Definitions of Genius

Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Intelligence Genes

Estimated IQ's of Famous Geniuses

Albert Einstein - A True Genius's Brain

Autistic Savants

Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Harvard professor Howard Gardner has identified eight different types of intelligences that each individual has the capacity to possess. The idea of multiple intelligences is important because it allows for educators to identify differing strengths and weaknesses in students and also contradicts the idea that intelligence can be measured through IQ. In researching about genius, we found that Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences provides a great alternative to the popular measurable IQ method.

Summaries of eight intelligences:

1. Visual/Spatial - Involves visual perception of the environment, the ability to create and manipulate mental images, and the orientation of the body in space.
2. Verbal/Linguistic - Involves reading, writing, speaking, and conversing in one's own or foreign languages.
3. Logical/Mathematical - Involves number and computing skills, recognizing patterns and relationships, timeliness and order, and the ability to solve different kinds of problems through logic.
4. Bodily/Kinesthetic - Involves physical coordination and dexterity, using fine and gross motor skills, and expressing oneself or learning through physical activities.
5. Musical - Involves understanding and expressing oneself through music and rhythmic movements or dance, or composing, playing, or conducting music.
6. Interpersonal - Involves understanding how to communicate with and understand other people and how to work collaboratively.
7. Intrapersonal - Involves understanding one's inner world of emotions and thoughts, and growing in the ability to control them and work with them consciously.
8. Naturalist - Involves understanding the natural world of plants and animals, noticing their characteristics, and categorizing them; it generally involves keen observation and the ability to classify other things as well.

"Multiple intelligences is a psychological theory about the mind. It's a critique of the notion that there's a single intelligence which we're born with, which can't be changed, and which psychologists can measure. It's based on a lot of scientific research in fields ranging from psychology to anthropology to biology. It's not based upon based on test correlations, which most other intelligence theories are based on. The claim is that there are at least eight different human intelligences. Most intelligence tests look at language or logic or both - those are just two of the intelligences. The other six are musical, spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist. I make two claims. The first claim is that all human beings have all of these intelligences. It's part of our species definition. The second claim is that, both because of our genetics and our environment, no two people have exactly the same profile of intelligences, not even identical twins, because their experiences are different."

-Howard Gardner

Further Reading