--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The intellectual evolution of the race…" description: "\"The intellectual evolution of the race consists in an increase in the number, delicacy, complexity, permanence and speed of formation of such associati..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/686/edward-thorndike-21237_association_the-intellectual-evolution-of-the-race-c_1017400.jpg" --- # The intellectual evolution of the race consists in an… ![“The intellectual evolution of the race consists in an increase in the number, delicacy, complexity, permanence and speed of formation of such associations.” quote by Edward Thorndike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/686/edward-thorndike-21237_association_the-intellectual-evolution-of-the-race-c_1017400.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/686/edward-thorndike-21237_association_the-intellectual-evolution-of-the-race-c_1017400.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/686/edward-thorndike-21237_association_the-intellectual-evolution-of-the-race-c_1017400.jpg) > “The intellectual evolution of the race consists in an increase in the number, delicacy, complexity, permanence and speed of formation of such associations.” [Edward Thorndike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-thorndike/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human intellectual progress depends on forming more numerous, finer, and faster mental connections. **In simple terms:** Thinking gets better with richer, quicker links. Key Takeaway Cultivate complex, rapid associations. Themes learning intelligence development Mood analytical curious Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - education reform - AI research - team brainstorming - skill acquisition Key Concepts cognitive science network theory Questions to Reflect On - How can you simplify complex ideas? - What tools speed mental connections? A Different Perspective Complexity can overwhelm without clear focus. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Biology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/) [Complexity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexity/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Permanence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/permanence/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Speed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speed/) ## Related quotes > [This growth in the number, speed of formation, permanence, delicacy and complexity of associations possible for an animal reaches its acme in the case…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-thorndike/this-growth-in-the-number-speed-of-formation-permanence-delicacy-and/) [Edward Thorndike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-thorndike/) > [We started off with physical evolution and got our form. 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And with this invention, we rearranged the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grabe/we-were-never-born-to-read-human-beings-invented-reading-only-a-few/) Grabe > [Too great cleverness is but deceptive delicacy, true delicacy is the most substantial cleverness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/too-great-cleverness-is-but-deceptive-delicacy-true-delicacy-is-the/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [An oyster, that marvel of delicacy, that concentration of sapid excellence, that mouthful bwefore all other mouthfuls, who first had faith to believe it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/an-oyster-that-marvel-of-delicacy-that-concentration-of-sapid/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [To see the butcher slap the steak before he laid it on the block, and give his knife a sharpening, was to forget breakfast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/to-see-the-butcher-slap-the-steak-before-he-laid-it-on-the-block-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Delicacy of taste has the same effect as delicacy of passion; it enlarges the sphere both of our happiness and our misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/delicacy-of-taste-has-the-same-effect-as-delicacy-of-passion-it/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [“...there is a delicacy in it equalled only by the daintiness of the elephant's trunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/there-is-a-delicacy-in-it-equalled-only-by-the-daintiness-of-the/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [If my opinion is of any worth, the fieldfare is the greatest delicacy among birds, the hare among quadrupeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martial/if-my-opinion-is-of-any-worth-the-fieldfare-is-the-greatest-delicacy/) [Martial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martial/) > [In the end things must be as they are and have always been--the great things remain for the great, the abysses for the profound,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-the-end-things-must-be-as-they-are-and-have-always-been-the-great/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Mr. Bumpy from Bump in the Night was this funky little guy who lived under the bed and thought eating dust bunnies was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/mr-bumpy-from-bump-in-the-night-was-this-funky-little-guy-who-lived/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [I decided to lock myself in. A forced segregation. Sabbatical. A retreat into myself. My selves. Play hide and go seek in the looking-glass.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/i-decided-to-lock-myself-in-a-forced-segregation-sabbatical-a-retreat/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) ## More by Edward Thorndike > [There is no reasoning, no process of inference or comparison; there is no thinking about things, no putting two and two together; there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-thorndike/there-is-no-reasoning-no-process-of-inference-or-comparison-there-is/) [Edward Thorndike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-thorndike/) > [On the whole, the psychological work of the last quarter of the nineteenth century emphasized the study of consciousness to the neglect of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-thorndike/on-the-whole-the-psychological-work-of-the-last-quarter-of-the/) [Edward Thorndike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-thorndike/) > [Human folk are as a matter of fact eager to find intelligence in animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-thorndike/human-folk-are-as-a-matter-of-fact-eager-to-find-intelligence-in/) [Edward Thorndike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-thorndike/) > [From the lowest animals of which we can affirm intelligence up to man this type of intellect is found.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-thorndike/from-the-lowest-animals-of-which-we-can-affirm-intelligence-up-to-man/) [Edward Thorndike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-thorndike/) > [So the animal finally performs in that situation only the fitting act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-thorndike/so-the-animal-finally-performs-in-that-situation-only-the-fitting-act/) [Edward Thorndike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-thorndike/) > [To the intelligent man with an interest in human nature it must often appear strange that so much of the energy of the 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magazine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-thorndike/dogs-get-lost-hundreds-of-times-and-no-one-ever-notices-it-or-sends/) [Edward Thorndike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-thorndike/) > [Psychology is the science of the intellects, characters and behavior of animals including man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-thorndike/psychology-is-the-science-of-the-intellects-characters-and-behavior/) [Edward Thorndike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-thorndike/) > [Just as the science and art of agriculture depend upon chemistry and botany, so the art of education depends upon physiology and psychology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-thorndike/just-as-the-science-and-art-of-agriculture-depend-upon-chemistry-and/) [Edward Thorndike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-thorndike/) > [When, instead of merely associating some act with some situation in the animal way, we think the situation out, we have a set 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