Kaitlyn Reinhardt Nancy Elliot English 111 September 30, 2013 Intelligence When you think of the word

intelligence, what exactly comes to mind? It could be a variety of things from the term meaning how smart a person is, to how much knowledge an individual is able to encounter. Different types of intelligence for example, street smart vs. book smart may even be considered. Whatever the case may be, intelligence is important no matter how it is defined. To begin with, the word intelligence has several different meanings. The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge, the ability to learn or understand things, or deal with new or difficult situations is the dictionary definition of intelligence (Merriam-Webster). However, there is one certain concept that seems to be the main factor and meaning of intelligence that is the word thinking. To have intelligence means having the ability to think. With this in mind, a persons problem solving abilities, how high of an IQ they have, or how good of grades a person may receive are all basic general indicators of intelligence. When I think of the word intelligence, I think of how smart a person is, not just book smart, but an all around smart. To be intelligent, you have to have a well balanced nature of what is

Reinhardt 2 going on around you, and how to handle it. For example, a person could have the highest GPA, or the best grades, but if that same person isnt capable of knowing how to handle what is going on around them, or able to act on real life scenarios, they really arent too bright. Someone who is genially intelligent is capable of learning new things inside of school, and outside of school. At the same time, how much intelligence a person has or what people are smart in can be explained by the right brain-left brain theory. This explains how different sides of the brain perform different functions. We are able to categorize an individual as right brained or left brained depending on what features show up as dominant in that individual. People are said to prefer one type of thinking over the other. The right side of the brain is best at expressive and creative tasks. Some of the abilities associated with the right brain are recognizing faces, expressing and reading emotions, music, color, and creativity. Whereas the left side of the brain is considered better at tasks that involve logic, language, and analytical thinking. The left side is better at numbers, critical thinking, and reasoning. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses in certain areas can help you develop better ways to learn and study (Cherry). Another way intelligence is explained is by Howard Gardners seven types of intelligence. Verbal, visual, physical, musical, mathematical, introspective, and interpersonal are seven groups intelligence is categorized in. This theory was formed to research the different kinds of minds, and learn how they remember, perform, and understand in different

Reinhardt 3 ways. Everyone has some sort of intelligence, but where we differ is the strengths of certain types of intelligence. These differences challenge an educational system that assumes that everyone can learn the same materials in the same way and that a uniform, universal measure suffices to test student learning (Gardner). As you can see, intelligence can be looked at, described, and used in many different ways. You dont have to be a rocket scientist to be considered intelligent, for everyone is capable of learning new things. Howard Gardner is a prime example, using seven types of intelligence to help discover the way each individual thinks and learns. The right brain-left brain theory helps explain how different sides of the brain perform by being categorized as left brained or right brained. Discovering what type of intelligence you fall under, or if you are left or right brained is up to you.