One of my favorite theories taught in psychology is Gardners Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Rather than seeing intelligence defined by a single ability (or book smarts), Gardner argues that there are at least eight spheres of intelligence, including musical, visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, body/physical, INTERpersonal, INTRApersonal, and naturalistic. Understanding that there exist many facets of intelligence is crucial to shedding biases about intelligent and unintelligent people, the false dichotomy that such stereotypes engender, and redefines our concept of what intelligence really is. One of my biggest pet peeves involves judging how smart someone is solely based on academic performance, which many psychologists and sociologists argue is a poor measure of intelligence as a whole. Just because someone has book smarts and scores perfect SAT/ACT scores, that doesnt mean that he is just as cultivated in social situations or lettered in the arts. Conversely, someone who does not perform well on academic tests, but is nonetheless an artistic genius, a virtuoso, and a well-spoken individual, is not dumb - not by a longshot. Using Gardners Theory, Id even go as far as to argue that he is *more* intelligent than the individual with book smarts, because he demonstrates high ability across a broader spectra of intelligences defined by the theory than the first individual. I worked at Northwesterns medical school performing research and managing a core research facility for nearly two years. Among our most integral laboratory missions was to provide research services to other medical faculty and professors across the entire university. In a sense, we functioned as a business. We sold our services to other researchers and investigators to cover our operational costs and interacted with highly respectable, big-name clientele on a daily basis. This involved a great deal of promotional marketing skills, being well-spoken, and having the capacity to problem-solve efficiently and effectively whenever things went wrong. It was a workplace that required you to work both halves of your brain. It required you to think logically and creatively, both in dealing with sometimes troublesome clientele and with troubleshooting immunohistochemistry lab techniques. When I worked with my manager in selecting viable candidates for research assistants as our lab grew, I stressed to her the importance of not selecting someone simply because he or she was a scientific genius. Often what I found through subsequent interviews was that such candidates often severely lacked the social and interpersonal skills and intelligence to interact effectively with our research clients. Not only that, but, when even the research required one to think effectively to problem-solve a situation, being well-versed in the sciences failed them when the situation required artistic or visual/spatial dexterity. Often the best candidates were those who were not necessarily the most well-versed in the sciences, but those who exhibited a moderately high degree of intelligence across all spectra. And Im glad many institutions of academic authority have begun to recognize the importance of multiple intelligences. This is why dental schools require rigorous evaluation in visual-spatial intelligence and the ability to morph, recognize, and modify three-dimensional shapes at different angles and configurations. Its important to being able to practice dentistry effectively. Similarly, many job interviews are structured to ask personality-based questions that evaluation a job candidates abilities across broad spectra of intelligence, often highly inclusive of moral intelligence, which helps abet corporate fraud and corruption. So, heres the take-home lesson in a nutshell: Just because youre a medical student, that doesnt mean youre the brightest. Just because youre an arts student, that doesnt mean youre dumb. Were all intelligent to some degree, so recognize that at which you perform the best, use those abilities to your advantage, and hone your skills in other areas.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 18:44:03 +0000
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