The various forms of intelligence

The various forms of intelligence

• Do schools kill creativity?
• Is passing exams with flying colours the true test of intelligence?
• Do schools prepare people for real life situations?
• Are those who excel in their grades bound to succeed.

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The above question have recurred severally in debates globally. There is immense pressure mounting on the global educational system to emphasize the study and enhancement of skills and crafts like music, fashion designing , dancing, etc.

Why is Dancing not included in the curriculum of schools.

Schools fail to realize that there are various forms of intelligence and making People align to a single curriculum everytime may not allow for creativity and ingenuity.

Many a talent have been killed in the classroom.

It is our intention in this post to examine the various types of intelligence and theorise as we will shortly do that every human being is intelligent and that excellence in school examinations is just an aspect of intelligence not the whole of it.

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So what are the various forms of intelligence.

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There are no limits to growth because there are no limits to human intelligence, imagination and wonder

• Ronald Reagan

Musical Intelligence

These class of people have the ability to identify sounds easily. Sound is their language. They can detect tone, pitch, key etc. They feel at home when they hear music. They can also combine sounds in complex ways and in beautiful patterns too.

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People who have an unusual love sounds and music shouldn't take it for granted. Children with such gifts should be encouraged and trained accordingly. They live in a world of music and sounds. They think, feel, live sounds. They usually turn out excellent composers if properly trained .

Fear he who is not touched by the sound of Music.

• William Shakespeare

Intra Personal Intelligence.

Such people are blessed with the gift of understanding themselves. They keep memories of themselves as far back as when they were very young. They meditate your their story most Of The time. They understand their temperament, moods and desires. They are acquainted with every tiny detail of themselves. Then see the world through their own eyes. This helps them to become masters of themselves and rulers thereof. Most study psychology as a profession. They study themselves and understand their flaws strengths passion and weaknesses. They are a whole new world to themselves.

Aesthetic Intelligence

Such people have close affinities to the arts and aesthetic. They detect beauty and appreciate it easily. They may be good photographers or visual artists. They combine things in a unique way that it becomes pleasing to the eye. It works quite easily for them.

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These are the people that can paint a city by looking down from a helicopter. They have a curious eye for details. They see the beauty in nature and some eventually become painters like Pablo Picasso.

Linguistic Intelligence

These people find it extremely easy to learn a new language. They also have a way with words and are never in lack of vocabulary torts express themselves. They are good public speakers and some end up as writers.

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They combine words in such beautiful patterns that makes people marvel. Some are poets. They end up perfect writers of that are encouraged. They are experts at public too. A notable example is Barack Obama.

Bodily - Kinestethic Intelligence

These people know how to Coordinate their body with their minds. They can control their muscles to only instructions from their minds. Most turn out good athletes. They are rulers of their muscles and work out regularly. Most soccer players come under this category. Their minds is in sync with their muscles. Dancers may be found here as well

Interpersonal Intelligence

Such people have the ability to sense other people's feelings and even know what is going through their minds. They can easily read a person's psychology and understand people's actions and reaction to events.

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They can tell when a person is in pain albeit the person is smiling. They have the ability to relate to people at their own levels and sense other people's feelings and emotions.

Existential Intelligence

They have an extremely inquisitive mind about the theory of being. They're always prying to discover the validity of evolution, what makes up matter, are atoms real. Is there a supernatural reality? What happens when people die? Do human beings have souls? Etc. They have curious minds and always try to find the reason behind phenomenons.

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They ask questions whether God exists, how the world came to be, how man exists in the universe etc. Some end up renowned philosophers.

Logical / Mathematical Intelligence

Such people are good with numbers and figures. They are also good in computation and analysis. They make hypothesis and probe theories.

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Mathematics is cheap deal for them. They live in a world of numbers and their minds think likewise . They are knacks at quantifying things and they see the world from a mathematical point of view.

Spatial Intelligence

These people visualize the world in 3D. They are knacks for adventure. Some turn out good painters. They are in sync with the earth. They love landmarks, wonders of the world, mountains, rivers, hills, streams.

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They are good geographers and have an special interest in landscapes. Most architects and geographers are endowed with such form of intelligence.

Naturalistic Intelligence

These are the people who can literally talk to animals and even communicate with plants. They may turn out excellent botanists. They love living things and are curious when it comes to organisms. That mostly have pets whom they share a bond with. Most renowned scientists like Charles Darwin had such form of intelligence.

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Now the question is

• which of these categories do you fall under?

The shocker is that every human being is endowed with either one or more of the above forms of intelligence.

Perhaps this explains why some people are usually brilliant with literature and language and suck at maths. While others have an easy go with calculation and scientific theories. If you discover your own form of intelligence, it's best you focus on it and mine it to full potential.

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"The three idiots"

In the movie "The three idiots" , three friends set out to study engineering in college. Although studying the same course each of them was endowed with different gifts.

One was apart from the skill of engineering blessed with the intelligence of understanding life and human beings. He was curious about knowledge and always questioned convention. Why are things done in this way when they can be done in so and so ways? He would inquire. He was a curious folk.

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Another of the friends loved photography. He was interested in taking pictures of wild animals but because his parents wanted him to become an engineer by all means ,he went to study engineering.

The last of the friends wanted to be an engineer but he was ruled by fear. The fear of failure, the fear that his family was poor and could not move forward in life. He was intelligent but lacked motivation.

Now can you place each of these friends in the various forms of intelligence we explored above.

What are the factors that can make a person not to discover their intelligence?

• Fear: Take for example a person reading law but what he truly love is music. His father is a lawyer and would be disappointed if the son doesn't turn out one .

• Lack of motivation /encouragement : Childrens talents are killed while at a tender age. Take for example a little child who makes amazing comics while the mathematics teacher is teaching. The mathematics teacher discovers this and severely punishes the child . Do you think that child will ever want to make comics again?

The real death is what dies inside of us while we live.

• Family Background : sometimes families mount pressure on people to be something when the person wants to be a different thing entirely.

• Society : Society places premium on school certificates and grades. This discourages people with other skills from actualising their full potential.

Conclusively, let me leave us with a question.

What would have happened to Michael Jackson if his father forced him to become a boxer?

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I'm quite ignorant so if you discovered any omission during the analysis, you can hint on it in the comment section.

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