The Enigma of Intelligence

I’d like to start by pointing to an old Ella Fitzgerald tune, "T’aint What You Do, It’s the Way That You Do It." The lyrics distinguish between two kinds of knowledge: knowing what to do and knowing how to do it. They also suggest that knowing how is preferable. The song brings to light one of humanity’s oldest questions: “What do we know, and how do we know it?”

This distinction has appeared in various forms throughout history, such as theory vs. practice, fact vs. value, and truth vs. meaning. Rather than choosing one over the other, the more interesting task is to explore how the separate poles of these dichotomies are related. Or as Ella might put it, “T’aint what’s true, it’s the way they’re related.”

In this discussion, I’ll explore the history of this distinction and its relevance to current challenges in education, democracy, and artificial intelligence. A key thinker I’ll focus on is John Dewey, the great American theorist of progressive education. Dewey preferred the term “intelligence” over “reason” because it encompasses dynamic practices that include imagination as well as feeling. With the help of film and music, I hope to demonstrate how art and education can act as a bridge for contradictions that stifle learning and freedom.

Producer: Nick Whelan

As a musician, filmmaker, and educator, Nick is dedicated to exploring the dynamic relationship between these disciplines. Influenced by the early works of his grandfather, renowned documentarian D.A Pennebaker, Nick collaborates with the guiding force of music on his film projects. His pedagogical philosophy, inspired largely by John Dewey, understands the essence of education as a process of meaningfully restructuring experience. In this sense, education and filmmaking overlap in their expressive reinterpretation of history, memory, and the present. Rooted in ancient Greek thought, music has long been recognized as a vital tool in education. Drawing from these insights, as well as many others, Nick seeks to produce work that deepens our understanding of how music, film, and education work together in harmonizing our psychological, social, and political dispositions.