Intelligence vs Intellect: Is There a Difference—and Which One Matters More?
A 90-minute session on the gap between being quick and being deep: toppers and backbenchers, the cousin with the degrees and the cousin who can fix anything, the grandmother who never finished school, the clever friend who never admits they're wrong, and the AI we now ask before we think. Is being clever the same as being a thinker, and which one do we actually need? Twelve independent cards; open four or five.
The opening question
What's one thing you're genuinely clever at that no exam or marksheet has ever measured?
Everyone in the room answers this in one line before any card is opened. Write the answers down; you will come back to them.
The cards
12 ways into the topic
Each card is independent. Your group votes on which to open, and four or five is plenty for an hour. Behind every card sit three prompts, one at a time, that only appear once it is opened on the board. Unopened cards keep for next time.
- 1
Toppers In Real Life
Every class had a topper. Their name was read out on results day and printed on banners. Years later, you hear what they're doing now.
- 2
Book Smart Vs Street Smart
One cousin has two degrees and still gets overcharged by every mechanic. Another left college early and can sort out any problem with one phone call.
- 3
Being Called The Smart One
When you were small, everyone said you were the clever one. School was easy. Then one day it wasn't, and you didn't know what to do.
- 4
Winning Every Argument
You know someone who can win any argument. They're quick, they know the facts, they always have an answer.
- 5
Asking Too Many Questions
When you were little, you asked “why?” about everything. Sometimes you got an answer.
- 6
Letting AI Do The Thinking
You have an email to write, a decision to make, a fight to understand. Before you've thought about it yourself, you've already typed it into ChatGPT.
- 7
Wise Without A Degree
Your grandmother never finished school. She can't fill in a form or work the TV remote. But when the family is in a real mess, everyone goes to her.
- 8
Brilliant But Difficult People
There's someone at work who is truly brilliant. They solve problems nobody else can. They're also rude, impatient and make everyone feel stupid.
- 9
Reading To Look Clever
You carry a serious book on the metro. You post a photo of it next to your coffee. People start calling you “a deep thinker.”
- 10
Educated People Believing Forwards
Your uncle is an engineer. Your aunt has a PhD. Yet every morning the family group fills up with their forwards about miracle cures and fake news.
- 11
Thinkers Versus Doers
One friend thinks about every decision for months: every option, every risk. Another just jumps in and works it out later.
- 12
Some People Are Just Smarter
We tell children that everyone is clever in their own way. But you've met someone who understood in five minutes what took you a week.
The line to leave with
Of the people you would trust with the hardest decision of your life, how many would you have called the smartest person in the room?
More boards,more ways in.
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