I know for a fact that I am gifted in every intelligence; I have extraordinary human intellect. Jokes aside, I feel that judging one’s own intelligence makes no sense. The idea of being “gifted” implies a relative superiority over others–and we are hardly capable to understanding ourselves. We can only measure and judge the output actions of our psych (like ability to choose answers/articulate oneself) and will probably never be able to accurately describe thought processes. Humans have observable skills and behaviors, and I think those are often measured in place of intelligence. Personally, I found that my “intelligence” depends largely with the perception of myself. I never thought of myself as book-smart, and I never really was. I have always perceived myself as analytically inclined, and as I embraced that identity, I found myself becoming better at it. Most recently at college, I’ve decided to redefine myself. I never thought of myself as creatively inclined, however, when I arrived here I wanted to change that notion. I can say now that creativity feels like my greatest asset (is it intelligence or is it just my non-conforming behavior?). Because I now identify with being creative, I practice thinking in abstract ways more, and the more that perception perpetuates, the more creative I become. I found that pursuing creativity leads me to the most fulfillment, whereas I strive to use it to express my truest self and inspire others.
I think societies measure intelligence because it helps us label and categorize people. From a collectivist perspective, being able to describe intelligence is very productive for the growth of a society. Though immoral, it could help leverage power of some at the sacrifice of others. I think the reverence of analytical intelligence has emerged because of its practicality in society.
Do you believe public schools are designed to foster all forms of intelligence, or do they favor some over the others? If you believe the latter, what ramifications might this have on students’ potential for success later on in life?
The entirety of my education has been in private schools, so I don’t feel I’m qualified to judge public schools. I do think however that the majority of all school focus too heavily on analytical intelligence. The students that usually succeed the most are the ones that learned the most life skills, whereas school only train kids to take tests. I thinking practicing creativity is also an underrepresented skill as I believe it is a basic human process which helps live a fulfilled life.
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