Intelligence

[Anpanman]

What constitutes 'intelligence' and how does one go about becoming more intelligent?
Is it IQ scores? Grades? Being proficient and excelling at a certain subject?

I have a notable inferiority complex when it comes to this and I find it intimidating when someone has vastly superior knowledge. I envy these people and I want to learn what they know but it irritates me ever so much because I don't even know where to start. How can I measure my intelligence and my standing relative to the rest of the population?
I did shit in high school and I'm repeating some of my subjects. I'm getting excellent marks so far but honestly I don't see myself getting far anywhere in life. I plan to major in engineering in university but do I have what it takes? If it's not too much of a bother can some of you tell me what I should expect in university if any of you are taking engineering courses?

Sorry I just needed to vent.

[Travis Retriever]

What constitutes 'intelligence' and how does one go about becoming more intelligent?
Is it IQ scores? Grades? Being proficient and excelling at a certain subject?

I have a notable inferiority complex when it comes to this and I find it intimidating when someone has vastly superior knowledge. I envy these people and I want to learn what they know but it irritates me ever so much because I don't even know where to start. How can I measure my intelligence and my standing relative to the rest of the population?
I did shit in high school and I'm repeating some of my subjects. I'm getting excellent marks so far but honestly I don't see myself getting far anywhere in life. I plan to major in engineering in university but do I have what it takes? If it's not too much of a bother can some of you tell me what I should expect in university if any of you are taking engineering courses?

Sorry I just needed to vent.

Speaking as an undergrad in Electrical Engineering:
Lab skills and being able to think on your feet and improvise would have helped me a LOT in the Electric Circuits Lab course I took.
Also, being able to handle math at the higher level (not just analytically, but also understand the proofs, should they be given to you) tends to be helpful.
More likely than not, you'll use software (PSpice for designing electrical circuits to test and MATLAB to design filters and write programs to help solve problems).

Being able to collaborate and work in groups both in labs and on assignments in both person and from distance (phone, e-mail, etc) is also very important.

As for intelligence, I guess it helps, but then, I'm not a psychology double major.  As long as you pass your general studies requirements, you should be fine in other areas besides the usual math/science stuff.
It definitely helps to excel in math and science (and hands on building stuff: e.g. knowing how to fix a car or whatever; depending on what type of engineering you're thinking of going into) as well.
I would recommend trying to get into an internship or co-op to get your foot in the door in college if you can.

[Anpanman]

Speaking as an undergrad in Electrical Engineering:
Lab skills and being able to think on your feet and improvise would have helped me a LOT in the Electric Circuits Lab course I took.
Also, being able to handle math at the higher level (not just analytically, but also understand the proofs, should they be given to you) tends to be helpful.
More likely than not, you'll use software (PSpice for designing electrical circuits to test and MATLAB to design filters and write programs to help solve problems).

Being able to collaborate and work in groups both in labs and on assignments in both person and from distance (phone, e-mail, etc) is also very important.

As for intelligence, I guess it helps, but then, I'm not a psychology double major.  As long as you pass your general studies requirements, you should be fine in other areas besides the usual math/science stuff.
It definitely helps to excel in math and science (and hands on building stuff: e.g. knowing how to fix a car or whatever; depending on what type of engineering you're thinking of going into) as well.
I would recommend trying to get into an internship or co-op to get your foot in the door in college if you can.

Yeah Electrical Engineering is definitely the top choice I want to go into but before I do I want to get my hands on a syllabus or something so I can get more of an idea of what I have to face.

[Travis Retriever]

Yeah Electrical Engineering is definitely the top choice I want to go into but before I do I want to get my hands on a syllabus or something so I can get more of an idea of what I have to face.

Did you try using Google to find out your University's Electrical Engineering faculty names and contact info?  You can then e-mail then asking for a sample syllabus.  That's what I'd do.

Either that or trying to find a syllabus on your university's website.

[Goaticus]

I've heard lots of theories about intelligence, but if you're looking for advice on how to gain knowledge or gain some sort of skill my advice would be to consider intelligence a habit. Plug away at it and if you don't have some severe neurological deficiency you should be able to figure it out.

[Lord T Hawkeye]

Step 1: Utter the following three words

I don't know


If you can do that, you're already smarter than many of the people I've debated with.