Can we really classify intelligence?
Intelligence can only be noticed when used to do something observable. In other words, it must have acted through dimensions that we can observe. Without this observation, we might suspect and believe that a thing is intelligent, just as some people are scared of dolls and think that the doll is ‘intelligent’ and plans against them. They won’t know for sure until they observe the doll doing something only an intelligent being can do.
When we eventually observe an intelligent act, we tend to describe it with comments like — this is brilliant, wow that’s amazing, or I wish I could think like that. Regardless of how we describe it, all intelligent acts that we can observe and know are related to some action or task. Someone who is business smart can run a profitable enterprise with limited resources, another who’s ‘street smart’ can find his way in the toughest of situations, while creative people know how to carry out tasks in ways no one would have thought of. They give us the ‘wow moments’ that everyone admires, usually with a perspective shift.
With an infinite number of possible actions and tasks, it would be logical to say that there are infinitely many variations of intelligence. To simplify our very complex reality, man has answered the question by using that which he can observe, count and understand.
Some notable simplifications regarding the classifications of intelligence include Raymond Cattell’s theory of intelligence (1940) that divides intelligence into crystallized and fluid forms of intelligence. Another will be Robert Sternberg’s Triarchic theory of intelligence (1988) classifying intelligence into practical, analytical, and creative forms.
What’s noticeable and perhaps interesting about these classifications of intelligence is that they all try to capture the different ways one processes or carries out a task.
Taking the Triarchic theory of intelligence as an example, we could be; analytic in performing a task by using various analysis techniques, creative in finding innovative ways to perform a task, or practical by using known methods and experiences to get the job done. However, a manifestation of intelligence usually constitutes a combination of the three. Gardner has done a better job of capturing most of the different ways we process tasks in his Multiple theory of intelligence which identified eight classes of intelligence: linguistic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist, logical-mathematical, bodily kinetic, and musical and all these classes still try to capture the different ways we carry out our tasks and do so even much more directly. There are other forms of intelligence such as Emotional intelligence and Executive intelligence that do not belong to any particular classification theory but have been developed to explain specific trends in actions that have been observed.
Any attempt we make to classify intelligence can only be based upon the type of task that is being done and we weigh a person’s intelligence by what tasks or methods of carrying out the tasks are most important to us, our culture or what we are trying to measure. For this reason, we can’t put a finger on how intelligent one is but we can try to understand what forms his intelligence will manifest in. For example, if you were a lion then your pack will judge how intelligent you are by your abilities to locate your prey, skillfully approach your prey when you are lead of the hunt, and execute your kill. Your true processing power or capabilities to carry out the tasks are ignored and your intelligence will be judged based on the result of the process and not the process.
The manifestation of our intelligence is used to judge how intelligent we are and how it’s manifested is used to classify our intelligence.
Even the IQ and EQ tests which have come close to predicting the processing characteristics (one’s intelligence) of a person by looking for results that can only be achieved by certain processing skills can’t completely describe a person’s intelligence. They make use of comparisons and still assign tasks to be performed in order to give some meaningful results but cannot give absolute results, at least for now.
We know the absolute processing capabilities and limits of a computer and can know it’s absolute ‘intelligence’. Unlike computers, Humans, animals, and other things we didn’t create aren’t born with a known processor speed and type. So knowing how intelligent or the types of intelligence that they display is very difficult.
It’s like an alien trying to understand how eggs are produced on earth, all he can do is compare the eggs produced to that of other planets if any.
So when asked the question — what are the types of intelligence, the answer truly is, we can’t know the true forms of intelligence, but we can make our own classifications according to how we perform tasks.
However, there is a lot of potential in humans to learn different varieties of tasks and get better at it. That would imply that we’re either getting more intelligent or just learning to use more of our already possessed intelligence.
Think of it as the alien can’t know if there were just more eggs on earth or if the earth started producing more eggs.
Whichever it is, I’m positive the outcome of being able to perform tasks better is a preferable one. Improving and taping into our potential intelligence is something we will all love to do.