Wayne,
 
I am glad that you have asked this question.  Intelligence is a controversial issue, because it is not a single thing.  People have been debating how to measure intelligence for years.  There have been multiple standard systems for measuring one’s intelligence; one example is an IQ (Intelligent Quotient).  Dictionary.com lists several definitions for intelligence, such as one’s natural ability to learn or one’s knowledge of a particular situation.  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/intelligence
 
Everyone is intelligent in some way or another, as we all have different strengths.  Some people are more mathematically oriented, while others are better at language or physical activity.  You can check out this article on Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences to learn more about this:
http://www.education.com/reference/article/Gardners-multiple-intelligences/
 
Here is another article that provides more information about Gardner’s 8 intelligences:
http://www.education.com/reference/article/eight-intelligences/
 
Nonetheless, the important thing is not what your IQ is, but what you do with your natural abilities.  Making change for the better in the world does not always depend on your intelligence, but more importantly on your motivation, your kindness, and your will power.  Leave your mark on the world with your good deeds.  That is the most intelligent act of all.  I hope this helps.
 
Best,
 
Hayley

I personally think that intelligence is not one single area. Some people may have a higher ability to learn sports than others and some may grasp math quicker. Intelligence is simply your ability to grasp a concept or concepts. You may have a genius that can play Mozart at age five or six. The reason is because his brain grasped the music concepts quickly and retained it. Here are some links I posted about it. You may have a child with Autism that is a genius in some other area.... Very interesting topic and being debated presently.

You may want to look into Howard Gardner's work as well..

Thank you for submitting your question. It is an excellent one.  These days there is a lot more research recognizing a variety of intelligences beyond the traditional academic definition, using I.Q.  Education.com has a lot of great articles discussing the definition of intelligence and highlighting researcher, Howard Gardner, who’s known for developing the theory of Multiple Intelligences.  I think part of what makes a great global society is that human beings have a variety of talents and intelligences.  If we were all the same, life wouldn’t be as interesting.
 
There are several articles on Education.com that describe intelligence.    Start with this one.  http://www.education.com/reference/article/intelligence-learning-children/  
 
Here’s a link to a topic hub for information on “Intelligence Refined,” where you’ll find additional articles that should shed some light on the definition of intelligence and how it is evolving in scope. http://www.education.com/topic/child-intelligence-defined/
 
I hope this helps!  
 
Best regards,
Lori

Wow- that is a million dollar question!  Scientists, psychologists, sociologists, etc. have been researching "intelligence" for a long time.  Some people look at intelligence as cognitive/thinking abilities.  Many believe that intelligence in innate rather gained with life experieces.  Others look at emotional intelligence.  There is also a group of people that don't think intelligence measures anything accurately but that we should look only on learning styles and learning strengths and weaknesses.
 
When it comes to understanding "intelligence" or "IQ testing"  I think you will find the information on the website for National School Psychologists (written for parents) of value.  Check out the website I have added.

Hi wayne5800, I thought you might be interested in this article that discusses multiple intelligences.  It discusses how intelligence is not just one thing and so offers a “theory of multiple intelligences,” which contains nine different types of intelligence. So there might not be one single answer on why some people have a lot of intelligence while some people do not because intelligence can be measured in all different ways.  The article also discusses a model of intelligence by Sternberg which includes only three types of intelligence.Intelligence is a controversial issue because people measure intelligence in many ways! The link for the article can be found below. I hope this helps!

Intelligence is hard to measure due to the different types of cognitive abilities and thinking processes, however in todays society political correctness tries to even the playng field, focusing on the nurture side of the dabate and denying empirical and logically intuitive evidence. For example many children are just brighter, naturally. Men have been proven to have higher IQs, the vast majority of geniuses are men, this is an evolutionary imperative as a result of our reproductive system, women's IQs and abilities are grouped mostly around the median, men's IQs are spread across the spectrum(with an average advantage), so there are exponentially more males the further up the intelligence scale one goes. This is so females can more easily identify superior males if there are big differences, and the men selected will be more intelligent than the best of a group of average males, so humanity's intellect improves more rapidly. Women have evolved to be able to control all the variables in the nest environment to ensure the survival of their offspring, this is why their IQs are more grouped around the median to ensure minimal competency to multitask all the variables, this is why they make such good organisers. Men and women have different strengths but political correctness causes the media to ignore the evolutionary IQ advantage that men have, this is wrong.