cmhardw
Premium Member
I haven't read every post, but I have been following this thread with interest. I would say that I tend to be on the same side as Dene for a lot of the discussion I have read. I think genetics plays a large role, practice can overcome this, but only to a point.
I have an analogy that I've been working on that is how I think of these things. This has no basis in science, and is simply based on observations from my experience. This relates to matters of intelligence and not to things like sports or physical skill.
I think there is a difference between knowledge and intelligence. I define knowledge as what you know, and intelligence as "the relative ease with which you can learn new things." Picture a water tower with a capacity of 1000 liters. The capacity of this tower is like your capacity for knowledge. For most everyone, the capacity for knowledge is enormous. Now picture that there is an opening at the top of this tower where you pour in the water. The size of this opening is your intelligence. A large opening allows you to pour in water quickly. A small opening means you have to pour in water more slowly.
An expert at something is someone who has a water tower that is very full of water (knowledge). The person's intelligence determines how long it took them to fill the tower, but even someone with low intelligence, given enough time and dedication, can gain a tremendous level of knowledge.
However, I do believe that as intelligence increases, so too does the capacity for knowledge. Back to cubing. I think nearly anyone can gain a very high level of knowledge no matter your intelligence, but only up to a point. Those with higher intelligence can learn more easily, and at the very highest levels will also have a slightly higher capacity for knowledge.
I feel like I personally have a large knowledge about cubing, but probably an average or less than average intelligence for it. I've always been very slow to break personal cubing barriers compared to the average, but as long as I stay dedicated and practice a lot I do eventually get there. I don't think I have the capacity for knowledge to get to Feliks level, but I think even I could get sub-10 on average with a tremendous level of effort and dedication. I could be wrong in that prediction, but I think it is not unreasonable.
I have an analogy that I've been working on that is how I think of these things. This has no basis in science, and is simply based on observations from my experience. This relates to matters of intelligence and not to things like sports or physical skill.
I think there is a difference between knowledge and intelligence. I define knowledge as what you know, and intelligence as "the relative ease with which you can learn new things." Picture a water tower with a capacity of 1000 liters. The capacity of this tower is like your capacity for knowledge. For most everyone, the capacity for knowledge is enormous. Now picture that there is an opening at the top of this tower where you pour in the water. The size of this opening is your intelligence. A large opening allows you to pour in water quickly. A small opening means you have to pour in water more slowly.
An expert at something is someone who has a water tower that is very full of water (knowledge). The person's intelligence determines how long it took them to fill the tower, but even someone with low intelligence, given enough time and dedication, can gain a tremendous level of knowledge.
However, I do believe that as intelligence increases, so too does the capacity for knowledge. Back to cubing. I think nearly anyone can gain a very high level of knowledge no matter your intelligence, but only up to a point. Those with higher intelligence can learn more easily, and at the very highest levels will also have a slightly higher capacity for knowledge.
I feel like I personally have a large knowledge about cubing, but probably an average or less than average intelligence for it. I've always been very slow to break personal cubing barriers compared to the average, but as long as I stay dedicated and practice a lot I do eventually get there. I don't think I have the capacity for knowledge to get to Feliks level, but I think even I could get sub-10 on average with a tremendous level of effort and dedication. I could be wrong in that prediction, but I think it is not unreasonable.