Some People Think That Intelligence Is Innate | Band 8 IELTS Essay Sample

Some people think that intelligence is innate while others think that we can improve our intelligence through learning. Discuss both sides and give your opinion.

Here is a band 8 IELTS Essay on this topic submitted by one of our students. Need help with writing? Get your writing samples corrected by me.

Band 8 IELTS Essay Sample

While a section of people opine that intelligence is an inborn talent/trait, another section consider it as a function of learning. This essay will discuss the views of both camps and also provide my own perspective.

Proponents of the “intelligence is innate” theory often cite the phenomenon of children producing different learning outcomes in schools despite having the same inputs, as a principal argument. They further argue that apart from the variation in children’s performance in specific subjects there is also wide variation in their orientation towards different disciplines. For instance, some children show natural aptitude for art, a few others pick up math easily and some show keenness for history. Another aspect highlighted by this camp is that only a few people emerge as renowned scientists or scholars even though lot of people put in concerted efforts towards getting such accomplishments.

On the other hand, people propounding the “intelligence can be enhanced” school of thought, do have certain supporting arguments. They claim that the mere fact that our acumen improves over our life time proves / vindicates their belief. Furthermore, they argue that environment and inputs are critical for the development of knowledge or skills and that these two factors are available at different levels to different people. Consequently, the intellectual outcomes are as well different.

To conclude, in my opinion, both sides of the argument hold water. But neither side can sufficiently explain the scheme of things in this world. Interestingly, a discerning melange of both the schools of thought provides a rational outlook. Each one of us is born with intelligence that is quantitatively and qualitatively different from the other. However, this aptitude is not static but evolves continuously over time based on environment, tools available and attitude that one develops towards learning.

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