A few modern philosopher's assert that an individual's intelligence is a fixed quantity, a quantity which cannot be increased. We must protest and react against this brutal pessimism.... With practice, training, and above all, method, we manage to increase our attention, our memory, our judgment and literally to become more intelligent than we were before.
Interpretation
Intelligence can be developed through effort and practice, contrary to the belief that it is fixed.
Alfred Binet challenges the notion that intelligence is immutable and encourages a proactive approach to personal development. He emphasizes that through methodical training and practice, individuals can enhance their mental faculties, including attention, memory, and judgment, thus allowing them to become smarter than they were initially. This perspective promotes a growth mindset, highlighting the importance of persistence and dedication in fostering intellectual growth.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal development, one could use this quote to inspire students to believe in their ability to learn and grow.
Some recent philosophers seem to have given their moral approval to these deplorable verdicts that affirm that the intelligence of an individual is a fixed quantity, a quantity that cannot be augmented. We must protest and react against this brutal pessimism; we will try to demonstrate that it is founded on nothing.
For books I want to keep reading, it's definitely the voice. It must be a voice I've never heard before, and it must have its own particular intelligence. By 'voice,' I don't mean vernacular. It has to have its own particular history and world that it inhabits.
One of the most important things that teachers teach students is you, you can work harder. You are mentally tougher than you think.
What we can do is provide the tools, through our educational system, for people to be able to tell sense from nonsense. These tools include the scientific method, skeptical questioning, empirical evidence, verifying sources, etc.
I do feel, in my dreamings and yearnings, so undiscovered by those who are able to help me.
(...) being right all the time acquires a huge importance in education, and there is this terror of being wrong. The ego is so tied to being right that later on in life you are reluctant to accept that you are ever wrong, because you are defending not the idea but your self-esteem. (...) this terror of being wrong means that people have enormous difficulties in changing ideas.
I've always thought of myself as a cattle-handling specialist, a college professor first; autism is secondary.
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