Different Kinds of Intelligence
Yes, there are different kinds of intelligence and I’m thinking that there are probably pros and cons to all of them. I’m going to see if I can organize my thoughts on this subject here.
- “Big Picture” Intelligence: This is the kind of intelligence that I have. I bet this is mostly related to a high I.Q. as most I.Q. tests are all about seeing patterns and overall general knowledge stuff. The pros for this kind of intelligence is that people rarely find themselves wasting a lot of time (as they carefully think out a plan of action before they start things), they rarely get embarrassed (as they don’t often get caught up in the moment), they are good at troubleshooting problems, they often have a good overall knowledge of most subjects. The biggest con here is that it is impossible to see the complete “Big Picture” (meaning the universe, or the meaning of life etc.), so they can never be completely at ease with any decision. They can often get paralyzed with indecision because they often want to find the “right” choice when there is only a “better” choice. And the “big picture” of the realization of the shortness of life can be depressing.
- “Trivial” Intelligence: This is the one where people think they can make themselves smarter by memorizing facts. Like Ricky from The Trailer Park Boys who thinks he’ll be smart if he can just get his Gr. 10. (In case you don’t know, it is near impossible to raise your I.Q. score by studying) The pros here are that they can be great at trivia games, often know those little details that others can’t quite remember, and they often trick others into thinking they are actually intelligent. The cons are that there is an endless amount of trivia so they can never know it all and they often can get down on themselves for not “being smarter” (thinking it is within their control).
- “Artistic” Intelligence: This is the kind of intelligence where a person is especially gifted in an artistic endeavor like music, poetry, acting, painting etc. The pros here are that people can get rich by excelling at something specific and they can “feel” great about life by having an outlet to express themselves. The cons are that they can sometimes go too far in one artistic direction and end up neglecting other parts of life – like an artists that forgets to eat or shower, or the singer Prince who decided to replace his name with a symbol and really believed that somebody might be able to walk up to him and tell him how to pronounce this “symbol” verbally.
- Everybody else: Most people probably can’t be categorized so simply here. They probably have a mixture of all these types of intelligence to a certain degree, and at certain moments but mostly they just go through there days going wherever the wind takes them. They are working in a job that just happened to fall in their lap, after going to a school that just happened to be available, and married somebody that happened to be around and showed some interest.
Sometimes I get frustrated with people that don’t have the “big picture” intelligence like I do, but then sometimes I see that they are happier than I am, and I wonder if I would maybe like to give away my intelligence so I could be happier? (however disillusioned that happiness appears to be from here)
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