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Originally Posted by peacefulgary
...And training itself cannot replace intelligence...
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Nor can intelligence replace training. The handling and use of firearms, including the decision process in connection with the defensive use of firearms, involve application of principles and concepts to real world circumstances as well as the proper performance of physical acts. Such things are matters of skill.
Intelligence is not skill. Intelligence might help motivate one to take the proper actions to acquire skill, and intelligence paired with skill is a powerful combination. But just knowing how to do something does not mean that one can actually do it -- especially reflexively and on demand.
Consider the four step process by which we acquire a physical skill:
- Unconscious Incompetence: We can't do something and we don't even know how to do it;
- Conscious Incompetence: We can't physically do something, at least consistently, even though we know in our mind how to do it;
- Conscious Competence: We know how to do something and can do it properly consistently, but only if we think about what we're doing and concentrate on doing it properly; and
- Unconscious Competence: At this final stage we know how to do something and can do it reflexively, on demand and without having to think about it.
Intelligence can get someone to step two, conscious incompetence. But training and practice are necessary to go through step three and reach step four -- the point at which someone can perform the task correctly and consistently on demand without conscious thought.