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Defining Intelligence 157
guess that she doesn’t think about causation because no one ever tried
to get her to do so. So she may very well be smart but she sounds
stupid because she seems to be unaware of her own causal reasoning
and is not very good at it. Being good at understanding causation
and figuring what could possibly cause what and why is a hallmark of
intelligence.
Intelligence can be enhanced by practicing the cognitive processes
that are the basis of intelligent behavior and intelligent reasoning.
One of these hallmark processes is certainly causation.
We could make Miss South Carolina smarter by teaching her how
to determine what causes what and asking her to figure things out and
explain them to others using a causation model that she could defend.
Of course, it would have been better if this process started when she
was a small child.
Now, with that in mind, let’s look at the Palin remark. Palin was
asked about her readiness for the office of vice president, which isn’t
much of an office really. What was really being asked was her readi-
ness for the presidency, which was not unreasonable to worry about
considering John McCain’s age. She responded in a way that made
clear that she has no understanding of causation either.
In the statements above, she asserted (implicitly) the following
beliefs about causation:
Any mayor or city manager is ready to be president.
Any governor is ready to be president.
Any commissioner is ready to be president.
Any regulator of gas and oil is ready to be president.
If you have a vision of energy independence, you are ready to be
president.
Now, of course, one of these beliefs is, in fact, shared by the country
since we have chosen governors to be president. But the other beliefs
are simply wrong. No one thinks that having a vision of energy in-
dependence prepares you to be president or that being an oil and gas
regulator prepares you to be president.
So, what does Palin misunderstand here? She doesn’t get the idea
of preparedness as causation. Having a degree in accounting prepares
you to be an accountant, most would agree. We believe, as a society, in
certain rites of passage preparing you for the next step. Palin apparently
has never thought about this or why anyone would hold such beliefs.
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