As a collective, society has sought out ways to define Intelligence. We have tried using IQ tests designed to rank people based on their innate intelligence level. Exams, class work, school grades, and the ability to learn certain things have also been used to test and rank Intelligence. These methods are consistently used because they have some credibility, enough to give a general sense of a person’s Intelligence. Despite widespread use, these methods aren’t accurate. Howard Gardner, a Harvard professor and psychologist, thought this when he came up with the Theory of Multiple Intelligences.
Howard Gardner’s Theory on Multiple Intelligences
In this theory, he postulates that Intelligence is more than getting high grades or learning certain subjects with ease. There are multiple planes on which Intelligence can be measured. Based on this theory, intelligence measures one’s strengths and weaknesses. With this theory, everyone is intelligent, but in different ways depending on their strengths, which can be determined using different types of intelligence test.
Following his theory, Gardner first came up with seven types of Intelligence in the first version of his book, printed in 1983. In the updated version, he included two more categories and described 9 types of Intelligence. While Howard Gardner initially developed the theory of multiple intelligences as a contribution to human behavior psychology, Gardner’s theory has now been adapted to other fields such as education, machine learning and networking.
We’ll be discussing four types of Intelligence in this article.
Visual-spatial Intelligence
Visual-spatial Intelligence describes people who can visualize, understand, and create from their visualization. People who fall under this category of Intelligence are good at solving puzzles, navigating, and following visual clues. Visual-spatial Intelligence has artistic leanings, too, and this is mainly because people under this intelligence category are good at visualizing things and creating from their minds.
This is why these are the best career paths for the visual-spatial intelligent person:
- Interior Decorator;
- Urban Planner;
- Engineer;
- Architect;
- Graphic Designer;
- Cartographer;
- Photographer;
- Pilot.
Linguistic-verbal Intelligence
The linguistic-verbal intelligence category is for people whose strengths lie in learning, understanding and expressing themselves appropriately in languages. People with this Intelligence are great at reading, writing, and speaking. They have a vast vocabulary and can pick up new languages more quickly than others.
Career paths for a linguistic-verbal intelligent individual include the following:
- Writer;
- Public Speaker;
- Radio Host/Podcaster;
- YouTuber or Social media influencer;
- Librarian;
- Politician;
- Lawyer;
- Speech Pathologist;
- TV Host;
- Salesperson.
Mathematical – Logical Intelligence
The mathematical-logical intelligence category describes people who love numbers, can manipulate numbers comfortably, and enjoy puzzles, patterns and relativity. People in this category can process situations and come up with practical solutions. Their thinking process is abstract, and they love order and logic. Most logical-mathematical people love to study, explore, or experiment with new concepts.
This form of Intelligence has been used to equate to general Intelligence for a while, but this is just one part of Intelligence.
Fitting careers for mathematical-logical individuals are:
- Auditor;
- Accountant;
- Scientist;
- Computer Analyst/Technician;
- Auditor;
- Mathematician;
- Economist;
- Financial Analyst.
Kinesthetic Intelligence
People with kinesthetic Intelligence are people who are able to control their body as it moves through space. They excel at activities that require controlled body movement. For this reason, a kinesthetic intelligent person will perform exceptionally in sports and dance.
One of the marks of this type of Intelligence is excellent eye-hand coordination. Careers for kinesthetic Intelligence include the following:
- Dancer;
- Coach;
- Fitness Instructor;
- Mechanic;
- Surgeon;
- Athlete;
- Physical Therapist;
- Carpenter.
There are five more types of Intelligence that weren’t discussed in this article and they all reveal the strong suits of people. Despite its great approach to describing everyone’s type of Intelligence, people just don’t fit nicely into one box. An individual could have strengths in more than one type of Intelligence. In fact, we all possess to some degree all nine types of Intelligence. Some of them are our weak points, while others stand out as strengths.
