Hmmm, i dunno is you? That is far too simplistic a way to categorize people. Sorry but it is just not that easy to tell if a person is smart or not, and people throw around words like idiot, dumbass, and retard to describe those who do not fit their criteria of 'smart'. Meanwhile there are people who seem to be extremely gifted in some mental activities, but are found to be severely lacking in others. De folloing iz me own attempt at explicating da smartness =/
In order to properly understand all the various types of genius, we must first understand that they are all around us! In fact if you are reading this there is a high chance that you are one of them. The reasoning behind this is that there are various categories of intelligence, and we cannot define a person's intellect with a single test. Even if you could there are far too many factors to consider. Maybe a person is having an off day? Maybe they have a deep understanding of the material but have simply not yet realized it. Some even panic and get awful scores due to other issues. It is very much like lie detector tests in some regards, having much to do with what is going on inside the brain and not the actual capabilities of that brain. Lastly, how could we definitively declare a person to be stupid after one single test?
Imagine if they tested new medication only once...
It is pretty obvious by now that I have very little faith in the standardized ways that we use to measure intelligence. To reduce a person down to a single number simply does not properly reflect the vast scope of genius that the mind has to offer. These are the intelligence types according to American developmental psychologist Howard Gardener back in 1983
· Naturalist (nature smart)
· Musical (sound smart)
· Logical-mathematical (number/reasoning smart)
· Existential (life smart)
· Interpersonal (people smart)
· Bodily-kinesthetic (body smart)
· Linguistic (word smart)
I personally think that Mister Gardener was on to something here, but I would even speculate that there are still other types not listed above. One thing that is regularly confirmed in our quest for knowledge, is that our knowledge can change from day to day. Yesterday’s fact is tomorrow’s fiction and yada yada yada, so really who knows how many types of 'smart' actually exist?
I am certain beyond all doubt that if you examine a person long enough, you will find them to have above average scores in at least one of the aforementioned categories. So when you look at it that way isn't everyone some sort genius, or at least above average? To flat out dismiss anyone on the grounds that they are stupid, well it just doesn't seem like a very smart thing to do...
