Comment by jimmydddd
5 days ago
I read an article along these lines with a title like "how would you go about buying a car for $500." The gist is that folks in poorer rural areas would have the experience and contacts to buy the car. In contrast, most middle class folks would have no idea how to by such a car.
That's resourcefulness and I would argue that being resourceful is not the same thing as being smart. There can be a relationship between resourcefulness and intelligence, but they're inherently different.
About the car example: most middle class folks don't live in places where there's a substantial market for these types of cars. The availability of these types of cars is environmental.
>That's resourcefulness and I would argue that being resourceful is not the same thing as being smart.
You could argue that but you'd be wrong. Resourcesfulness is highly correlated with intelligence.
Also, what's the idea we're discussing here? That poor people can't be extremely intelligent?
Intelligence is about acquiring and processing information; resourcefulness is about adaptation to deal with limited resources. There is a relationship, obviously, but these are not the same things.
Humans have a high baseline intelligence (as compared to other animals) and are an inherently adaptable species. This is what has allowed us to survive and thrive despite the fact that we're pretty vulnerable physically.
People in wealthy countries are often more impressed with the resourcefulness of people in poor countries than they have legitimate reason to be. That's because, again, humans are an inherently resourceful species. We are literally hard-wired to be able to survive in resource-constrained environments.
The conveniences of being wealthy significantly reduces the need to be resourceful in the ways poor people have to be, so people in wealthy countries are often amazed by resourcefulness that is fundamentally human.
I would put resourcefulness as a form of intelligence. So it may be that I have a more expansive definition of what can be smart, and what can be stupid, than you do.
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