Intellect vs. Intelligence

In Hofstadter’s “On the Unpopularity of Intellect”, Hofstadter focuses his writing on the qualities of our American society that contribute to the unpopular view of intellect. Before Hofstadter begins to explain these qualities, he first takes the time to explain the commonly unrecognized difference between intellect and intelligence. Even though Hofstadter only includes this explanation in order to clarify a misconception before he goes into his argument, I found this portion of the reading to be one of the more interesting.

I have always thought, like many others, that intellect and intelligence went hand and hand. I viewed people with intelligence and people with intellect alike as intellectuals. Hofstadter does a great job addressing this misconception and spends the needed time to fully clarify the difference between intelligence and intellect. In Hofstadter’s words: “intelligence is an excellence of mind that is employed within a fairly narrow, immediate and predictable range…Intellect, on the other hand, is the critical, creative, and contemplative side of the mind” (Hofstadter 25). Intelligence allows people to grasp and apply concepts while intellect allows people to theorize and develop unknowns. To better explain the differences between the two, Hofstadter uses many diverse examples that clearly support his point. One example that I found very interesting was his example of the engineer. Hofstadter explains how engineers, as well as many other professionals, have “professionally trained intelligence.” Engineers go to school in order to learn an array of various engineering concepts that allow them to be successful in their profession. Hofstadter compares these concepts to instruments that the engineer uses to accomplish his task. Engineers simply grasp concepts that are taught to them and put them to practical use. They do not develop their own concepts, but instead apply preexisting ones, which may make them intelligent people but not intellectuals.

This example, along with many others that Hofstadter includes, allows the reader to fully grasp the difference between intellect and intelligence and enables Hofstadter to lay the foundation for the remainder of his text.