What is intelligence? I think that this is a question we all wonder about at some point in our lives. Is intelligence determined from how much we learn and are able to retain from books? Or is it linked more closely with our ability to function in everyday society? Another question that comes to mind when I think about intelligence is: Is it something we are born with or something that we have to work for and, also, how much affect does our upbringing have? An article written by Dr. Michael W. Kraus suggests that intelligence is largely affected by socioeconomics. In his paper he sites research by Kurt Lewin, a psychologist from the early 1900’s. Mr. Lewin opinion is that intelligence is largely affected by, not only genetics, but also by …show more content…
My Dad was born with severe dyslexia, which a reading disorder that is fairly common but still very difficult to live with. In the time that my Dad was going through school dyslexia was something that was not as highly recognized as it is in today’s schools. Back in the day there were not many, if any, programs that could help kids that had learning disabilities. Because the teachers did not address the problem my Dad was forced to struggle through school the best he could, barely being able to read. I am not really sure how he did that, but he did. When my dad decided to go back to college when he was in his mind twenties, he was presented with a choice. Would he pursue a degree despite the fact that reading was extremely difficult for him or should he choose to just chose a different career path that did not require a degree. As you might have guessed, he chose to get his degree. He had to reteach himself to read, and he had to study a least twice as hard as the average student in order to get through college. The reason I include this story in this paper is because my dad made a choice with his intelligence. Not to say that my dad is not really smart because he is but, he may have not been the kind of smart that most people think of. He chose though to work hard and grow his mind and he was rewarded with a college