in three dimensions.

I believe intelligence and memory to be relatively closely linked. It would become difficult to apply your intelligence if you could not remember what you had previously learned. Further, I would say that the perception of intelligence is always colored by the quality of communication, how well both parties understand each other.

For example, if a doctor is describing a surgery to you, you might not fully appreciate what a senn is, or if an accountant is trying to explain to a client why they can't take certain deduction, one side or the other in the conversation can get a little quiet, which by no means indicates any lack of brain power.

I would say memory is more important. When you are old and grey, you will cherish the memory of your first kiss much more than the ability to do your taxes, I am not even that grey and already feel that way.

At first glance, I would say memory, as lack of memory means one cannot retain things, and thus cannot achieve intelligence...

Tho my memory sucks, but my comprehension skills are strong and the details make it on notes, so perhaps comprehension is the comparison you're looking for?

good memory is useless if you cant use it on demand,
so is intelligence

i know i'm not stupid, and i my memory is darn good
but i lack the focus and control to apply both optimally

i can't sit down and study something , more often than not, i just look at things, and read , but it never get's recorded , while other stuff i would pay to be able to forget it, but can't

sometimes i need to crack a problem , and it's something that is known to me, but i can't see clear because of other distractions , or because i'm in no troubleshooting mood...or if it's just to trivial to feel bothered about it...

my best moments is when there's extreme workload, where the analytical ones get overwhelmed, that when i suddenly become effective... triage,fast and practical workarounds, snap decisions, and they are off good quality too


instinct basically, that works for me , but only when the pressure pushes normal cluttered thinking in a corner...

Ummmm.... Ahhhh.......

What was that question again?

I think you mean "cannot retain knowledge". Intelligence is the ability to reason, not the storage of information. Totally different.

At any rate I think in the corporate/professional world memory is more important as the less you think about what you're doing the better, if you know what I mean:)

Truth be told I think a third human attribute, drive, is the most important. Most people are intelligent enough and have enough memory ability to be great successes in this world. The difference is few have drive. A "don't quit, do what I have to do no matter what" attitude is the secret to most highly successful people.

My observations anyway.

Ever since I saw the movie "Memento" I've been fascinated with memory. The movie is about a man with a disease where he has no memory, none, beyond a few minutes time. He can meet someone over and over, or do the same thing over and over and he has no idea. He is forced to write everything down, even to tattoo the important things on his skin, in order to have any frame of reference for his life.

It made me realize that our personality, our character, practically everything that makes us who we are, is dependent upon memory.

Imagine waking up every morning not knowing who you are, where you are, who your family is, where you live. Now imagine sitting in a chair for 15 minutes and the same thing happens, the person that just went to the kitchen that you shared an important moment with is now a stranger. And every 15 minutes you are a stranger to yourself.

Without memory we have nothing.

I have a fairly fast processor but my hard drive is fragmented. What was that again?

You need both:

Intelligence without memory --> useless
Memory without Intelligence --> a book

What I think would be a better question: Which is more important to success, Intelligence or Wisdom? Intelligence relates more to your ability to think in the abstract. It is crucial for one's ability to manipulate one's environment, and thus is useful for "success". Intelligence doesn't always lead to wisdom, however. Wisdom is gained through experience coupled with intelligence, and thus is rooted in empirical knowledge. I've known a lot of extremely bright people with limited real-life experience, and little wisdom. Conversely, I know several moderately intelligent people whose judgement and wisdom I trust. It's almost impossible for an 18 yr old kid to have much wisdom, although they might have a genius IQ. Age and experience are necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for the acquistion of wisdom.

P.S. A great example of an environment where there is an abundance of intelligence with a dearth of experience is your typical college campus, where wisdom is in short supply.

Location, location, location....

Knowledge without thought is labor wasted.
Thought without knowledge is dangerous.

Forgot who said that or what it means, but I think it's important (if not relevant). I'm so confused...:(

I was a pretty smart kid till I got some cavities in my teeth...

My fillings started to pick up radio transmissions from another galaxy, but the mercury in the fillings caused so much brain damage I couldn't understand them.

Wisdom trumps both.

I don't think either one means **** if you don't have a good work ethic.

I am told I am a pretty intelligent person. I was in 'gifted' programs when I was in school. But none of that means **** because I never really had the work ethic to do anything with it (I'm not exactly homeless at the moment :) ).

I will tell my own children that only thing that matters is putting in the effort. If your smart, great, you get a little edge. But if are not willing to work, you are worthless to the world.

Plently of janitors with philosophy PHDs out there......

Pure truth there.

I vote for kindness. And I'm not just being a goody two shoes when I say that. Neither intelligence nor memory can "buy" you happiness. But kindness can. Plus, it has been my experience that nobody ever succeeds at anything completely alone in life. People generally accomplish things together. So if you lack a fundemental kindness in your character, your chances of success in life are greatly diminshed. It is possible to be an ********* and succeed. But it isn't very likely.

i completely dissagree on that one

for one thing , beeing nice & kind won't help much if you have to much @ssholes in your area

for another thing, i know a bunch of @ssholes that succeded in life,
they have no morals, or conscience, and have less weight to carry on their shoulders... less drag... hurt someones feelings, tough , there's others you can deal with...no big deal
and if you have a heart made out of ice, you have no feelings that can get hurt either...

Well, all I can say is that my life experience has been different from yours. I've seen many jerks crash and burn because no-one will work with them or deal with them. And the vast majority of the seriously successful people I've known have been fundamentally decent humans. It has been my experience that life is actually much easier when you have people willing to support and help you. YMMV

then those must have been dumb jerks
smart ones figure out how to manipulate people into trusting them. they actually do it without thinking... they lack empathy, it's not even possible to explain them what immoral means, they 'll just nod their head, but they'll think "woteva"

Back to intelligence vs. memory.
A PC with 3GHz processor and no RAM will not work. 2Gb RAM with no processor wont work either. A Porsche motor with 300 hp and no torque won`t make the car move. 200 lb/ft of torque and no power would be useless too. Same goes with memory and intelligence: one is nothing without the other. Now, various combinations of both are possible. But I think that in shool and business, memory is most usefull. A see sucessfull managers who achieve success simply by multitasking. It is the ability to keep track and remembering multiple projects that are going on. And that`ll get you a long way.

Aurel

No offense, but have you looked around lately? Its the a55holes who are running the world.

There definitely seems to be more of them. Rude behavior seems to be more socially acceptable. Consider the "Are you happy?" thread. People have more stuff, but are under more stress to acquire even more - and thus take on more debt and work harder to make more to pay for it all.

I think generosity and relationships are the most important things in life, which is all about "what can I do for the guy next to me." When you have those two down, you can do anything, and have a whole army of people willing to help you succeed.

If your memory sucks you can (or have to) make up for it by thinking more. I know I've "solved" the same mathematical/programming problems again and again because I can't remember how I did it before. I wind up deriving the solution from more basic principles because I can't remember the "answer" or I need to use spell check because I can't remember how to spell a common word.
Ignorance is bliss - I'm a very happy guy. :D
-Chris

Its funny, I am one of the few engineers I know with a horrible memory. It killed me in school when professors had closed book tests. Open book classes were cake. Now adays I just keep my code books within arms reach and try to keep my skills sharp.

What were we talking about?

I have very selective memory. I can't remember what my wife did that pissed me off a year ago, but I remember being pissed off. (My wife can remember all of the details when I piss her off...) I can remember what size wrench is used on a specific part of my car or how to dissassemble a complicated part.

I can't seem to remember $h!t at work.

My wife has a bumper sticker on her flight bag: If ignorance is bliss then why aren't more people happy?

Motivation.

You aren't going to have experiences worth remembering if you don't get off your a$$ and do something. And you aren't going to apply your intelligence without motivation. Trust me, I have to develop more of a work ethic and I think it's my weak point. This kind of discipline is invaluable.

The distincition between good memory and intelligence may be illustrated by looking at the California Bar Exam.

Each year in California, about 2000 law school students graduate from law school. These individuals consist of a group of 2000 students who have the book smarts. They have good memory and are able to regergitate the law to their professors.

Each year in Calfiornia about 2000 law school graduates take the California bar exam. This requires the application of what one learns in a book (memory) to the situation (intelligence). Less than one-half pass the bar exam.

I was ultra-disciplined in college.

I could recall the exact words of any lecture or visualize the page a piece of information was on. I did quite well on tests, often getting 100%.

Since getting into the workforce I have gotten lazy.

My father was very intelligent and had a great memory. He took his 7th grade education and worked his way to the top of a worldwide steel fabrication company, became a RE broker and owned several businesses, loads of real estate. He could remember and apply engineerering formulas like you wouldn't believe. He could remember measurements of braces on oil platforms, lengths of rafters he cut 20 years before on houses he built, anything and everything. nothing was forgotten, nothing he couldn't learn. Alzsheimers got him and destroyed his mind. He went very far with his basic education. I believe the thing that held him back though, was the fact he was a mean old bastard. He treated his family, friends and workers terribly. Intelligence and memory will get you ahead in life, but a bad personality can hold you back from achieving your full potential. He has been in a nursing home for 10+ years now. Just a lump of flesh they move from place to place. Everyone remembers him for his meaness and not for the things he accomplished in life. although he treated me worse than anyone else, I respect and remember him for all he was able to accomplish through intelligence, wonderful memory, hard work and ambition, with just a basic education. Just a little respect and kindness to others along with the memory and intelligence would have made the complete package.