http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-9-types-of-intelligence.html
The 9 Types of Intelligence
One of the smartest people I know can’t spell worth beans (or, benes as I am pretty sure she would write) and has a particular way of pronouncing foreign-based words (sorbet is soibert; café au lait is coffee oh loddy). Meanwhile, my friend who can speak five languages is entirely flummoxed when it comes time to calculate the tip for a waiter.
So what’s going on with these two brainiacs—am I, simply, surrounded by idiot savants? Not according to Dr. Howard Gardener who developed the theory of multiple intelligences, going beyond the IQ test to discover the many ways humans are smart. He identified intelligent abilities including language, music, spatial reference, kinesthesia, naturalistic, and possibly existential intelligence. Gardner’s definitions include ways to improve your weaker areas—strengthening your brain. Learning—even about learning—reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s says the American Academy of Neurology.
These are Gardner’s nine types of intelligence, as described in A Better Brain at Any Age (Conari, 2009) by Sondra Kornblatt.:
1. Linguistic intelligence reflects the ability to read, write, tell stories, and learn languages, grammar, and syntax. Strengthen this ability by studying a new language, improving vocabulary, and writing.
2. Your friendly computer programmer has logical-mathematical intelligence. She’s comfortable with numbers, logic, reasoning, and abstractions. To increase logical ability, get a book of logic games, knit a sweater, and learn computer programming. Or watch a movie on video, and stop it to predict what will happen.
3. Those with strong musical intelligence are sensitive to sounds, tones, rhythms, pitch, musical keys, and structure of the songs (from verse and chorus to symphonies). Borrow different types of music CDs, sing with the radio, be quiet and listen to the sounds around you.
4. Those with strong spatial intelligence can imagine, understand, and represent the visual-spatial world. They may have a good sense of direction, hand-eye coordination, and visual memory. Some people, for instance, can visualize how furniture fits in a room without measurements, or buy a scarf that matches the blue in a blouse at home (perfect “chromatic pitch.”) To strengthen your spatial intelligence, be a backseat driver and provide directions for a trip, fit the groceries in the bag or the car, play with jigsaw puzzles and mazes, build some Lego’s, or sculpt some clay.
5. Remember Gene Kelly performing “Gotta Dance!” in Singing in the Rain? He had bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, as do athletes, builders, actors, or surgeons (if they have fine motor skills). Yoga is a great way to increase this ability. Make crafts or build, ride a bike, dance, and learn tai chi or other sports.
6. Someone with interpersonal intelligence is good at organizing people and is aware of moods and motivations. He or she can communicate and lead well. To get more people skills, practice active listening—that is, repeat back what you think someone said. Learn about the types of personalities with the Myers-Briggs test (psychological preferences such as extraversion and introversion) or the Enneagram (a theory of nine personality types—possibly centuries old).
7. Intrapersonal intelligence is the ability to be self-aware and explore emotions, goals and motivations. This perspective on the human condition is used by writers, philosophers, psychologists, and theologians. To improve your intrapersonal intelligence, “know thyself”—write in a journal, meditate, try the personality tests mentioned above.
8. Individuals with green thumbs and “horse whisperers” have naturalistic intelligence. They are sensitive to nature and may easily recognize and classify species. To get more naturalistic intelligence, expose yourself to the great outdoors: plant a seed, volunteer at an animal shelter, take a walk with a naturalist at the park, read about classifications of animals (kids’ books can be a great place to start).
9. Spiritual or existential intelligence fits all Dr. Gardner’s criteria except for association with a specific brain specialization—though this intelligence could be a whole-brain function. Those with this ability explore questions about life, death, and what lies beyond the subjective perspective. Prayer and meditation increase whole-brain communication and lessen the blood flow to the parietal lobes (which give a subjective sense of time and space). Explore what lies beyond through inquiry, reading, or talking with others.
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52 comments
add your comment »cool!
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I love the work of Howard Gardner. I have taken the test many times. It always comes on that I have intrapersonal intelligence. I think his work has given keys to teachers to be able to help each child as completely as possible. It helps in discerning the individuality of each student.
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A very ibnteresting - and very funny! :) - article.
However, I am not sure what is the point of dissecting wholes into facets. Because that's what this type of compartmentalizing is.
The X "types of intelligence" are only more or less accentuated facets of the ideal integral approach to life.
I know so because my daughter fits at least 10 (if not all) of them perfectly (including an amazing gift for communicating with people).
And yes, she is extraordinary by all accounts - but I think what she has, her modus operandi, is simply the way it should be - an optimal state. Even yours truly can easily recognize at least seven of the "types" in myself.
People who lack more than three or four of these false categories may have been deprived in certain ways (not that there is anything wrong with them), so theirs is not an optimal state. But they can still strive towards developing them - because the "raw material" is already there in thm!
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There are only 8 types of Intelligence. And even if there was more than 8 discovered in the future, Spiritual Intelligence is not be regarded as Intelligence. The theory of multiple intelligences was proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983 to more accurately define the concept of intelligence and to address the question whether methods which claim to measure intelligence (or aspects thereof) are truly scientific. Gardner excluded spiritual intelligence due to what he perceived as the inability to codify criteria comparable to the other "intelligences" as listed in this article. Spiritual intelligence is not indicative of an intelligence, but rather, only an interest.
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Very interesting article, thank you.
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strange, i seem to fit into a few. does this mean i have multiple personalities?
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great information... thanks
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Let's be thankful that we are able to have this 'symposium' on-line, but I wish to remind my fellows that Gardner's hypothesis is decade-old and the there is also a group of psychometricians who argue for a General Intelligence. For a year now I've sought to square the circle of my difference with society (hence numerous 'failures') with my so-called 'smarts'. It remains to be seen however if we can come up with a more incisive tool so that we can extend what we are searching for...simply to have the experience of the 'other'. In THE HIDDEN LIFE OF DEER by Eliz. Thomas you get very close to someone who gives us the chance to understand the 'other' in our terms. The members of Care2 however have a difficulty with brutality, and arguing for 'intelligence' of the other will in no way stave off the need to brutalize the environment for the sake of its resources. On the other hand, most of us would be willing, I believe, to prejudicially structure human activity based-upon this concept. I do hope that we can eventually constuct the capacity to conceptualize so that indeed it becomes a launching pad for futher neuronal expansion and a means for interacting with the 'other.' *I damn well know that I'm leaving the 'other' as a mysterious undefined concept, but I would include 'God,' a chimp, a fish, a tomato plant.
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so everyone is probably smart in one of these aspects?!?
cool
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Wow, now that is interesting. I would have never thought about some of these types of people. Though, I can't say I fit into just one. I am a visual person, but my hand-eye coordination is terrible. I would like to see how people determine who they are.
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