9 types of intelligence. Are there more?

According to this article, there are nine types.

1. Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”)

2. Musical Intelligence (“Musical Smart”)

3. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart)

4. Existential Intelligence

5. Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart”)

6. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”)

7. Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart)

8. Intra-personal Intelligence (Self Smart”)

9. Spatial Intelligence (“Picture Smart”)

How many do you consider to be yours and would you consider yourself "gifted" in that area? Do you think you have multiple intelligence types?

Do certain types correlate with each other? With men vs. women? Do you think environment plays a larger part or genetics?

I once heard somewhere that if one of your senses is weak, another grows stronger... Do you think that also applies to intelligence? For instance, have you known someone who was extremely smart in a few areas, but lacked common sense?

Where do "creative" people fall on that list? People who are artistic? If it is spacial then, why do some people excel in certain types of art as opposed to others?

[edit on 20-11-2008 by seagrass]

They left out "Lucky Smart"

These are otherwise normal dolts who always fall in deeper and come up smelling sweeter, no matter the situation. There's a lot of truth to the old saying, 'I would rather be lucky than smart".

But the Lucky Smart people almost always know which to call, heads or tails, every time. They're like idiot savants, they can't explain how they do what they do, they just do it. They sell their stock 2 days before it tanks, they trade their car just before it turns into a prime lemon, they get a divorce just before the little woman transforms from a sex kitten to a nag.

I'll never be Lucky Smart, but these creatures must truly be God's Chosen.

Where does memory fall in there? Some people have a photographic memory, some can remember data, some can remember a vacation they took in a visual almost poetic way. Some remember conversations word for word.... Is memory an ability that corresponds to a particular intelligence type? Meaning, do we remember what we are "good" at?

I think you're on to something there, freebird... I know people like that. They trust the universe... are they existential smart?
edited to appear more word smart....

[edit on 20-11-2008 by seagrass]

I hate talking about intelligence because it never takes into consideration how much is natural and how much is taught. For instance lets take musical intelligence. There are some two year olds that can play Mozart with minimal instruction. Then there are some 4 year olds that have good memories, that were taught everyday to play the piano and they can do the same thing. They are both geniuses? Yes but why?

The point is: how much is memory, kinesthetics and now much is actual musical intelligence....this point could be argued with some forms of "intellegence" in your example here. I think there is less intellegences maybe 4 like memory, creativity, kinesthetics, and possibly empathy/people skills-- the rest kind of blend these to make other types of learned not natural intellegence.

Seagrass I think it is a good starting list but these things need to be taken into consideration...Do you agree or disagree?

PS Thanks for opening up a non gloom and doom thread and opening a "thoughtful" (pun intended) thread!

I would tend to put musical and mathematical smart together. And what about abilities..... Hand/eye coordination... would determine how well you played...
Being able to sing.. would depend on the vocal cords... etc.

I would tend to think that people would learn by what interests them, what they were forced to by others or by circumstances, and by what came "natural". Perhaps a combination?

Yes but also vocal chords OR instruments kinesthetic or "body smarts" would still come into play-- I can see your mathematics thing also...

A person could have varied abilities in all or none. I would want to be decent at all as opposed to gifted in only a few. Couldn't a person be musical smart without body smarts. A bad singer could write a great song.

Originally posted by seagrass
I would tend to think that people would learn by what interests them, what they were forced to by others or by circumstances, and by what came "natural". Perhaps a combination?

My two year old daughter is a genius. Not just because I am her mom and I think she is gifted. They do not do official IQ testing until they are 3-4 but forget ABC's (although she can do that say and recognize), she can spell her name, knows all colors, shapes, let's not even talk vocabulary, "Mommy why is the computer not loading, is it the harddrive?"Daddy is that a violet? (when she sees purple flowers) crazy stuff, days of the week, numbers through 50 , can count backwards from 25, can add and can do some spot reading. I worked with her some (i do have to work) but alot of it was natural. She has an awesome memory.

But so do I-- A lot is inherited. I was in a gifted program my whole life my IQ is 148 etc. but I feel most of the time that I cannot use it all to the fullest extent. I am not saying that I am smart per se ( because my daughter is definitely more advanced than I was at that age according to my mother) I just think I have an excellent memory and am a good test taker (good at figuring out patterns).

BTW I could read whole newspapers by 3 and a half, but math always was a struggle...etc. etc.


When I saw that she could do a lot of this by 15 months I was pretty freaked out and we went to a prominent child psychologist in the area because I needed to know if she needed to go to a more advanced school or what I needed to do to foster this and he said not to do anything.

He said she was definitely gifted but until they could do IQ and other intelligence testing at 4 --how? we could only speculate. He said to let her choose her interests and not to push any particular thing on her so that we can see all not some of her gifts. He said do not tell her she is good at just somethings or in order to get positive feedback-- she would subconsciously pick what was easy for her and what got her the most attention instead of exploring her talents. It is so interesting how intelligence works and how it all relates.

Not saying these things to brag so anyone thinking that or going to sit here and criticize that just let me stop you in your tracks....

PS What about building stuff? What category is that? I think the most intelligent people are architects because they use their creative and mathematical side of their brains to create, then they use their people and verbal skills to sell their designs!

[edit on 20-11-2008 by Cairowoman]

oh boy! I was hoping the subject would come up. Thanks for posting that.
My father and brother were geniuses. My mother was no dummy either. Valedictorian to boot. I was not. But I am gifted in other areas, if I can call it that. I was called "creative". I had issues for a long long time because my "smarts" were different than theirs.
My father and brother do not have what I would call common sense or people smarts.
It has proved to cause all kinds of problems in their lives..

I think you should let your daughter explore all of her talents. And IQ tests are not my favorite thing.
She will most likely have a better life than most children with a mom who understands what it means to be gifted. It should be very interesting to watch her evolve. But I wonder if like the senses, she will have one that doesn't evolve well. I mean, what would life be like without a challenge?

Building would require spacial, body smart, mathmatical, people smart, and some existential... art seems to fall in spacial, body smart for the ability to draw and work the program, math definately, and people for knowing what people want or find pleasing, and existential for a natural desire to create beautiful things from the imagination (or a from spiritual place?) Desire to make the world more beautiful and functional.

Originally posted by seagrass
oh boy! I was hoping the subject would come up. Thanks for posting that.
My father and brother were geniuses. My mother was no dummy either. Valedictorian to boot. I was not. But I am gifted in other areas, if I can call it that. I was called "creative". I had issues for a long long time because my "smarts" were different than theirs.
My father and brother do not have what I would call common sense or people smarts.
It has proved to cause all kinds of problems in their lives..

I think you should let your daughter explore all of her talents. And IQ tests are not my favorite thing.
She will most likely have a better life than most children with a mom who understands what it means to be gifted. It should be very interesting to watch her evolve. But I wonder if like the senses, she will have one that doesn't evolve well. I mean, what would life be like without a challenge?

WHAT IF YOUR GENIUS IS YET TO BE TOTALLY FULFILLED? Maybe you were so discouraged that you were different that you subconsciously told your self that you had no gifts/talent. Meditate and focus on what you are good at and then you will see that your talent is just unrealized and yet to be harnessed......I do not think there is any reason with your genetic background that you missed the "smart gene"......it just is remixed!

I think I could have been lots of things, had I had more confidence. I could have been an architect, but my mathematical skills were bad in my younger years. I still do not have the knack for it, but for some reason I got the highest grade in statistics in my college class. go figure.
I think I have come to realize that what made me different was a blessing in disguise for me. I like the way I am different, but it took going out into the world to realize it. I think at first I didn't fit in, but it made me search for others like me to relate to. Once I found "the others", my confidence was healed.

That is good to know. My husband was a professional athlete and was told he was not smart. "dumb jock"

But after he finished his masters and is now working on his Ph. D he sees that he had more than one type of intellegence.

The confidence is key. I hope I can give that to my daughter...besides she will get way more money for college on an athletic scholarship over a academic one. LOL

Now my husband was branded as dumb. He was held back in second grade. He calls himself that. I am constantly trying to convince him he is NOT. He is one of those "builders", and he makes beautiful things. He hates to read. And has problems with memory. But he also forgets the bad.
But when it comes to military stuff and people he is a genius. He has mechanical smarts. People LOVE him. He is so nice that it borders on ridiculous. He is diplomatic, fair, and humble to a degree I have never seen. He is KIND.
We have some great existential conversations. He is funny.

we must have posted at the same time... funny.. we have something in common.
That's funny that your husband finally found out he was smart....I love stories like that. Now if only I can convince my husband.

Originally posted by seagrass
Now my husband was branded as dumb. He was held back in second grade. He calls himself that. I am constantly trying to convince him he is NOT. He is one of those "builders", and he makes beautiful things. He hates to read. And has problems with memory. But he also forgets the bad.
But when it comes to military stuff and people he is a genius. He has mechanical smarts. People LOVE him. He is so nice that it borders on ridiculous. He is diplomatic, fair, and humble to a degree I have never seen. He is KIND.
We have some great existential conversations. He is funny.

My husband is the same way. Great with people. Great at advice. Very loving...giant teddy bear but you wouldnt think that looking at him. He is tall and big and scary (but sexy all the same)

BUT what about looks --is it possible to have "looks" intelligence? Is that part of the whole "people intelligence" part? Some people know how to make themselves and others look better OR if they are just plain naturally beautiful.....does that fit in somehow?

Originally posted by seagrass

Have you known someone who was extremely smart in a few areas, but lacked common sense?

Creative people usually do horrible in school. but we usually win at life. :p

Yeah ive always lumped all those together and down south we usually say, book smarts VS common sense VS Street Smarts

Most everyone i know is like that. I think even cats like Telsa had an area of weakness. My cousin got married to this girl, who is REALLY smart, scholastically speaking, but she has NO, and i mean ZERO common sense. he literally has to explain the most simple of things to her all the time, but she will correct him instantly if he uses a word out of context.

haha, picture smart. thats interesting. thats probably my strongest, cause i never needed the directions for my lego creations back in the day, haha. Also im a drummer so i bet my weakest would be 'musical smarts', thats a drummer joke