Intellect vs. Intelligence

Main Difference

The main difference between Intellect and Intelligence is that the Intellect is a developed ability of the mind to asure to emerge with the correct conclusions about what is true or real, and about how to solve problems and Intelligence is a mental faculty

• Intellect

  Intellect is a term used in studies of the human mind, and refers to the ability of the mind to come to correct conclusions about what is true or false, and about how to solve problems. Historically the term comes from the Greek philosophical term nous, which was translated into Latin as intellectus (derived from the verb intelligere, “to understand”, from inter, “between” and legere, “to choose”) and into French and then English as intelligence (other than intellect). Intellect is in fact considered as a branch of intelligence (see Intellect vs intelligence).

  Discussion of the intellect can be divided into two broad areas. In both of these areas, the terms “intellect” and “intelligence” have continued to be used as related words.

  In philosophy, especially in classical and medieval philosophy the intellect or nous is an important subject connected to the question of how humans can know things. Especially during late antiquity and the Middle Ages, the intellect was often proposed as a concept which could reconcile philosophical and scientific understandings of nature with monotheistic religious understandings, by making the intellect a link between each human soul, and the divine intellect (or intellects) of the cosmos itself. (During the Latin Middle Ages a distinction developed whereby the term “intelligence” was typically used to refer to the incorporeal beings which governed the celestial spheres in many of these accounts.) Also see: passive intellect and active intellect.

  In modern psychology and neuroscience, intelligence and intellect are used as terms describing mental ability (or abilities) that allow people to understand. A distinction is sometimes made whereby intellect is considered to be related to “facts” in contrast to intelligence concerning “feelings”. Intellect refers to the cognition and rational mental processes gained through external input rather than internal.A person who uses intelligence (thought and reason) and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity is often referred to as an intellectual.

• Intelligence

  Intelligence has been defined in many ways to include the capacity for logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, and problem solving. It can be more generally described as the ability to perceive or infer information, and to retain it as knowledge to be applied towards adaptive behaviors within an environment or context.

  Intelligence is most widely studied in humans but has also been observed in both non-human animals and in plants. Intelligence in machines is called artificial intelligence, which is commonly implemented in computer systems using programs.