To be Intelligent is to Succeed as an Individual and Strive in an Individualized Subject or Area of Expertise

995 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Nature vs nurture on intelligence

To be intelligent means to be superior in some aspect of life, to withhold talent in an area of expertise, this gift or understanding does not have to be the same as anyone else’s yet instills intelligence within an individual. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, intelligence can be defined as “the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations.” This definition poses so many questions: what situations, understand what? In this definition, it is seen that intelligence means a wide variation of things and therefore being intelligent holds different meanings when describing certain individuals. Intelligence does not correspond to certain characteristics; the individual creates intelligence. Instead of asking what does it mean to be intelligent, it might be more explanatory and correct to ask what makes you intelligent?

Howard Gardner, psychologist, created the theory of Multiple Intelligences: naturalistic intelligence, musical intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, linguistic intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, spatial intelligence, and existential intelligence (PBS, 1999). These types of intelligence are ways individuals can thrive and achieve. A person who holds incredible skills in mathematics can become the world’s finest mathematician, but if they cannot play the piano, are the not intelligent? Howard Gardner’s theory is what questions what the meaning of being intelligent truly is.

Theories that quickly conclude one is intelligent only if they do something so substantial as to create a cure for cancer lean toward a new definition of “raw intelligence” (Lynch, L. 2005). The concept of raw intelligence agrees along...

... middle of paper ...

...that person’s intelligence. To be intelligent is to let talents shine, succeed as an individual, let what you understand show, and use abilities to achieve in any aspect of life it is possible.

Works Cited

Behavioral Neuroscience Web Ring: Macalester College. (2008). Types of Intelligence.

Retrieved from http://www.macalester.edu/academics/psychology/

whathap/ubnrp/intelligence05/mtypes.html.

Lynch, Larry M. (October 10, 2005). What makes a person intelligent? Retrieved from

http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Makes-a-Person-Intelligent?&id=81350.

Public Broadcasting Services, PBS. (1999). Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

Theory. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/education/ed_mi_resources.html.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2011). Intelligence Cycle. Retrieved from

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/intelligence/intelligence-cycle.

Show More
Related

  • Multiple Intelligences: How Do You Know if You Have an Intelligence?

    1253 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since intelligence is usually judged in IQ tests or just tests in school, many individuals are claimed to have average or little intelligence. They struggle in school, trying to learn math, English, reading; but they may excel in other places like sports, music, or relationships. This is where Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences comes into play. He proposed that there are eight forms of intelligence, possibly more. The two that are seen in school often are Logical-Mathematical and Linguistic-Verbal. The people who excel at these are seen as geniuses and are thought to do very well in life. The others that don’t do well in those two may be better at one of the other six.

    Read More

  • Blue Collar Brilliance and Hidden Intellectualism

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    To be intelligent means to be able to apply what we learned in school and use what we learned in our everyday life to achieve a goals that is sit or one that we are accomplishing without knowing. Many people think that a person is intelligent because they went to a university, got a degree, and have a good paying job, so they must be smart and know everything however thats not always true. If we would ask a teacher or professor the chances of them knowing how to fix a car are slim. So why do we think teachers are so intelligent? We think teachers are intelligent because they know everything about their subjects, know how to teach it and know how to apply their knowledge to their everyday lives.

    Read More

  • What is Intelligence?

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history, psychologists have made hundreds of attempts to define intelligence and measure it precisely. However, none of these attempts have been accepted by all because Intelligence is so broad. Intelligence has been defined by many things, by Weschler, who made the most used psychological test today, as “the global capacity of a person to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment.” However, while he may have created the most successful test, his definition is not the only definition of intelligence, for psychologists such as Gardner, believed that there was more than just knowledge to intelligence, and Sternberg, who defined intelligence as “mental activity directed toward purposive adaptation to, selection and shaping of, real-world environments relevant to one’s life.” Intelligences has been measured in a variety of ways throughout psychologists, however because intelligence is such a broad concept, there is no single definition and method of testing it.

    Read More

  • Intelligence: Definition and Theories

    1104 Words  | 3 Pages

    Intelligence can be defined in many different ways since there are a variety of individual differences. Intelligence to me is the ability to reason and respond quickly yet accurately in all aspects of life, such as physically, emotionally, and mentally. Anyone can define intelligence because it is an open-ended word that has much room for interpretation. Thus my paper is an attempt to find the meaning of human intelligence. There are a couple of scientists who have tried to come up with theories of what makes a human being intelligent.

    Read More

  • Exploring Gardner's Theory on Multiple Intelligences

    1513 Words  | 4 Pages

    Howard Gardner used to define intelligence as “the ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings” (Gardner 33). The modern day human being would most likely include the words “smart” and “dumb” in their definition of intelligence. Gardner questioned the belief of only one intelligence so he created his own theory that involved seven different discoveries. He didn’t want to call these discoveries “skills” or “talents” or gifts” because those all suggested a drawback so he decided on the word “intelligence,” creating his theory of multiple intelligences (Gardner 33). Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences including, linguistic, logical/mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, intrapersonal and interpersonal, has many implications for modern education and culture.

    Read More

  • Spatial Intelligence According To Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence?

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Howard Gardner (1991), every individual is born with a certain intelligence or potential intelligence. It is unfair to teach and/or assess an individual with a standard guideline or benchmark. This is mainly because every individual possess a different intellectual strength and different kinds of mind that learn, perform and understand in a different ways which is difficult to be changed. If an individual cannot understand the way we communicate, we should communicate in the way they can understand. Howard Gardner (1983), in his Multiple Intelligence Theory, proposes that human intelligence has seven dimensions that should be acknowledged and developed by the encouragement of learning and self-development and

    Read More

  • Howard Gardner and Project Zero

    1215 Words  | 3 Pages

    Howard Gardner is the “John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Adjunct Professor of Neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine, and Senior Director of Harvard Project Zero” (Gardner bio, Multiple Intelligences and Education, MI Theory, and Project Zero). As director of Project Zero, it provided and environment that Gardner could begin the exploration of human cognition (Multiple Intelligences and Education). Project Zero colleagues have been designing assessment and the use of multiple intelligences (MI) to realize more personalized curriculum, instruction, and teaching methods; and the quality of crossing traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought in education (Gardner bio). MI theories offer tools to educators that will allow more people to master learning in an effective way and to help people “achieve their potential at the workplace, in occupations, and in the service of the wider world” (Gardner papers).

    Read More

  • Positive And Cons Of The Theory Of Intelligence

    1057 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence focuses more on how numerical expressions of human intelligence are not a full and accurate depiction of people’s abilities (McFarlane, 2011). He includes and describes eight intelligences that are based on skills and abilities that are valued within different cultures. The eight intelligences include visual-spatial (e.g. sailor navigating with no navigational systems), verbal-linguistic (e.g. poets, writers, orators, and communicators), bodily-kinesthetic (e.g. dancers, athletes, surgeons, craftspeople), logical-mathematical (e.g. mathematicians and logicians), interpersonal(e.g. salespeople, teachers, clinicians, politicians, and religious leaders), musical (e.g. musicians and

    Read More

  • The Measurement of Intelligence through IQ Tests

    1243 Words  | 3 Pages

    In a 1921 symposium entitled “Intelligence and Its Measurement”, psychiatrists were asked to define intelligence and their answers varied greatly. One described intelligence as “equivalent to the capacity to learn.” Other definitions included “the ability to adapt adequately to relatively new situations”, “the capacity to learn or profit from experience”, and “the knowledge that an individual possesses.” And one stated that there was no simple definition to the word because “intelligence involves two factors- the capacity for knowledge and knowledge possessed” (Sternberg & Detterman, 1986, p.39-40).

    Read More

  • Cognitive Development: Multiple Intelligences

    1530 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gardner’s theory of MI offers an alternative view of intelligence which has measured intelligence based on the results that would predict success in the current educational system. Furham (2009) sums up Gardner’s definition as “the ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings”. This definition suggests that human intelligence is comprised of more than the predictable success in a western school system. Gardner argues that traditional definitions of intelligence and intelligence testing are too narrow and marginalize people who do not fit traditional education system that focuses on visual–spatial, verbal–linguistic, and logical–mathematical intelligences. He supports this with unique cases of idiots savant, who are people with low IQs but excel in skills in areas not measured through tradition IQ tests (Arnett, 2013). MI theory proposes that individual’s intelligence can be differentiated on eight different modalities:

    Read More

  • Defining Intelligence

    436 Words  | 1 Pages

    The true nature of intelligence has been debated more intensely then ever over the last century. As the science of psychology has developed one of the biggest questions it had to answer concerned the nature of Intelligence. Some of the definitions that have been given for intelligence have been the ability to adjust to one’s environment. Of course by such a definition even a person who is generally considered to be dull can be regarded as being intelligent if he can take care of himself. Other definition is such as having the tendency to analyze things around yourself. However it can be argued that such behavior can lead to over-analyzing things and not reacting to one’s environment and dealing with it in an intelligent manner.

    Read More

  • Interpersonal Intelligence: The Strengths Of Multiple Intelligences

    1316 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1983, Howard Gardner a Harvard professor proposed the theory that individual can have multiple ways of learning and processing information. The multiple intelligences consist of 9 different ways and these include: verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, existential, musical, naturalistic, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Every individual has a different amount of each intelligence but each intelligence is at a varying level. With the help of a multiple intelligences assessment, I found that my top three multiple intelligences are Intrapersonal, logical, and interpersonal. Within his research Gardner says that “Intrapersonal intelligence refers to people’s ability to recognize and assess those same characteristics

    Read More

  • Intelligence: Nature or Nurture?

    1352 Words  | 3 Pages

    Intelligence by definition is “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills” (Oxford Dictionary, 2014). However, many psychologists argue that there is no standard definition of ‘intelligence’, and there have been many different theories over time as psychologists try to find better ways to define this concept (Boundless 2013). While some believe in a single, general intelligence, others believe that intelligence involves multiple abilities and skills. Another largely debated concept is whether intelligence is genetically determined and fixed, or whether is it open to change, through learning and environmental influence. This is commonly known as the nature vs. nurture debate.

    Read More

  • Multiple Intelligences

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard, introduced his theory of multiple intelligences in 1983. Multiple intelligence’s is a theory about the brain that says human beings are born with single intelligence that cannot be changed, and is measurable by a psychologist. Gardner believes that there are eight different intelligences in humans. The eight are verbal linguistic, visual spatial, bodily kinesthetic, mathematical logic, musical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and naturalist. Understanding these intelligence’s will help us to design our classroom and curriculum in a way that will appeal to all of our students. We might also be able to curve discipline problems by reaching a student in a different way. One that will make more sense to them and more enjoyable. We can include all of the intelligences in lessons to accommodate all of the students’ different learning styles at once. By reaching each students intelligence we can assume that a student will perform better which, could mean students retaining more important information. A students learning style can also help lead them into a more appropriate career direction. As a teacher you can also learn your own personal learning style or intelligence to help improve the way you learn and teach.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Intelligence In Education

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Oxford Dictionary defines intelligence as “the ability acquire and apply knowledge and skills.” Many people are born naturally intelligent, able to grasp and understand concepts easily, with little work. In children, it is easy to separate those born with higher intellectual ability from the rest, because they easily excel in learning. This skill is often lost by those born with it, and through a great deal of work others attain it. In order for an individual to have true intelligence into her adult years, she must foster what gifts she is given, and strive to better her self academically. Even as early as elementary school, many who are born with natural talent begin to fall behind intellectually. These students are often not

    Read More

More about To be Intelligent is to Succeed as an Individual and Strive in an Individualized Subject or Area of Expertise

Open Document