R.

Ingram
Intelligence Theorists Research

Who is intelligent? How is intelligence measured? Numerous theories that attempt to

characterize and audit intelligence have continuously evolved since their historical foundations

that date back 500 years – some in comparison and others that defy everything that came before

it. Within this intelligence investigation, we will explore the theories of Hobbes & Kamin.

Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes (April 5, 1588 – December 4, 1679) was an English philosopher most

known for his political thoughts which were and continue to be viewed as strikingly original. His

theory dates back to the historical foundations up to the 1960s and are culturally affected most by

his view of the government. “By ratiocination, I mean, computation,” as expressed by Hobbes

has not only made many view him as a prophet of artificial intelligence, but it explain his two

most important contributions to the world of intelligence: 1) thinking is a mental discourse and

2) thinking is the clearest and most rational when it follows methodical rules. Mental discourse is

a symbolic operation, for example, the involuntary actions you are accustomed to making every

day, such as calculating mentally or with a pen or pencil, except, based on Hobbes’s principles,

its conducted internally in brain token he called, “thought parcels.” Furthermore, methodical

rules are rules that are exactly followed in an operational format, such as the mathematician’s

favorite – PEMDAS. Ultimately, Hobbes combined the two concepts of his theory with a simple

phrase, “Explicit ratiocination is a mechanical process.” According to Analyst Amy Kauffman

(2011), at the very basis of his contributions to the definition of intelligence, Thomas Hobbes

believe that the knowledge by which most men live is the knowledge they’ve gained from

experience and it is measured by a “cautious optimism about our ability to overcome the

limitations of our finite intellects and achieve knowledge of all aspects of the world we
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Intelligence Theorists Research

encounter.” (New World Encyclopedia, 2014) Experience at its core is remembering past actions

and/or scenarios – sometimes through repetition – which leads it into mental discourse. The

benefits of his theory are that the effect of experience can also lead into a heightened ability to

retain solutions as it can more willingly correlate to you remembering the consequences that

were brought about by the incorrect choices/actions that were originally made which is a good

point to observe within the learning process that takes places inside of classrooms across the

world. According to Hobbes, “Science is the knowledge of consequences and dependence of one

fact upon another.” However, in hindsight, its pitfalls are also linked to why I don’t see it

working within the school setting – “Wise men cannot be created by an educational formula

because there cannot be a science/system of the unforeseen.” (Cooper, 2013) In other words, if

someone hasn’t experienced a concept, they won’t be deemed intelligent. Most students, outside

of, and maybe even including, those categorized as gifted have yet to experience/encounter the

concepts we present to them in our classrooms, but that cannot be the deciding factor of their

intelligence and can assumingly be interpreted as flawed within the modern-day views of

intelligent.

Leon J. Kamin

Leon J. Kamin (1927-2017) was an American psychologist most known not only for his

critic of the hereditarian theory of intelligence but his claims about the dangers of attributing all

intelligence to genetic factors. His theory of intelligence dates back to 1972 after his students at

Princeton University brought forth one of his colleague’s articles to his attention that supported

the genetic argument for intelligence. The many discrepancies he found within the article lead

him into doing more research regarding its ideas and ultimately led him into writing a book
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Intelligence Theorists Research

entitled ‘The Science and Politics of IQ” in 1974 where he expressed his issues with genetics of

IQ and criminal behavior, racial differences in IQ and reaction time, twin studies of IQ and

behavior, schizophrenia genetic research, racial head size and intelligence, claims of low African

intelligence, IQ genetic studies of adopted children, and twin transfusion syndrome and IQ.

(Joseph, 2018) In a 1974 resembled Ted-Talk at Harvard University, Kamin stated, “It will be a

waste of time to conduct a study of the heritability of intelligence even if it were to be done

properly, for inheritability really has no meaning,” and ultimately, his work and speech caused a

spark of controversy in the nature v. nurture intelligence discussion. Kamin stated the ease of

nature has not been proved or measured and neither has the ideal of nurturing; however, he

attributes environmental factors as the grounds for both group differences and similarities in IQ.

The benefits of his theory lie in the understanding of your everyday classroom and the

environmental factors that are surely prevalent within the school setting, yet, the margin of error

– or rather the standard deviation – isn’t accounted for. It has been consistently proved that the a

good number of intelligent and hard working adults come from poor and severely affected

environments, but they found it possible within themselves and their own intellectual abilities to

rise above in order to make it out and are likely to be the first or only in their family to do so,

which negates from the likelihood of hereditary IQ. According to Kamin, like so many other

theorists responsible for the current trends in intelligence theory, “IQ tests have been used as an

instrument for oppressing the poor, foreign born, and racial minorities in this country (1974),”

and although the full illegitimacy of hereditary IQ has yet to been established, Kamin’s views

strongly highlights how culture currently affects the notions of intelligence and still remains

prevalent today.
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Intelligence Theorists Research

References

Cooper, C. (2013, September 17). Hobbes, Machiavelli, and Public Education. Retrieved from

https://medium.com/@Thrasymachus/hobbes-machiavelli-and-public-education-

fc9d22a854a8

Joseph, J. (2018, July 29). Leon J. Kamin (1927-2017): A Nemesis of Genetic Determinism and

Scientific Racism. Retrieved from https://www.madinamerica.com/2018/04/leon-j-kamin-

nemesis-genetic-determinism/

Kauffman, A. (2011, September 8). The Educational Theory of Thomas Hobbes. Retrieved from

https://newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Hobbes.html

Plucker, J. A., & Espin, A. A. (2014). Human intelligence: Historical influences, current

controversies, teaching resources. Retrieved from http://www.intelltheory.com/map.shtml

Princeton Professor Criticizes Theories Linking I.Q., Heredity: News: The Harvard Crimson.

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1974/3/16/princeton-professor-

criticizes-theories-linking-iq/

Thomas Hobbes. (2014). Retrieved from

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Thomas_Hobbes