He's an "intelligent" guy...

Intelligent.

in·tel·li·gent
–adjective
1. having good understanding or a high mental capacity; quick to comprehend, as persons or animals: an intelligent student.
2. displaying or characterized by quickness of understanding, sound thought, or good judgment: an intelligent reply.
3. having the faculty of reasoning and understanding; possessing intelligence: intelligent beings in outer space.
4. Computers. pertaining to the ability to do data processing locally; smart: An intelligent terminal can edit input before transmission to a host computer. Compare dumb (def. 8).
5. Archaic. having understanding or knowledge (usually fol. by of).

I hear that word thrown around as an adjective a lot these days. Not really sure if this is a new trend or if it's more coincidental.

What is it then that makes a person earn this description? Is it formal education? Reading habits? Job experience? Comprehension of vague abstract concepts? Or is it others perceptions of you that earn you this branding?

"He's an intelligent guy..."

A formal education doesn't necessarily equate intelligence. I think we all know someone that has an advanced education (degree, certifications, etc) that can be classified as "an educated idiot". Having witnessed this first hand, going to college doesn't necessarily mean that an individual is capable of retaining what they were exposed to. How many times have you taken a class (even in high school) and forgotten the bulk of the information after the final exam? With how common this is for people, is it that far of a stretch of the imagination to assume that this happens on all levels of education? We need only look at pop cultures TV show "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" to see first hand how much we feel that we knew at one time but then promptly forgot because it was never reinforced. All you need to do is have a flash back to grammar structure in grade school and you'll know exactly what i'm referring to!

Does the fact that you've read the works Plato and Shakespeare equate as intelligence? Do you earn the brand of "intelligent" based on the fact that you've read a number of books about etymology? If not, then why is it that people continue to refer to a person like that as "intelligent"?

A person who can read a document and comprehend it immediately is considered intelligent. A person who can listen listen to something explained, interact with the presenter, and comprehend the topic is not considered as intelligent because they had to have outside help. Never mind that these are different styles of learning.

I guess i'm not "intelligent" and it's time for me to swallow that bitter pill. I don't read all that much these days and never cared for the deep thinking philosophy or literature genres (history was my passion). I need someone to explain to me abstract concepts rather than reading documentation. I graduated from college but then didn't retain much in most of my subjects (much like my peers). I'm comfortable with this so don't patronize me by calling me something that i'm clearly not.

No one has ever called me "intelligent" and, based on the above criteria, i'm comfortable knowing that they never will.