Discuss this Quote- Albert Einstein
1427 sats \ 9 comments \ @grayruby 7 Apr BooksAndArticles
It's time for another edition of Discuss this Quote.
Today, we have a banger from Albert Einstein. You might have heard of him.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination." - Albert Einstein
I like this one but is imagination possible without knowledge?
Let me know your thoughts on the quote.
Cheers, GR
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202 sats \ 4 replies \ @siggy47 7 Apr
I don't know if this is the intended meaning, but it reminds me of the distinction between memorizing facts and being able to apply the facts to novel situations.
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125 sats \ 3 replies \ @grayruby OP 7 Apr
I think you are correct. I don't think it is meant to be taken as literally as I did in my question.
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60 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 7 Apr
I'm going to take it even more literally, then.
There's a common question in intelligence evaluations that goes something like "If you hadn't had breakfast this morning how would you feel right now?"
Very unintelligent people will often respond by saying that the question doesn't make sense because they did eat breakfast. That's knowledge without imagination.
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50 sats \ 1 reply \ @grayruby OP 7 Apr
Interesting. Do you know percentage of respondents would not be able to imagine how they would feel if they had not had breakfast?
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60 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 7 Apr
I don't recall. Tim Pool brings this example up a lot and I do recall that the number is much higher than you'd want it to be.
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60 sats \ 1 reply \ @DiracDelta 7 Apr
It is not about whether it is possible, it is what is the BOTTLENECK, and it rarely is the case that imagination surpasses knowledge for a middle of the road, bright, technical person in any field.
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby OP 8 Apr
I think this is a fair point.
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60 sats \ 1 reply \ @gnilma 7 Apr
I also like this one. I often dislike people calling knowledgeable people smart. I guess it boils down to definitions. Maybe to many people, knowledgeable equates smart, but to me, smart / intelligence means the ability to quickly learn and creatively apply knowledge to different situations.
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21 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby OP 8 Apr
Agree that ability to apply knowledge trumps knowledge itself.
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