How do we define Intelligence?

Is it a psychometric test that we conduct and test the IQ scores, or do we write examinations to get marks and determine who is the smartest of the many?

It’s been years since I have been propagating to schools and colleges to change their methods of assessments and let the examinations be a result of the efforts that we put in through the year. The curriculum need not change, just the method of teaching.

But alas, who would want to get out of their comfort zone and want to do something different. And then COVID19 happened and all the walls came tumbling down.

Now that we have been forced into accepting a different method of change in the world and we are adapting to it, intelligence has also taken a turn. With Howard Gardner’s reply to Robert Stern’s recent article, “COVID-19 HAS TAUGHT US WHAT INTELLIGENCE REALLY IS”; and his much-anticipated release of the book Adaptive Intelligence eagerly awaited. His theory on Multiple Intelligences has taken a slight deviation from what it was.

While he always propagated that maths and logical reasoning on paper cannot assess the intelligence of a person, his theory on multiple intelligence had already created a storm in the western hemisphere with the recognition that we as humans do not have a silo of intelligence but we function differently with multiple levels of intelligence. The theory goes on to define 8 ways that intelligence can be assessed.

SPATIAL

The ability to conceptualize and manipulate large-scale spatial arrays (e.g. airplane pilot, sailor), or more local forms of space (e.g. architect, chess player).

BODILY-KINESTHETIC

The ability to use one’s whole body, or parts of the body (like the hands or the mouth), to solve problems or create products (e.g. dancer).

MUSICAL

Sensitivity to rhythm, pitch, meter, tone, melody and timbre. May entail the ability to sing, play musical instruments, and/or compose music (e.g. musical conductor).

LINGUISTIC

Sensitivity to the meaning of words, the order among words, and the sound, rhythms, inflexions, and meter of words (e.g. poet). (Sometimes called language intelligence.)

LOGICAL-MATHEMATICAL

The capacity to conceptualize the logical relations among actions or symbols (e.g. mathematicians, scientists). Famed psychologist Jean Piaget believed he was studying the range of intelligence, but he was actually studying logical-mathematical intelligence.

INTERPERSONAL

The ability to interact effectively with others. Sensitivity to others’ moods, feelings, temperaments and motivations (e.g. negotiator). (Sometimes called social intelligence.)

INTRAPERSONAL

Sensitivity to one’s own feelings, goals, and anxieties, and the capacity to plan and act in light of one’s own traits. Intrapersonal intelligence is not particular to specific careers; rather, it is a goal for every individual in a complex modern society, where one has to make consequential decisions for oneself. (Sometimes called self intelligence.)

NATURALISTIC

The ability to make consequential distinctions in the world of nature as, for example, between one plant and another, or one cloud formation and another (e.g. taxonomist). (Sometimes called nature intelligence.)

Now adding to the twist of the tale, the book by Robert Sternberg on adaptive intelligence “A Theory of Adaptive Intelligence and Its Relation to General Intelligence” speaks of the form of intelligence which deals with the survival instincts of Man. Can one survive with basic amenities and be able to survive, the ability for one to face failures and still stand up against the adversities in their lives.

Intelligence is now being reassessed with a new measure, it is assessed for real-life application and not psychometric tests that really do not determine the truth of the person’s temperament, their ability to withstand pressure, their ability to be a leader or their ability to make the right decisions.

So now, we need to unlearn yet again, with a new measure that Intelligence is not about numbers alone but also of real-life application. Survival and more importantly, the need to co-exist and live in harmony with each other. Life is more than just a bank balance, its about making the other person’s life in harmony with your own. That is true intelligence!

Written by

Roshan Dsouza

Life Consultant and Counselor