come up with creative schemes to build the future we desire, just as it helps us avoid scams designed to rob us of our future. Intelligence is what allows us to solidify in our mind a vision of the future as something that can be crafted, designed, engineered, and valued. And it’s what helps us ensure that intentionality and learning carry us in the direction we want, without leading to too many unexpected surprises.

Yet, essential as our intelligence is to imagining and building the future, it’s surprisingly hard to pin down precisely what we mean by it.

On one hand, it’s easy to think of intelligence as a combination of memory, learning, and application that, together, enable us to solve problems. It’s this type of intelligence that lies behind many of the inventions we rely on. An inventor, for instance, may remember that round objects roll, and learns that placing something on top of a round object helps move it from point A to point B. Before you know it, you have bicycles, trains, cars, and an epidemic of e-scooters.

This practical, problem-solving form of intelligence underpins much of modern science and engineering. And as something that helps us design and build new futures, it’s a powerful one. But there are many other types of intelligence that are relevant to future-building. These include intelligence that leads to the creation of music and other art forms which reveal insights and possibilities that would otherwise remain hidden. Or intelligence that enables us to understand and respond to each other emotionally and socially.

Because what we think of as intelligence is so multifaceted and elusive, how we define it is still surprisingly contentious. This tension arises in part because our notions of intelligence are deeply tied to our personal visions of the future and how to get there. So, if you value a technology- enabled future, your idea of intelligence will more likely be one that’s grounded in logic, rationality, and science. Or, if you are fixated on a future dominated by economic growth, you’ll likely value concepts of intelligence that are rooted in translating knowledge into power and profit.

On the other hand, if you value a future that’s environmentally sustainable, or one where health and happiness are more important than power and profit, you’re more likely to think of intelligence as a complex mix of empathetic, artistic, and inspirational traits that help transform your aspirations into reality.

Despite these differences, intelligence emerges as that special something, the “secret sauce” if you like, that gives us the tools and ability to transform what we can imagine into the future we hope for. It’s an engine of change that helps us craft and create the future. But like all engines, it needs fuel. And a vital ingredient in that fuel is the knowledge that comes from learning.