Just how smart is Gohan?

[supercat]

Piccolo holding the edge over Gohan on the battlefield could be considered one variant of intelligence.

While there are common preferences and values that universally classify an individual as being intelligent, the extent of one's mental abilities aren't merely bounded by a set of mandatory principles.

Just because an individual is indisputably the top technological mastermind in their field, doesn't by default deem them more intellectually superior to another individual who may happen to embody a completely different set of skills. Technological prowess is simply a subset of intelligence, and thus, is only one determining factor within an intricate composition.

[Akyon]

Book smart but like many said; he's not smarter than Bulma, or Dr. Briefs.

On the battlefield he's never particularly shown his intelligence. Which is honestly a shame considering he's supposed to be good at absorbing knowledge...then he gets on the battlefield and becomes one of the dumbest characters in an instant.

Clearly Piccolo and Goku are above him in fighting strategy smarts, but he's outdone by other characters including Krillin and Roshi in this department too, both of whom have shown greater ability to strategise than Gohan, who's only plan is 'HIT BAD GUY HARD'. Which isn't that surprising since it's the thing that's worked best for him in the past.
Problem is it's kind of a meathead strategy that's counterproductive to showcasing how smart a character is.

Fighting and book smarts aren't the same thing, but the fact we have idiot wild boy Goku being cunning and adaptable in his fighting strategy compared to scholar Gohan relying on hitting something very very hard until it's dead or unconcious is jarring.

In a way, I'm glad Gohan's not as strong as Goku or Vegeta anymore. If he's constantly going to get overpowered maybe it's time to give his brain a workout to allow him to keep up and overcome stronger opponents.

[Eradicatethesaiyans]

In my mind, there are different types of ways to be smart. Gohan may not be smart in how Bulma is smart, but I do believe he is tactfully smart and has insane book smart. He knew trigonometry at age four and was the smartest person in their high school class. I do believe that he knows English as well, since he once read an English paragraph without stuttering or stopping.