I think the subtlety here is that intelligence is used in place of domain specific aptitude, when much more information can be obtained through an enumeration of the latter. Given the sixteen equally competent generals with one who successfully wins four even battles in a row, saying “he won because he was intelligent” gives us limited information in that it does reveal the reason why he won to the majority of people who don’t care for specifics, but does not tell us what this specific general did differently when compared to his equally skilled counterparts.
So using “intelligence” as an answer is not as mysterious as using “magic” or “complexity” in a general context, but in domain specific areas it relays little value—in such a situation, I would think that all participants would ask for some sort of clarification (specific tactics, key responses, etc). It most likely is intelligence that gave him the win though, even if we aren’t about to go into specifics; but perhaps we are missing vital knowledge by saying “intelligence!” and ending.
However, I think this is a subtle and not incredibly useful point when applied in general.
I think the subtlety here is that intelligence is used in place of domain specific aptitude, when much more information can be obtained through an enumeration of the latter. Given the sixteen equally competent generals with one who successfully wins four even battles in a row, saying “he won because he was intelligent” gives us limited information in that it does reveal the reason why he won to the majority of people who don’t care for specifics, but does not tell us what this specific general did differently when compared to his equally skilled counterparts.
So using “intelligence” as an answer is not as mysterious as using “magic” or “complexity” in a general context, but in domain specific areas it relays little value—in such a situation, I would think that all participants would ask for some sort of clarification (specific tactics, key responses, etc). It most likely is intelligence that gave him the win though, even if we aren’t about to go into specifics; but perhaps we are missing vital knowledge by saying “intelligence!” and ending.
However, I think this is a subtle and not incredibly useful point when applied in general.