A Match of Intelligence

What is intelligence? Is it how perfect your report card looks? Or is it being born as a prodigy or genius? In “The Secret to Raising Smart Kids” by Stanford professor Carol Dweck, Dweck explains intelligence as a trait that is not fixed, but rather is grown through hard work, effort, and dedication. Contrastingly, in “The Genius of Jobs” by Walter Isaacson, Isaacson stresses genius and intuition, by providing examples of said geniuses like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Albert Einstein. Though the two writers both touch on the same subject of intelligence, Dweck would disagree with Isaacson’s notion of intelligence, and believe that it is too narrow- minded and incomplete.

Dweck views intelligence as something that is based on the amount of effort that you put in and something that can definitely be improved through having a growth mindset, instead of a fixed one. In the section, “Two Views of Intelligence” in her article, Dweck compares two very different groups of learners-helpless and mastery-oriented. Dweck states, “The mastery-oriented children, on the other hand, think intelligence is malleable and can be developed through education and hard work.” (Dweck 122-124). By this quote we can see that she values effort and believes that one’s intellectual skills can surely be expanded. Dweck gives an example of a study of 128 Columbia freshman students who were enrolled in a rigorous chemistry course. She explains, “Although all the students cared about grades, the ones who earned the best grades were those who placed a high premium on learning rather than on showing that they were smart

Yeiji Seo Period 2.4 April 1st, 2016 Mr. Wullbrandt ACC English 09

in chemistry.” (Dweck 187-191). This quote shows that Dweck believes that students who hold a high regard on the learning process are more intelligent than those who do not.

Therefore, Dweck would disagree with and believe that Isaacson’s notion of intelligence, which is that it is closely related to genius and intuition, is narrow-minded and incomplete. In his article, Isaacson describes Steve Jobs and the inspiring words that he said. Isaacson remarks, “Mr. Jobs’s intuition was based not on conventional learning but on experiential wisdom. He also had a lot of imagination and knew how to apply it.” (Isaacson 48-50). By this quote we can understand that Isaacson believes that Steve Jobs was an example of an intelligent person. However, he also believes that Jobs’ intelligence and intuition was based on wisdom gained from experience and his own imagination. Dweck would disagree with this thinking since she believes that learning can improve your intelligence. Isaacson equates