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Multiple Intelligence

The theory of multiple intelligences was proposed by Howard Gardner and has been developed by him for 15 years. He proposed this radical new theory because he felt that the old definition of intelligence, or schoolhouse giftedness, was inadequate. The old definition focused too much on linguistic and logical thinking. Though those ways of thinking were important, it left other kinds of intelligence, like a musician’s intelligence in music, out in the cold. Gardner believed that rather than two ways of thinking, or ways to be smart, there were seven. This led to his theory of multiple intelligences.

Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences states that rather than two ways to be smart, there are seven. The seven ways to be smart, according to Gardner are:

• Linguistic Intelligence – People who have linguistic intelligence have a way with words, so to speak. Linguistic intelligence is, according to Gardner and the author of The Seven Kinds of Smart, Thomas Armstrong, the intelligence of words. People who excel in linguistic intelligence end up being poets, writers, journalists, and lawyers. In high school, people who excel at this intelligence end up being in drama or debate. People who have linguistic intelligence are also good at word games like a crossword puzzle or Scrabble®.
• Logical-Mathematical Intelligence – People who have logical-mathematical intelligence excel at science and math. These are the logical thinkers, the "Scullys" of our population. These are the people who seek out patterns in an otherwise chaotic world. They also are the ones who are making the biotechnological and nanotechnological advancements today. People who excel at logical-mathematical intelligence are also our accountants and computer programmers.
• Spatial Intelligence – People with a great deal of spatial intelligence like to mess with pictures. They even think in images. They are also able to take the images they have in their minds or what they see and put that on a canvas or to take a picture of it. They are our artists, architects, photographers, pilots, and mechanical engineers. Who ever designed the Patronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia must have had a lot of spatial intelligence.
• Musical Intelligence – People with musical intelligence are the musicians and singers of our worlds. They are the ones who can carry a tune and play the saxophone. Bach and Mozart had tons of musical intelligence, as do Trent Reznor and Jon Bon Jovi today. You don’t have to play music or sing to have lots of musical intelligence. People who love to listen to music, can keep time to the beat of a song, and listen to a lot of musical pieces with a degree of judgment also have lots of musical intelligence.
• Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence - Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence is your physical smart. Being in control ones body is the key to this intelligence, be it in doing a lay-up in basketball or performing a quintuple bypass surgery on a late-night talk show host. Athletes and surgeons are especially skilled at this intelligence. Other people with bodily-kinesthetic intelligence like to do physical exercise and to work with their hands like woodworking, crafts, and model-building. They will also use a lot of hand gestures while talking.
• Interpersonal Intelligence – Persons with Interpersonal Intelligence are what you would call, people persons. They like to be around people, whether it be to help them out or to seek help. Individuals with this intelligence are able to judge peoples’ emotions and be able to adjust to them. People with Interpersonal Intelligence like to be around people and like to convince people of their positions. Many politicians have a lot of this kind of intelligence, as well as linguistic intelligence. One doesn’t have to very nice to be have interpersonal intelligence, one can also be conniving and manipulative, as well as backstabbing. Richard Hatch on Survivor, thus, also has a lot of this kind of intelligence, as did a good personal friend of his, Machiavelli.
• Intrapersonal Intelligence – People with this kind of intelligence are very introspective and independent. They would not mind spend much of their time alone, getting to know their inner self, the whole basis of this intelligence. A person with this kind of intelligence can judge their own feelings easily and be very self-guiding. People who are self-employed, theologians, and counselors are often smart in this area.

Many of these kinds of smarts are not tested in school, yet you would consider some gifted in one or more of these areas as intelligent for that thing. An example would be Stephen King. You would recognize his intelligence in linguistics and thus call him smart even though he may not be very intelligent in math or science (which is what most schools base their tests on, as well as linguistic intelligence). Gardner believes that those two should not be the only way to measure intelligence but the other 5 should be included as well.

The author of The Seven Kinds of Smart states that Gardner has come up with four pieces of evidence for his theory. First, each intelligence can be symbolized. Each intelligence uses a different set of symbols to communicate thoughts, ideas, or expressions. Liguistic intelligence uses the English language or Spanish for that matter. Logical-Mathematical intelligence uses numbers, operators, and Greek letters. Second, each intelligence has its own developmental history. Each intelligence develops separately through ones life. Third, each intelligence is vulnerable to impairment through insult or injury to specific parts of the brain. Thus, each intelligence has its own area in the brain. Finally, each intelligence has its own culturally valued endstates. People who are gifted at bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, like Michael Jordan and Mark Brunell are treated as heroes in today’s society. Musicians are also given the same treatment.

In the handout of Chapter one of the book, The Seven Kinds of Smart, by Thomas Armstrong, there is a checklist for readers to fill out to determine their strengths and weaknesses on the basis of this theory. Before completing this checklist, I felt that my best areas were in Logical-Mathematical intelligence and in Intrapersonal intelligence. After completing this checklist, I found that I was partially correct. It turns out that according to this checklist, I was intelligent in Logical-mathematical intelligence (as I predicted) as well as linguistic intelligence and intrapersonal intelligence. In the end I should have predicted the linguistic intelligence part because I like to write stories. I also found that I have weaknesses in spatial intelligence and interpersonal intelligence (as my ex-girlfriends and current girlfriend will tell you). They are fairly accurate for me. I love science; hate math though. As I said above, I love to write stories, and I am a very introspective. These results are not a surprise to me.

In addition to myself, I had both my parents take the survey. My mom turned out to have strengths in spatial intelligence, musical intelligence, and linguistic intelligence. This was obvious even to me because she loves to listen to the radio, loves to sing at church, loves to work on crafts, and loves to read. In addition to strengths, she had a very low score in logical-mathematical intelligence. I will never, ever, ask her for help on my calculus homework.

I also had my dad take the survey. He had strengths in logical-mathematical intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (even though he lies on the couch most of the times he is not at work), intrapersonal intelligence, and spatial intelligence. My dad had weaknesses in Musical intelligence and linguistic intelligence. He says that his weakness in the latter might be why he is not warden (of the CCA jail behind L&V Outlet).

The two articles attached with the handout, "Readin’, Writin’, Rhythm" and "Arts Offer Crucial, Active Learning for Kids," show examples of the MI theory being used in school today. Most of the educators interviewed for the "Readin’, Writin’, Rhythm" article believe that teaching the arts will help the student’s learning processes in other subjects, like math and English. Also the articles demonstrate that the MI theory is gaining acceptance throughout the country and the world as a valuable teaching method.

The selection from The Seven Kinds of Smart and the articles "Readin’, Writin’, Rhythm" and "Arts Offer Crucial, Active Learning for Kids" describe the MI theory and how it can be applied to schools and everyday individuals. Rather than basing intelligence on the old definition, many people are broadening their perspectives and looking at what it means to be smart. Rather than the schoolhouse giftedness of logical-mathematical and linguistic intelligences, many are now seeing Michael Jordan as smart in basketball, Marilyn Manson as smart in screaming into a microphone and being just plain weird, and Wayne Gretsky as intelligent in hockey. Sadly for me, most of my intelligences according to the checklist are so called "schoolhouse giftedness."