1. An intelligence must
possess an identifiable core operation of set of operations. There
are a specific set of learnable/ teachable capacities involved for
each intelligence. For example, if I asked you to identify the core
skills in involved in language (WordSmart or verbal-linguistic
intelligence) you would likely mention such things as knowing the
ABCs, knowing how to use the ABCs to make words, making words into
sentences, sentences in paragraphs, and paragraphs into whole essays.
You would probably mention such things as the importance of knowing
how to properly use words (grammar), or understanding the order and
meaning of words in a sentence (syntax and semantics). You might
discuss aspects of the spoken word as well, such things as the sound
of words and proper pronunciation (phonetics), or understanding the
sociocultural context of words where certain words have totally
different meanings in different cultures and even different
subcultures within a culture (praxis). Each of the eight intelligences
has its own unique set of clearly observable operations or capacities.
2. An
intelligence must have a distinct biological-neurological base. Each of
the intelligences activates certain processes in the brain-mind-body
system These processes, in principle, are more or less localized with
the brain-mind-body system. In other words, when you are visualizing
something in your mind, painting a picture, or sculpting something in
clay, I can observe activity in distinct parts of your brain-mind-body
system. Likewise if you are dancing, participating in a physical game,
or acting something out different areas of your brain-mind-body system
will be activated. This can be observed by any number of brain-imaging
technologies available today by which one can actually observe various
areas of the brain “lighting up” went different tasks are performed.
An additional piece of the
research underlying this criterion was Howard Gardner’s study of
brain-damaged individuals at Boston Medial University. He was
fascinated by the fact that through damage to certain regions of our
brain we can loose whole areas of our human intellectual capacities
and yet other areas remain unaffected and remain very much in tact.
Probably the most common example of this is people who have lost their
language capacities due to a stroke but who, nonetheless, are
functioning very effectively in all other areas of their lives.
Gardner also did extensive studies of idiots savants, prodigies, and
other exceptional individuals and found powerful manifestations for
each of the eight intelligences.
3. An
intelligence must possess a clear evolutionary history. As
humanity has matured over the years, it is possible to document the
development an increasing complexity of our human intelligence
capacities. The most obvious and well-known example of this is the
development of our language. At one time in our evolution as a
species, our language consisted of nothing more than a series of
grunts, groans, and other sounds we could make with our vocal chords
and series of crude etchings on the wall of caves. When you consider
such things as the writings of Shakespeare, the novels of Stephen
King, or the poetry of Maya Angelo you can get a sense of how far we
have come!
This evolutionary history can
also be seen and traced in our human development from infancy to
adulthood where, generally, in early childhood we acquire a set of
basic skills in each of the intelligence areas, almost by osmosis. Our
experience in elementary school tends to build on these early
childhood capacities to provide us with a more complex repertoire of
intellectual capacities. As we move into the secondary years these
capacities become part of our repertoire for successful living.
Probably the highest level of an intelligence’s development can be
seen in the various vocational and/or avocational pursuits (careers
and hobbies) in which we become involved in our adult lives. Examples
of this could include the designs of an architect like Frank Lloyd
Wright, the physical skills of an accomplished athlete such as Michael
Jordan, the performance of a concert musician such as Tina Turner, or
actor like Tom Hanks, a computer wizard like Bill Gates who can make a
computer do everything but walk the dog, the mediation skills of
someone like former president Jimmy Carter, or the knowledge the
natural world such as Jane Goodall or Jacques Cousteau. Each of these
figures represents certain “end states” which exemplify a certain
level of complexity and mastery of various sets of human intellectual
capacities.
4.
An intelligence must be universal to the
human species. No
matter where you go in the world, regardless of the culture you will
find manifestations of the different intelligences. Not only will you
find the intelligence present but you will find that every culture
values, supports, and encourages the of the different intelligences,
both through formal training and and experimental exploration. This
being said, I must also point out that different cultures will have
different biases regarding what they they feel is most important.
In the Western world we tend to
think that the be all and end all of being smart is skill in the
famous three Rs—reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic—as the song goes.
However, many Asian cultures place at least equal value on the
development one’s interpersonal capacities such as being a good member
of team, being effective in collaboration with others, or the ability
to build consensus in a group of people. There is also often a high
premium placed on the development of one’s introspective capacities,
namely, the ability to “go inside,” so to speak, and acquire knowledge
about the self and of being able to act on such knowledge. When I
lived and worked in Africa I found great importance given to such
things as dance, music, art, and drama as ways to express the deep
wisdom of the culture and to reinforce key personal and social values.
All the intelligences were valued, but somehow capacity in these areas
was seen as special and even more profound.
5. An
intelligence must be susceptible to encoding in a distinct symbol
system.
This, for me, is one of the most
interesting aspects of working with the eight intelligences. Another
way to say this is that each intelligence has its own distinct
language, its own jargon, vernacular, and its own special modus
operandi. To really understand an intelligence you must learn to speak
its language; for example, if you want to be a dancer, you must learn
the the steps and body movements involved for such things as the
tango, rumba, or cha cha. These precise steps and movements constitute
a unique language associated with dance. This is not unlike learning
to write a essay by carefully putting together precise words, phrases,
and sentences to communicate an idea.
6. An intelligence
must be able to muster support from traditional, experimental
psychological tasks. Psychologist are able to examine our various
intellectual capacities in operation and thus more fully understand
relationships, not only between the different intelligences, but also
relationships of the various core capacities of a given intelligence.
They are also able to infer distinct brain and mental functioning
related to the different ways of knowing.
Part of this criterion also
involves support from psychometric findings. This is the realm of
assessing the intelligences themselves. In principle one must be able
to test a given intelligence and its related capacities and thus
discover a persons relative strength or weakness in a given
intelligence area. I say “in principle” because, while this sounds
logical actually doing it is much more difficult. An assessment of an
intelligence must be “intelligent fair.” That is to say the assessment
must itself be couched in the language or symbol system of the
intelligence it purports to test. No one would ever suggest that to
find out what Michael Jordan knows about basketball, we should sit him
down at a desk and given him a paper and pencil test! No, the test
itself must involve a performance in which all of the capacities of
the body are accessed.
