The three previous columns focused on recent proposals about the roles of prediction, intuition, and wisdom in intelligent thought and behavior. This column will focus on the role of formal education in the development of intelligence.

Human consciousness allows us to go beyond the here and now when we confront challenges. Our brain has a complex memory that allows us to learn from previous challenges, and predictive capabilities that allow us to imagine what might occur in various situations. In other words, we can go backward and forward in time in order to survive and thrive in the present.

Intelligence then is predicated on our ability to rapidly ascertain the elements implicit in a challenge, respond with a predictively successful novel or established strategy, and incorporate what we've learned through experience into an increasingly successful recognition/response capability that we call wisdom.