Avot 5:12
There are four types of disciples: Quick to comprehend, and quick to forget: his gain disappears in his loss; Slow to comprehend, and slow to forget: his loss disappears in his gain; Quick to comprehend, and slow to forget: he is a wise man; Slow to comprehend, and quick to forget, this is an evil portion.
Avot 5:15
There are four types among those who sit before the sages: a sponge, a funnel, a strainer and a sieve. A sponge, soaks up everything; A funnel, takes in at one end and lets out at the other; A strainer, which lets out the wine and retains the lees; A sieve, which lets out the coarse meal and retains the choice flour.
The assumption that we have the ability and responsibility to improve our character permeates Pirkei Avot and its commentators. This is particularly evident from our analysis of the previous Mishna regarding anger. What is less obvious, however, is if a person can increase his or her intelligence. Is intelligence a gift from God that is inherently an unchangeable biological reality? Or are there ways that a person can improve his or her intelligence and consequently the ability to understand, remember, and master Torah?
This debate is hotly contested in the field of psychology as well. Is intelligence a fixed measure, determined mainly by genetic contributions or is it malleable and trainable? This isn’t just a philosophical question, but one that impacts personal and political decision making. One manifestation of this question is the theoretical weight given to intelligence tests. Do IQ tests determine a fixed representation of an individual’s intelligence? The creator of the original intelligence test, Alfred Binet, argued that intelligence is not fixed, and the number obtained on his test is not meant to be a permanent determination of a person’s intelligence. Rather, within certain biologically determined limits, intelligence can be improved. However, Lewis Terman who adapted the original Binet-Simon intelligence test to be used in the United States disagreed. He argued that through his Stanford-Binet IQ test he could determine a child’s fixed intelligence. This score could determine what position the child should obtain in society later in life.
In Avot 5:12 we are told that there are four traits among students, each with a corresponding appraisal. The first type of student is quick to comprehend and quick to forget. The benefit of being quick to understand is overshadowed by his deficiency of being quick to forget. The second type is slow to comprehend and slow to forget. His challenge of being slow to understand is negated by his strength of being slow to forget. The third student is considered wise as he possesses the best of both variables. He is quick to comprehend and slow to forget. The final category of student is slow to comprehend and quick to forget. He is deemed to have a “bad portion.”
The Mishna is descriptive. It provides categories of students but does not state explicitly what one should do with such information. Also, unlike the previous Mishna about anger, this Mishna does not implicate any moral judgement of wickedness or piety. Rabbeinu Yonah notes these subtleties and argues that no judgement can be passed on someone whose understanding or memory is lacking because these intellectual traits are entirely in the hands of God. While individuals with poor memories or restricted understanding should learn to the best of their abilities, if there are limited resources, Rabbeinu Yonah suggests, they should be invested in a student with a better memory and ease of comprehension.
Abarbanel disagrees. There is no distinction between character and intelligence. Both can be improved and transformed. Even if someone has a natural biological tendency towards having a poor memory or limited understanding, through proper action, habit, persistence, and prayer, these intellectual traits can be improved.
A parallel discussion takes place regarding the skill of logical thinking. Is critical thinking a God given gift of which man has little or no control, or can one improve his or her analytical reasoning? Using household appliances as a metaphor for learning abilities, Avot 5:15 indicates that there are four characteristics of those who “sit before the sages” in terms of their ability to discern information. These four traits are represented by a sponge, a funnel, a strainer and a sieve. A sponge absorbs all information, even if it is useless. A funnel can’t absorb any information. The content goes in one ear and out the other. A strainer retains the unimportant information (the sediment) and lets the valuable lessons (the wine) slip through. The sieve exemplifies the best type of thinker. He or she retains the worthwhile information (the fine flour) and sifts out the coarser elements.
Rabbi Simeon ben Zemah Duran echoes Rabbeinu Yonah’s point from above, stating that no moral judgement is presented in this Mishna because the ability to discern information appropriately is in the hands of God. Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno, on the other hand, takes a fundamentally different position. Yes, it is true that we may have natural traits that impede our ability to acquire truthful knowledge, however it is in our power, and hence the Mishna is encouraging us, to fix and overcome these shortcomings and attempt to become “a sieve.”
Which position is correct?
Psychological evidence is slowly stacking up in favor of Abarbanel and Sforno. IQ can be improved through specific training in areas such as working memory, as well as through various non-IQ based, motivational factors such as beliefs about intelligence, grit, self-regulation, and improving environmental factors that impact learning. Yet, the question arises, if intelligence is changeable, why does the Mishna not judge the person who does not work to improve their intellectual capacity as morally lacking?
In one fascinating example of improved memory, journalist Joshua Foer, in his bestselling Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything describes his journey from becoming someone with an average memory to his winning of the USA Memory Championship. Through utilizing ancient techniques such as the memory palace and mnemonics, he was able to memorize a deck of cards in a record 1 minute and 40 seconds.
The anonymous work, Shita Lo Noda Lemi, addresses this question by highlighting the opening phrase of the Mishna: “There are four types of disciples.” The Mishna is being addressed to parents and teachers of younger students. Before the student learns the responsibility to take ownership of his or her own learning progress, it is up to the educator to provide the proper training and assistance to help the student grow. The educator needs to know the different learning profiles of each of his or her students and differentiate their approach with proper interventions to help compensate for each student’s unique strengths and challenges.
Some specific interventions, as identified by learning disabilities expert Dr. Dawn Flannigan in her Essentials of Specific Learning Disabilities Identification to help those with deficiencies in memory, include repeated practice, teaching memory strategies like mnemonics and verbal rehearsal, using multiple modalities when teaching new concepts, and priming students with background knowledge. For processing speed, repeated practice and speed drills help improve capabilities. For improving novel reasoning and problem solving, teachers can use guided practice to help externalize the reasoning process, use graphic organizers to visually map information, and provide specific and targeted feedback, amongst other strategies.
The message for the rest of us is that we do have the capacity to improve our memory, processing speed, and critical thinking. We should each take the responsibility to learn the best practices of improving our intellectual abilities. With the proper tools, motivation, and perseverance, we can enhance our intellectual capacities to better understand God’s Torah and His wonderous world.
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