The world would be a much better place if only the fact that there is 9 different types of intelligence was more of a common knowledge. People often tend to beat themselves up about how they’re “not smart” or how “they’re not that bright”, just because they aren’t doing well in the traditional STEM-centered academe. And as engineers, I’m pretty sure we’ve all gone through this. Desperately trying to save our grades and trying to catch up to your lectures yet no matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to comprehend the mathematical equation. Then we look at our classmates who are doing well without even trying and ask ourselves “Why is the world so unfair? Why wasn’t I born smart?”
The fact is, you are born smart. Everyone is. It’s just that society thinks intelligence is equal to being good at science and mathematics, when that couldn’t be any further from the truth. Microsoft co-founder and genius Bill Gates himself says that intelligence isn’t a one-size-fits-all. While his career is centered on mathematics and programming, he admitted that he lacked in other skills, such as interpersonal skills.
Source: Twitter, Bill Gates
On his twitter account, Gates had posted a thread about the things he wished he knew back when he just started out. “Looking back on when I left college, there are some things I wish I had known,” Gates writes. “Intelligence takes many different forms. It is not one-dimensional. And not as important as I used to think.”
With that in mind, we can finally dive into the 9 different kinds of intelligence, identified by psychologist Howard Gardener back in the 80s. Mark Vital, graphic designer from Funders and Founders has summed up and written down the highlights of each kind of intelligence in this useful infographic:
Source: CNBC
9 Types of Intelligence
- Spatial: Visualizing the world in 3D
- Naturalist: Understanding living things and reading nature
- Musical: Discerning sounds, their pitch, tone, rhythm and timbre
- Logical-Mathematical: Quantifying things, making hypotheses and proving them
- Existential: Tackling the questions of why we live and why we die
- Interpersonal: Sensing people’s feelings and motives
- Bodily-Kinesthetic: Coordinating your mind with your body
- Linguistic: Finding the right words to express what you mean
- Intra-personal: Understanding yourself, what you feel and what you want
Realizing what kind of intelligence you have can have multiple benefits to your life. Not only will you stop comparing yourself to others, but you can use it to find your best work environment, and even know your future career path. The world also starts to make so much more sense. Those who are good at STEM are simply Logical-Mathematically intelligent, while those good at sports aren’t just “athletic”, they’re Bodily-Kinesthetically intelligent. Those who are charismatic and can socialize well with people are Interpersonally intelligent, and those who are good with music aren’t just “talented”, they’re Musically intelligent.
It’s about time we stop comparing ourselves to others. Intelligence isn’t just a one-way street, and at the end of the day, we’re all born geniuses. Just in different ways.
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