Howard Gardner

Born on July 11th 1943 from German refuged parents who barely escaped Nazism in 1930s Germany, Howard Earl Gardner lived in Scranton, Pennsylvania with his mother and father. As Gardner aged into his youth years, his interests and developments in musicality and reading flourished, progressing both in reading books and playing the piano. Later on, within Gardner’s adolescent and young adult years, he excelled in academics and eventually enrolled in Harvard University. Upon Gardner’s graduation in 1965, the development and interest in psychology grew stronger, surpassing his parent’s hopes of a future career in law. Eventually in 1986, after a twenty-year psychology career at Boston Veterans Administration Hospital, Gardner moved onward, enrolling

they seem to carry. Personally, after taking Walter McKenzie’s Multiple Intelligence survey, the most important M.I. that I have falls under Gardner’s theory of musical intelligence, as well as kinesthetic intelligence. Sometimes, whenever I am in class or doing other work, I tend to hum or tap a rhythm to assist in remembering certain elements of what I am learning. Other times, while using kinesthetic intelligence, partaking in hands-on activities and living a healthy lifestyle often come easier than other M.I.s Gardner has explored. Going from most important to least important personal M.I. levels, the list follows as musical, kinesthetic, logical, intrapersonal, visual, naturalistic, intrapersonal, verbal, and finally existential multiple intelligence. My most important M.I., being musically advanced M.I., perhaps comes from my family’s history with music-based employment, the general study of modern music, and the overall enjoyment levels followed. Personally, I believe music is an art which flows with our emotions to places that which we never could imagine, and keeping it active regulates the sanity of the human race. Plus, with the help from musical M.I., I also know and perform five different instruments and plan to further my studies into the music industry once my college career concludes. With this entire theory of my personal M.I., not only does it help in my personal self

theory, how may they progress and improve the thinking behind it towards real world situations? The next step is to apply the known multiple intelligence theory and put it towards a career that fascinates and challenges one’s stimuli. Armstrong mentions that many adults “find themselves in jobs that do not make optimal use of their most highly developed intelligences” (Armstrong 1), which is not what is recommended. What Armstrong, as well as Gardner, recommends for adults who have found their M.I. is to put it in realistic terminologies, by either going forth in a career that is based on the selected M.I., or by partaking in different hobbies and activates that influence it, such as sports or other related topics. Another way to further one’s enjoyment and knowledge towards their work and their multiple intelligences is to study new M.I. concepts, as well as applying them in the form of experimentation. With this, putting two M.I.s together, such as remembering to break a logical code in the form of a musical rhythm one had remembered, can have beneficial results in expanding one’s knowledge towards problem solving tactics. Other ways to possibly enhance one’s ability to possess multiple intelligences is to find activates each M.I. has, such as singing for music M.I., gardening for naturalist M.I., or even playing chess to develop logical intelligence. Expanding on these activates, as well as having an open mind towards new