Howard Gardner conceptualized intelligence as the biopsychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a culture.
This seems ambiguous right? I know you are curious to know if you are truly intelligent. Perhaps someone has categorised you as a daft person. Relax and read on, okay?
Howard definition suggests among other things that intelligence:
- Does not include things that can be seen or counted
- Involves potentials presumably, neural ones that will or will not be activated, depending upon:
- The value of a particular culture
- Personal decisions made by individuals and/or their families, school teachers and society
- Everyone is born with it
In his book, ‘Frames of mind’, he however proposed the existence of seven separate intelligence in every human- that is including you.
He further stressed that these faculties or intelligence are relatively independent of one another; and that intelligence is not a single faculty in which case one is not either ‘smart’ or ‘stupid’ across the board.
The first two which I will major on in this article which includes linguistic and logical mathematical are the ones that have typically been valued in school:
- Linguistic Intelligence: This involves the sensitivity to spoken and written language, which is the ability to learn language, the intelligence of words and the capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals. High linguistic intelligence is exhibited mostly by lawyers, speakers, writers and poets. It brought us the likes of Shakespeare and Soyinka
- Logical Mathematical Intelligence: This involves the capacity to analyse problems logically, carryout the mathematical operations and investigate issues scientifically. Mathematics, scientists, logicians are among those that exploit this kind of intelligence. E.g. Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Philip Emeagwali
A student or anyone who has a blend of linguistic and logical mathematical intelligence is no doubt blessed. Most psychologists and other academics exhibit a reasonable amalgam of linguistic and logical intelligence. That is why these faculties dominated tests of intelligence in school. One then wonders whether a different set of faculties would have been isolated if the test developers had been business people, politicians, entertainers or musicians.
Well, the next three intelligences can be put into many other uses; they are particularly applied in the arts. In my next article, I will share the thoughts of I.O Samuel on the other 5 types of intelligence; you will then be able to understand that you are an intelligent personality as well even if you are not the best student in class.
