I think there are different types of intelligence. I think being able to read, comprehend, study, and retain information on multiple topics makes one intelligent but I also feel inherent intelligence comes more from learning from all situations and retaining that knowledge.

I rarely find both types in the same person. When I do, I'm delighted. I'm not a well read person because I don't learn that way. I'd rather meet a person that read something and can explain it through their filter for me to absorb. Seeing their passion for a thing helps me not only retain but enjoy learning about a thing.

The wise use of knowledge in comparison to ones peers. Believing in as many true things as possible, while diligently trying to reaffirm truths and eliminate falsehoods. When faced with insufficient evidence simple says I" don't know" or "I have reasonable doubt" and continues to seek answers if it is personally warranted. Also the ability to reason through problems, extrapolate and arrive at solutions that are more accurate than random chance

Well what you listed are special skills and talents really. Intelligence is more like wisdom, street and book smarts, common sense and the like. Thing like cunning and creativity sort of straddle the line I think, though...hm. Ah yes, self-awareness is definitely big, and ability to discuss things reasonably even when your opinions may differ greatly. Though things can and do get in the way of that (I am guilty of this too often), such as various mental illnesses and anger issues, and often young age.
Your second to last sentence is...phew! Absolutely, people do that. And they also tend to think they're smart when it's far more likely they're just average, or sometimes even below.

The ability to question and to not hold to confirmational bias with availability of updated facts is my key indicator of intelligence. A dogmatic belief system loses a large chunk of points if grading on a point scale.

if a person is capable & willing to discuss a topic controversially without losing the thread & getting personal, especially personally insulting - that's already a good indicator for intelligence in my eyes. distinguishing facts from opinion, rationale from emotions, personal preference from the big picture & .... humility before everything else.

IQ ,common sense and self awareness are a big part of it as well as awareness of others around you too.

appropriateness, utility, lucidity, critical thinking and condemning magical thinking all lead me to recognize intelligence from others

For me it is the ability to learn and retain knowledge.

1 Comprehension of the Universe and all the physical laws that apply
2 An understanding of mans history
3 The ability to listen, analize, and separate opinion from fact

Results

stupid people !

The ability to process data. That's it in a nut shell, but it unpackages into many different sub categories. Generally, it's not what you know, but how you know it.

AI (artifical intelligence ) has struggled with this same question. Must we add humanism like empathy and sympathy. When is a word better not spoken. When is it the right time to speak. To know the diffrence between good and evil. Sometimes it is better to listen.Some won't your advice, some do not. Is intuition intelligence or Something some humans are more aware of. There is a lot to consider when we design AI. And just maybe this will help us to understand intellence in humans.

I've always viewed it as having the ability to adapt.

I'm not smart enough to figure that out.

They must be if I like them. Just thought this was a funny answer. As you state there are so many levels tha go into measuring intelligence and all that you mention are good. I include kindness,respect,tolerance, a knowledge of many areas,well read, able to speak well and explain their position on matters logically.

My late 2nd wife pegged the IQ tests somewhere north of 140, but that was because the test measured a narrow aspect of intelligence -- IQ tests ignore emotional intelligence for example and don't test for how rationally you apply what your know, they don't measure the sophistication or well-roundedness of your artistic tastes, and on and on.

I loved her to death but she was very conventional and provincial and unsophisticated in many ways. For her, the proof that there must be an afterlife was that so many people believed there was. This was literally her entire take on the matter and she never saw a reason to look further than that. Case closed. This was not an intelligent aspect of her. Nor was her obsession with Thomas Kinkaide paintings a reflection of a wide-ranging curiosity about art. Yes she could read a hexadecimal core dump like it was a Stephen King novel and yes she got straight As in high school and college and yes she was considered the leading expert in software development at a large multinational corporation. But those things aren't the whole picture of what intelligence is.

Everyone's intelligence is selective -- some more than others. Truly remarkable intelliegence is well-rounded and indiscriminately curious. My current wife and I could not best my prior wife on an IQ test (though we're no slouches either) but I think we are more well rounded and have breadth as well as depth. This is no knock against the dead; its just an honest assessment. I wasn't and am not "better" than her or "smarter" or "dumber", but I am more broadly curious and I think that this is the best marker of intelligence. A lot of what passes as intelligence is an excess of raw processing power, like a computer with a very fast clock speed, but without much software to actually run on it.

We live in different environments . I think a person is intelligent if they can succeessfully navigate the environment they're in , or perhaps move to an environment where they can be more sucessful . A fish doesn't need a bicycle , as they say . The IQ tests are based largly on , " book learning , " which can be very useful and can help a person succeed in higher level environments , where they can get higher paying careers - programmers , computer experts , lawyers , doctors , actors , etc. Lower paying jobs , waitresses , garbage collectors , are physically demanding , yet repiticious and don't require a higher education . Some jobs , can begin as lower paying jobs , and you can advance to better paying jobs , by acquiring a higher education , which , in general , requires reading .

"There are so many different ways to be intelligent." Can you post a link to a study that gives evidence of that...or is that just a platutude?

Experience, learning from mistakes, creating, thinking outside normal perimeter (box), patients, logical thinking, deduction, willingness to try new things, strategy..

You are right. It's all a matter of who and what you agree with.
As a former appliance repairman I was always running onto people who had saved a part from one brand so they could use it on another. Sorry. That doesn't work.

If they know what they are talking about and what they are doing, they have intelligence. My friend is an aerospace engineer, but got married twice on first dates. He has intelligence, but sometimes lacks smarts

The first is common sense. The second is being able to understand that there are different ways to look at things. Also by the way the they speak and write.

Nice post thanks! I remember taking an I.Q test for a work assessment the assessors said after a full days work - I had a great score but, sorry to point out that my spatial awareness was seriously low and that I wouldnt be able to be a potter as I wished - I gained several prizes for my raku pots and achieved a first in fine and applied arts despite my 'apparent ' disability, the tests were proven not to be accurate, good job I never listened. I agree many many ways to be intelligent

I think children who are able to play the piano, or something similar, at a level far above the average have talent, not necessarily intelligence. If those same children are able to learn at an above average rate, they are intelligent. Intelligence includes social, "street", knowledge as well as academic training.