Original artwork, not a still
Misattributed to Stephen Hawking
Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
As a definition it is neat: intelligence as flexibility, not facts or test scores. That is why it travels so well on classroom walls and motivational graphics, always with a famous scientist's name for weight. Hawking, who adapted to a body and a world that kept changing around him, fits the story, which is part of why people believe he said it.
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In context
May contain spoilersShow the scene
This definition of intelligence circulates with Stephen Hawking's name on it, but no source in his books, lectures or interviews has been found. The sourced quotations on Wikiquote's Hawking page do not include it. What the page does record is Hawking on intelligence and survival, for example his 1996 lecture Life in the Universe doubting that intelligence has any long-term survival value. Treat the quote as unattributed: a modern definition that attached itself to a famous name, with no earliest source traced.
Sources (1)
- Wikiquote: Stephen Hawkingsourced quotes; absence of this lineReference checked
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