The Meaning Of Intelligence
...ities which involve using numbers and patterns which acquire them to learn the basic skills of mathematics. Just from being involved in these activities it helps to determine early whether the child will or will not have a lot of intelligence in this particular subject. The second of the seven types of intelligences talked about is Linguistic. Having linguistic intelligence deals with writing skills and being able to analyze literature. This is the type of intelligence that most poets and writers have. This type of intelligence is noticed in the very early years of childhood as well. It is noticed in the children who learn to read first in there class in kindergarten or first grade. People who know how to manipulate the English language show a lot of linguistic intelligence. By keeping children involved in reading and writing activities through out their schooling, it helps them to accomplish and challenge themselves to achieve a higher intelligence in this subject. The third of the seven types of intelligences talked about is interpersonal. This particular type of intelligence is where people know to read and understand other people. Understanding others and why they make the decisions that they do is very important because we base a lot of the decisions we make on what others do. Many people mistake this type of intelligence as being an extrovert and working well with others. Well working well with others is one of them but being an extrovert is a common misunderstanding in this type of intelligence. This type is more toward how well someone can understand others which makes them good at working well with others. By doing different group activities in school, it helps children to learn how to understand others and the decisions they make. The fourth of the seven types of intelligences talked about is intrapersonal. According to Gardner, this is the most important type of intelligence that there is. Intrapersonal intelligence deals with how well we can understand ourselves. The better we can understand ourselves, the better decisions that we will tend to make. Most people don’t believe that understanding yourself and others can be considered intelligence, but if it’s not considered intelligence then how is it that we are smart enough to make good decisions for ourselves? The fifth of the seven types of intelligences talked about is spatial. This type of intelligence deals with a persons artistic ability. It is based on how well a person can read and understand different types of artworks through their different colors and designs. People who have the artistic ability to see a vision or design in their head and then turn it into a wonderful work of art have spatial intelligence. Having different art classes in schools helps children to explore their spatial intelligence. The sixth of the seven types of intelligences talked about is bodily-kinesthetic. This particular type of intelligence has to do with people’s athletic abilities and know a lot about the body. The majority of people who have a lot of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence are athletes, dancers, surgeons, and craftsmen. By showing children a broad range of sports, athletic events, and science classes helps them to expand their intelligence in this subject. The last of the seven types of intelligences talked about is musical. People who can explain in words and understand a musical piece have a lot of musical intelligence. People who have the ability to write music have it as well. By having music classes and showing children the different types of things that someone can do with music helps them to acquire more musical intelligence. All seven of the types are all very important. Although some people believe the third and forth (inter and intrapersonal) types aren’t very important and shouldn’t be considered intelligence, these two things are the basis for our nations communities. If we didn’t know how to understand people and the decisions they make, then how would we vote for the president and other political offices? By having these two types of intelligences we can build strong communities and healthy environments for ourselves and our children to come. All of these different ideas that make up Gardner’s theory were derived from one main spark. Gardner believed, “A person’s strength in one area of performance simply does not predict any comparable strengths in other areas” (Gardner 31). Simply put, this just means that a person might have a lot of strengths in one area but does not necessarily mean that this same person will have a lot of strengths in other areas as well. From this simple spark, Gardner was able to create a magnificent theory which leads people to believe that intelligence is not only one thing but a multitude of things which everyone a little bit of in one area or another. One person who opposes Gardner’s theory is Robert Sternberg with his own theory of intelligence. Sternberg is a person who believ...