Provision #751: The Subtle Energies of Intelligence
Laser Provision
As people have sought to understand the workings of the brain, our imagination
has often been limited and shaped by our technology. As the industrial
revolution got underway, the brain and nervous system were understood in
mechanical terms. With the advent of electricity and computers, they were
understood in binary terms. Things were either on or off, 1 or 0, with different
combinations generating different functions and outputs. Now, however, with
ever-more sophisticated models of chemical neuroanatomy, researchers are
rearranging the pieces of the puzzle all over again. The brain is not a digital
computer. It is a biochemical soup continuously wafting subtle energies of
intelligence. If you'd like to learn how to play with the recipe, read on.
LifeTrek Provision
When I was growing up, intelligence could be summarized with two words: smart or
dumb. We knew who the smart kids were and we knew who the dumb kids were. That
binary view of the world made for some pretty unhappy and unfortunate
situations. Both smart and dumb kids could be teased, but things were definitely
harder for the dumb, with plenty of derogatory names and antisocial behavior.
Although there is still plenty of name calling and antisocial behavior in
schools, the concept of intelligence has been broadened considerably in the past
thirty years. It is no longer understood to refer narrowly to cognitive
functions that can be measured with traditional intelligence tests. Although
people still talk about and work with the concept of IQ, or Intelligence
Quotient, first developed by Alfred Binet in 1900, everyone now recognizes that
IQ alone is an inadequate measure of intelligence does not determine success.
Many other factors must be taken into account.
The most famous of all theories that has broadened our understanding of
intelligence has been that of the Harvard-based developmental psychologist,
Howard Gardner. Starting in 1983, Gardner put forward a
theory of multiple intelligences
that eight, relatively independent forms of intelligence: musical,
bodily-kinesthetic, logical-mathematical, linguistic, spatial, interpersonal,
intrapersonal, and naturalistic. Gardner speculates that there may also be a
ninth intelligence, known as existential intelligence (or the intelligence of
"big questions").
Long-time readers of Provisions will understand why I resonate with the notion
of existential intelligence. That's a good way of describing these weekly
reflections on the meaning and measure of life. I love to write them because I
love to contemplate big question and I never have any idea where a Provision
will go when I first start writing. One question leads to another which leads to
another and, before you know it, we have something worth contemplating. Your
reading and replies keeps me in the game, and I thank you for that.
One consequence of Gardner's theory is no more complicated than the old adage:
everyone is smart at something. I may be great at writing a weekly Provision,
but I'm not much on the dance floor. You may have a knack for identifying birds
but have trouble balancing your checkbook. Someone else may speak six languages
but not be able to carry a tune. Each intelligence in Gardner's view has the
following properties:
- An intelligence can be isolated as a brain function.
- There will be distinct examples of prodigies, savants, and exceptional
individuals.
- It will have its own, unique set of core operations.
- It will emerge developmentally as a part of human learning and growth
with experts being the natural end point.
- There will be a traceable history in the evolutionary record of human
beings.
- It will have a clearly definable set of tasks that can be carried out,
observed, and measured.
- It can be measured through psychometric tests.
- It is encoded in a unique symbol system which practitioners use and
share.
Twenty five years after developing and publishing his theory on multiple
intelligences, Gardner identified five habits of mind which make use of these
intelligences in different combinations and different ways and which, Gardner
argues, will be needed if people are to thrive in the world during the eras to
come:
- The Disciplined Mind mastering at least one body of knowledge
- The Synthesizing Mind pulling together information from disparate
sources
- The Creating Mind breaking new ground with new ideas, questions, and
conclusions
- The Respectful Mind valuing and working effectively with others
- The Ethical Mind moving beyond self-interest to improve the lot of all
Dan Pink makes the same point in his book, published one year later, called
A Whole New Mind. Pink argues that human thriving in the eras to come
will require the development and exercise of six, right-brain directed
aptitudes:
- The ability to move from function to Design that is beautiful,
whimsical, or emotionally engaging
- The ability to move from argument to Story that is a compelling
narrative
- The ability to move from focus to a Symphony that is combines disparate
pieces into an arresting whole
- The ability to move from logic to Empathy that understands and cares for
others
- The ability to move from seriousness to Play, laughter,
lightheartedness, games, and humor
- The ability to move from accumulation to Meaning, purpose,
transcendence, and spiritual fulfillment
If you see as much overlap as I do between Gardner and Pink, that should come
as no surprise. Great minds think alike. The habits of mind (Gardner) or
aptitudes (Pink) can be invoked in any of the nine intelligences. Whether you
want to become a masterful musician, athlete, physicist, linguist, pilot,
therapist, meditator, naturalist, or writer in the 21st century and beyond, you
will have to exercise all or some of these qualities.
Fortunately, our brains are designed to make that happen and we are only
beginning to understand just how that works. For millennia, human intelligence
was viewed as a mystical gift from the gods and an expression of the soul. From
that vantage point, there's not much one can do to cultivate intelligence.
Either you have the gift, or you don't.
All that changed in the 17th century, in the wake of the scientific revolution.
Now the brain was seen as a machine subject to the mechanical forces of nature.
At first, that machine was understood hydraulically (Descartes thought of nerves
as tubes through which fluid flowed that was pumped by the brain). Later, the
machine was understood electrically, with nerves serving as the wires through
which the brain, functioning as a super computer, would send its signals.
These machine-like metaphors also did not lend themselves to thinking of human
intelligence in resilient, developmental terms. For centuries, in fact, the
brain was thought of as one of the least resilient and developmental parts of
the body. When you cut your hand, the wound closes and heals. When you injure
your brain, your capacities seldom come back (or so it was thought).
What else would expect from a machine! When a tire blows out on your car, the
wheel doesn't grow back and the other three wheels don't enable you to keep on
going. You pull over and wait by the side of the road until help arrives. That's
the way machines work. They have a capacity, based upon their design, and they
do not exceed or change that capacity without external intervention. They also
don't transform into something they were never meant to be. No matter how hard
we try, a Chevrolet will never become a Lamborghini.
Thanks to new technologies and research, however, such mechanical views of the
brain and nervous system are now being replaced by biological views that have
introduced new layers of complexity and hope. It is now known, for example, that the
brain is part of a much larger body-brain system and that it functions much more
globally in response to stimulus and desire. There is no part of the brain that
corresponds to the tire on a car. There is no one part responsible solely for
seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling, or balance. There is no one part,
or even side (sorry Dan), responsible for thinking or feeling.
The bodymind, as Candace Pert likes to refer to our distributed brain, turns out
to be much more dexterous, adaptive, and plastic than anyone had earlier
surmised with those older, machine metaphors. The brain really does change
itself, through thinking, feeling, and exercising the body. Brain injury is not
a death-sentence and the brain is never finished developing and growing new
connections (think Christopher Reeves). People can compensate in surprising ways
and grow new intelligences over time, if we only set our minds, hearts, and
bodies to the task.
All this happens because the brain and nervous system are much more than a
machine or an electrical grid. They are a soup of information-sharing charges
and chemicals that is constantly brewing new capacities.
Psychoneuroimmunologists study that soup, playing with the recipe of peptides,
hormones, and neurotransmitters by stirring in different natural and synthetic
ingredients. For all the power of pharmaceutical drugs, it turns out that the
best way to change the brain is through the natural things we can do ourselves.
In her book,
Everything You Need to Feel Go(o)d, Pert highlights the
following examples:
- Eating simple, non-processed food
- Losing weight if you need to
- Staying warm and sweating often
- Exercising regularly
- Practicing forgiveness
- Reducing stress
- Keeping a dream journal
- Visualizing success
- Connecting with nature
- Laughing and playing
- Engaging in positive, self-affirmations
Those may not sound like rocket science, but the science behind such
traditional practices is exploding with documentation as to the impact of such
practices on brain waves and the bodymind. What we once thought of as
commonsense is now being documented as extraordinary wisdom for anyone who wants
to thrive personally or lead others in the 21st century. May it be so for you.
Coaching Inquiries: What practices do you engage in most frequently that help
you to feel good? What practices would you like to try? How would you know if
they were starting to have an effect? What would change about your mood and
emotion? What kinds of intelligence might be evoked? To reply to this Provision, use our
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LifeTrek Readers' Forum (selected feedback
from the past week)
Editor's Note: The LifeTrek Readers' Forum contains selections from the comments
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Email Bob.
I was just referred to this site about Nine
Stubborn Brain Myths That Just Wont Die, Debunked by Science and I thought of you.
You may have already seen it, but if not, you may enjoy its presentation.
Blessings on your Christmas season. Top
May you be filled with goodness, peace, and joy.
Bob Tschannen-Moran
President, LifeTrek Coaching International,
www.LifeTrekCoaching.com
CEO & Co-Founder, Center for School
Transformation,
www.SchoolTransformation.com
Immediate Past President, International Association
of Coaching,
www.CertifiedCoach.org
Author, Evocative Coaching: Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time,
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