Security and Smarts

“One of the greatest journeys in life is overcoming insecurity and learning to truly not give a shit.”
― J.A. Konrath

I’m 56 now and I can say, and truly mean it, that I’ve never felt this secure in my life. I know that I’m competent at my job and art. I understand that, while I’m no Sharon Stone or Michelle Pfeiffer (also born in '58), I’m somewhat easy on the eyes. Now and then I can even make people laugh—I’m considered amusing.  Am I smart? Well, that depends on how you define it. I'm DEF not swimming in the same gene pool as Hawking (duh-huh). I do OK though could be better. Couldn’t we all?

Howard Gardner, the Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard theorizes that there are eight types of intelligence.

Spatial-The ability to conceptualize and manipulate large-scale spatial arrays (e.g. airplane pilot, sailor), or more local forms of space (e.g. architect, chess player).

Bodily-Kinesthetic-The ability to use one’s whole body, or parts of the body (like the hands or the mouth), to solve problems or create products (e.g. dancer).

Musical-Sensitivity to rhythm, pitch, meter, tone, melody and timbre. May entail the ability to sing, play musical instruments, and/or compose music (e.g. musical conductor).

Linguistic-Sensitivity to the meaning of words, the order among words, and the sound, rhythms, inflections, and meter of words (e.g. poet). (Sometimes called language intelligence.)

Logical-Mathematical-The capacity to conceptualize the logical relations among actions or symbols (e.g. mathematicians, scientists). Famed psychologist Jean Piaget believed he was studying the range of intelligences, but he was actually studying logical-mathematical intelligence.

Interpersonal-The ability to interact effectively with others. Sensitivity to others’ moods, feelings, temperaments and motivations (e.g. negotiator). (Sometimes called social intelligence.)

Intra-personal-Sensitivity to one’s own feelings, goals, and anxieties, and the capacity to plan and act in light of one’s own traits. Intra-personal intelligence is not particular to specific careers; rather, it is a goal for every individual in a complex modern society, where one has to make consequential decisions for oneself. (Sometimes called self intelligence.)

Naturalist-The ability to make consequential distinctions in the world of nature as, for example, between one plant and another, or one cloud formation and another (e.g. taxonomist). (Sometimes called nature intelligence.)

You can learn more about Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligence here.

I imagine, within his work there may also be this—our intelligence can evolve/morph over our lifetimes. We grow, learn and mature. We shed intelligence too. For example, along with those pesky neuromas, I’ve lost my musical smarts. On the other hand, I know that my Inter and Intra-personal Intelligences are light years better than in my 20s. It’s fair to say that, back then, if I had any at all it’d need to have been measured in picoliters or angstroms.

I don't have it in me to be a Nobel Prize winning physicist. I'll not be tapped to negotiate peace in the Mideast. That's AOK. I have some talents and abilities. I can hold down a job and, given half a chance, I'll excel madly at it. Being given the chance—that's key.

John Cleese, in his autobiography, referenced Gardner’s work:

Cleese muses about the definition of intelligence, agreeing with Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory that there exist various and independent intellectual capacities in the human brain. “Which helps me understand why I sometimes think I am quite bright and sometimes feel like a complete dolt,” says Cleese.

Yup dude, I can totes relate.