Intelligence in Individuals and Groups

In order to better understand what civic intelligence is, we have to start by taking a brief look at individual intelligence and how each person can bring their intelligence to a group and in time, using the intelligence of everyone in a group, create some form of civic intelligence.

This is the true beginning of civic intelligence. Simply put, you can't have a collective civic intelligence unless you have individuals using their own personal intelligence. Personal intelligence is just that personal. Each individual has their own unique intellect that can provide input and thought towards larger collective issues. But to get to that point, we as a society have to work harder at cultivating that intelligence at a very young age.

When we are young, our minds are expanding and we crave to learn new things. As we get older, our minds need constant stimulus to continue to grow. If we don't have that positive stimulus then we don't learn and our intellect is stymied. The old adage is true, a mind is a terrible thing to waste. To truly tackle life's myriad of challenges we have to be able to learn new things and constantly grow.

To promote true civic intellectual change, we must use the intelligence of individuals and combine them as a group. The power of many can make a world of difference.