A new study confirms that learning in classrooms and learning through real-world experience both rely on the same core cognitive ability — challenging the idea that people are simply 'book smart' or 'street smart' as separate skill types. This matters because it suggests intelligence is more unified than popular psychology suggests, though it doesn't eliminate the reality that different contexts reward different knowledge and experience. The research doesn't address why some people thrive in one setting but not the other — contextual comfort, motivation, and domain-specific practice still shape real-world success.