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

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Multiple Intelligences

Everyone thinks intelligence is being smart and it is inherited, but what if it was being able to play music or a sport? Each person is embodied with intelligence, but it might not be the intelligence that you see in school by form of tests. If you can’t see these intelligences by tests; then how do you know if you have an intelligence? Howard Gardner is the man who came up with the idea of multiple intelligences and he describes intelligence as ‘the ability to create an effective product or offer service that is valued in a culture.’ We see these intelligences then through the abilities and products that we have and produce. Many people doubt that there is more than one form of intelligence, but I believe and know that there are many kinds and I can see them all around me.
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.
These other intelligences are musical-rhythmic, bodily kinesthetic, spatial-visual, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist. A few of these are easy to figure out. Musical-rhythmic has to do with singing, rhythms, instruments, and anything to do with music. We...

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...e schools, while undoing some of the rigid curriculum.
Even with all the doubts about the multiple intelligence theory, you can see its existence all around us. With the eight forms and the existence intelligence to come, we can find ways to discover people with each and teach them better so they love to learn. We also need to remember that since there is more than one intelligence; then we can have several intelligences and be great at all of them. Lastly, remember what Gardner said, ‘It is not HOW SMART ARE YOU? BUT HOW ARE YOU SMART?’

Works Cited

Psychology and your life
Multiple Intelligence (MI)—Howard Gardner (http://tinyurl.com/87ttndt)

“Multiple Intelligences After Twenty Years” by Howard Gardner (http://infed.org/mobi/howard-gardner-multiple-intelligences-and-education/)

Wikipedia—Theory of Multiple Intelligences (http://tinyurl.com/pf-050205c)

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