Also I don't think that intelligent is a vague word or even that subjective.
...okay? Maybe read _The Mismeasure of Man_ by Stephen Jay Gould and then tell me if you still think it refers to something objective? Even if there *is* some objective way to rank people by intellectual capability (which I'm skeptical about since intellectual capability is such a multidimensional thing), I think bias prevents us from accessing it, so pragmatically, that's not what the word "intelligence" describes. But it gives us the illusion that we do have access to that information about people, so it's dangerous, since so often when we say someone is intelligent what we mean has a lot to do with membership in socially high-status groups.
Are there situations where you think it wouldn't be ableist to call someone intelligent?
I don't think calling someone "intelligent" is ableist, but I do think calling people or things or ideas words like "stupid" (that are synonyms for "not intelligent") is often, if not always ableist. "Intelligent" as a compliment does something more subtle, which I tried to describe in my most, which is promulgating this notion of intelligence as a quantity you're born with that never changes. That's more complicated than just being ableist.
no subject
...okay? Maybe read _The Mismeasure of Man_ by Stephen Jay Gould and then tell me if you still think it refers to something objective? Even if there *is* some objective way to rank people by intellectual capability (which I'm skeptical about since intellectual capability is such a multidimensional thing), I think bias prevents us from accessing it, so pragmatically, that's not what the word "intelligence" describes. But it gives us the illusion that we do have access to that information about people, so it's dangerous, since so often when we say someone is intelligent what we mean has a lot to do with membership in socially high-status groups.
Are there situations where you think it wouldn't be ableist to call someone intelligent?
I don't think calling someone "intelligent" is ableist, but I do think calling people or things or ideas words like "stupid" (that are synonyms for "not intelligent") is often, if not always ableist. "Intelligent" as a compliment does something more subtle, which I tried to describe in my most, which is promulgating this notion of intelligence as a quantity you're born with that never changes. That's more complicated than just being ableist.