Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id PAA00829 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Fri, 7 Jan 2000 15:06:40 GMT Message-ID: <001301bf5920$8e130560$2bf894d0@abyss> From: "abyss" <abyss@megalink.net> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> References: <20000101170125.AAA14396@camail2.harvard.edu@[205.240.180.119]> Subject: Re: Rethinking the concept of intelligence Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2000 10:04:53 -0500 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2919.6600 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2919.6600 Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
I have Faith in Justice
abyss
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wade T.Smith" <wade_smith@harvard.edu>
To: "SKEPTIC-L" <skeptic@listproc.hcf.jhu.edu>; "Memetics Discussion List"
<memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Sent: Saturday, January 01, 2000 11:56 AM
Subject: Fwd: Rethinking the concept of intelligence
> Rethinking the concept of intelligence
>
> By Howard Gardner, 1/1/2000
>
> What is likely to happen to the concept of intelligence in the new
> millennium? As a longtime researcher in the area of intelligence and as
> the creator of the theory of multiple intelligences, I anticipate four
> principal struggles.
>
> BREADTH. I have proposed that human beings are best thought of as having
> several intelligences, ranging from the familiar linguistic and logical
> intelligences to more esoteric forms such as interpersonal intelligence
> and naturalist intelligence.
>
> Linguistic and logical intelligences are valuable in school and IQ tests.
> Interpersonal intelligence is crucial in doing clinical or sales work,
> while naturalist intelligence figures in hunting, agriculture, and our
> capacity to make and appreciate differences among commercial products,
> like sneakers and cars.
>
> Psychologist and journalist Daniel Goleman has proposed emotional
> intelligence (the ability to understand and control one's emotions), and
> psychiatrist Robert Coles has nominated moral intelligence (the sense of
> character that we hope our children will have and that we look for in
> friends and associates).
>
> It is a good idea to broaden our notion of intelligence, especially if we
> want to recognize the range of human capacities.
>
> But I worry about definitions that collapse assessments of our cognitive
> powers with statements about the kind of human beings we favor. Our
> ability to understand other persons (a cognitive capacity) does not
> necessarily mean we will use that capacity to help others (a decision
> involving a value judgment). Indeed, primatologists speak of
> Machiavellian intelligence - the capacity to use our understanding of
> others to ''do them in.''
>
> PURITY. For many years psychometricians have searched for the ultimate or
> ''pure'' essence of intelligence. They would like to ferret out the brain
> structure or the gene that controls intelligence.
>
> I remain skeptical that there is such a thing as pure intelligence. In my
> view, what we count as intelligence changes from one era to another - the
> intelligence needed to succeed in an agricultural society may be
> different from that needed to thrive in a computer-based society - and
> from one situation to another (trying to negotiate a contract, planning
> one's life carefully).
>
> Indeed, should one intelligence become overly prized (as it is on Wall
> Street), resourceful individuals will discover or exploit another form
> (as they do in Silicon Valley or Hollywood). Wall Street looks for skill
> with figures and trends, Silicon Valley rewards daring ideas and
> inventions in technology, and Hollywood is ever in search of a new plot
> twist and a new cinematic technique.
>
> ASSESSMENT. What one thinks intelligence is determines how one believes
> it should be assessed. Devotees of the IQ test prefer sharp questions
> that are thought to best assess intelligence (e.g., solving a complex
> maze, mapping an analogy). In contrast, those who view intelligence as
> operating distinctively in different contexts prefer assessments that are
> as realistic as possible. For them, a simulation, where you actually have
> to navigate new territory or write an essay that compares two quite
> different entities, proves to be a far more effective assessment than a
> short-answer or multiple-choice measure.
>
> INDIVIDUATION. One of the most widely debated works on intelligence in
> recent times was ''The Bell Curve.'' Authors Richard Herrnstein and
> Charles Murray espoused the classical position on intelligence: that each
> of us represents a particular point on a bell-shaped curve of
> intelligence and that our intelligence is largely a product of our
> genetic heritage.
>
> I believe that the bell curve view is unsubstantiated on scientific
> grounds and unpalatable on social grounds. According to my rival
> ''multiple intelligences'' view, each of us has many intellectual
> potentials. Which ones are realized depends on opportunities available,
> effectiveness of teaching, and one's own motivation.
>
> In the future, will we assume a passive view with respect to intelligence
> - receiving a test score and letting it determine our life options? Or
> will we see intelligences as flexible opportunities, which we can shape
> and enhance for ourselves and for others under our care, such as our
> students or our children? Will we try to realize as many variations of
> intellect as possible?
>
> Before long it will be possible for us to intervene actively in matters
> of the mind through hormonal injections, operations on the nervous
> system, or even genetic engineering or cloning. Deciding on such matters
> will certainly test our intelligence. What we ultimately decide will
> reveal the quality of our wisdom and the merit of our values.
>
> Howard Gardner's book ''Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for
> the Twenty-First Century'' has been published by Basic Books.
>
> This story ran on page A23 of the Boston Globe on 1/1/2000. © Copyright
> 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.
>
> This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
> Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
> For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
> see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
>
>
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This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
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For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
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