Society can be obsessed with the concept of intelligence, according to the author. Parents want to know if their children are smart. Schools try to detect the intelligence of children so that they can separate them into "gifted and talented" programs on one end of the spectrum and remedial programs on the other. Employers want to know if they are hiring the smartest people. Colleges, however, may be the place in our society where our obsession with intelligence peaks. The irony is that society is obsessed with intelligence, he says, while simultaneously possessing little understanding of intelligence. According to him, society emphasizes intelligence and deemphasizes learning. The purpose of this article is to explain what intelligence is, where it comes from, and why learning is a skill that can be improved through specific, scientifically based steps.