What Is Your Intelligence? Choose One Of The 8!

For some years now, a very popular thought has been demystified and nowadays human intelligence is no longer considered to be unique, but rather the existence of different types of intelligence is recognized. This, among many other things, means that, for example, a person may be highly intelligent in a theoretical field, but may not be able to apply that intelligence to solve practical problems (or vice versa).

Actually, intelligence has a practical function. Well, it is a mechanism that allows you to solve problems in a creative or original way.

The area of ​​educational or evolutionary psychology has shown us that there are multiple intelligences. It was the author Howard Gardner who, in 1983, introduced the concept of sub-intelligences as parts that make up personal intelligence, squandering the unitary concept of the term.

Far from linking intelligence to purely intellectual academic results, Gardner established that intelligence is rooted in personal abilities, these being modifiable and changeable. What determines which intelligence predominates over the others is the interaction of biological inheritance and the living environment.

What conclusion do we draw based on this? That intelligence serves as an instrument to adapt to the environment, through our abilities to solve problems or generate new problems, immersed in a particular culture.

On the other hand, we have put aside the focus of intelligence as innateness. We now know that it is a cognitive skill that can be trained, improved and increased.

The different types of intelligence

Intelligences can be divided into eight types:

1. Linguistic-verbal: predominant in people who express themselves adequately, both in writing and orally.

2. Logical-mathematical: involves solving problems quickly, through the management of multiple variables and using deductive and inductive methods.

3. Spatial: high capacity in drawing, perception and visualization of details.

4. Musical: predominant in people who know how to listen, execute and create music.

5. Corporal-kinesthetic: great capacity for control, expression and corporal coordination.

6. Intrapersonal: is that intelligence that is based on the knowledge and management of one’s own emotions and thoughts, in order to draw conclusions.

7. Interpersonal: allows you to read and understand the desires, motivations and emotions of others, without necessarily depending on language.

8. Naturalistic: although it did not appear in the original list of the types of intelligence, the author added it in 1995. “Naturalistic intelligence” is understood as that which is based on the recognition of the relationships between animals and others. elements of the natural world

It is important to clarify that, in the past, only intelligences 1 and 2 were used as bases for IQ tests. In addition, each type of intelligence defines in which social, cultural and work area we will be able to function more effectively.

The importance of education systems

We all have the different types of intelligences listed, but not to the same extent, so that one always stands out above the others. Despite advances in these theoretical fields, even today the current education system tends to benefit people with high levels of verbal and mathematical intelligence, minimizing the abilities of the rest.

This raises a discussion about changing the educational system, since all kinds of intelligence should be of equal importance. The key would be, then, to generate diverse and personalized education systems, attending to the particular characteristics, thus stimulating the strengths of each of the students.

It is essential to recognize (and be guided to discover it, when necessary) in what type of intelligence we excel, in order to make the most of our abilities, since that will define what type of learning we will use and what path we will take in our lives.