smart: how much you know
intelligent: how quickly you can learn
wisdom: the perspective you have about everything you have learned
This works well with hat I've observed: intelligent people who are not smart, smart people who seem rather "slow," and that surprisingly wise person you always seem to come across who seems to know the difference between what is worth knowing and what isn't.
Other than the three types you mentioned, I come across another type. They don't learn new stuffs that quickly. They might look dumb when they are introduced to new things. However, given more time, they are able to think and dig really deep.
Then it occurred to me that they were already thinking wider and deeper from the beginning. Because the knowledges conveyed in an introductory scenario is so limited, they have more questions and they get confused. They have no intention to hide their confusion. Once they acquire more knowledges in the field and organize the pieces into a system, they start showing how deep their thoughts have gone to.
Also, confusion is a sign of learning. If there's no confusion at all, they think they already know it. Whether they're correct about that is another matter entirely.
http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILS...
If you use those definitions instead of some hypothetical absolute standard of intelligence, things seem to be a lot clearer, and you no longer have trouble understanding how "someone so smart could be that dumb" or things like that.
Every person who is X years old has had the same amount of time. What they've been able to do with it is another matter entirely.
Also, if I have a 'trouble understanding how someone so smart could be that dumb', it doesn't say much about that person. It says that I do have a problem with my understanding.
