We always think of intelligence as one entity. We think that scientists and academics are brainy and “intelligent” people. But if we put them in a bank, they may be at a loss for words when speaking to customers.
And what about the misconceptions about people engaged in less intelligible jobs such as waiting tables or telemarketing who are deemed “unintelligent? Try giving these people an empty canvas and watch them create a masterpiece for you with just a pencil.
The point is, our perception of intelligence is skewed. Everything that seems out of our reach is automatically deemed as intelligent however on the contrary, according to a psychologist, Howard Gardner, everyone is blessed with multiple types of intelligence. See the infographic below to have a better understanding.
The 9 types of intelligence as theorized by Gardner in his book called Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, is a great tool to find your individual strengths and weaknesses. And the scientific concept behind it is simple.
Gardner’s view on intelligence states that there are 9 abilities that simply make us the intelligent beings that we are today and these 9 are musical-rhythmic, visual-spatial, verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic and existential.
By learning the theory behind Gardner’s studies, we get to know ourselves a little bit better. However, Gardner emphasized that by understanding our strengths, it shouldn’t limit us through labeling ourselves to a specific intelligence. Instead, it should empower us to recognize our weaknesses as well as to improve them.
Simply by taking the test based on the 9 types of intelligence, you’ll be able to have a basic understanding of which intelligence you are strong at. Take note that you should be providing your most honest answer in order for the results to be more accurate.
So here below are my results that reaffirm that embarking on a writing career is a great choice for me because I’m linguistically intelligent. It also indicates that I’m typically good at reading, writing, telling stories and memorizing words according to Gardner.
