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The findings of contemporary brain-mind research have given us a shocking new picture of our potentials and capacities as human beings. Part of this area of research is the research into human intelligence: Just what it intelligence? How do we learn? What makes us smart?
At some point in our lives, often in the early years of our schooling, most of us were given what was basically a paper-and-pencil test, where were asked to perform a variety of activities (most of which we would rarely encounter again the rest of our lives!).
Based on how we performed those activities we were assigned a number which was supposedly an indicator or our intellectual capabilities as a human being, from that point on. In school, children were tracked based on those numbers. In the workplace often one’s job and/or possibility of advancement was based on scores on these so-called “intelligence” or “ability” or “aptitude” tests.
When people “bought their score”, so to speak, the score became a “self-fulling prophesy” limiting their vision of what was possible for themselves
Of course you know exactly what I’m talking about here. It’s the famous “IQ” or “Intelligence Quotient”.
Well, the findings of those who have been investigating human intelligence have called into question almost everything we used to think intelligence was. In fact what has been revealed are two very different paradigms of intelligence.
Below is a comparison of the two paradigms. I’m calling them the “IQ Paradigm” and the “MI Paradigm”:
| The IQ Paradigm | The MI Paradigm |
|
Intelligence is fixed and static at birth |
Intelligence changes, grows, and expands throughout our entire life |
|
Intelligence can be measured on paper-and-pencil tests. |
Intelligence can only be measured accurately by its performance in life. |
|
Intelligence is genetically determined. |
Intelligence is nurtured and shaped by a wide range of experiences. |
|
Intelligence = high ability in language, math, and some spatial tasks. |
Intelligence = the range of our innate capacities for knowing, learning, and acquiring information. |
|
Your IQ score defines your intellectual capabilities in life. |
We are a blend of eight intelligences with some more developed than others; they all can grow. |
|
Intelligence is primarily a mental function. |
Intelligence occurs throughout our brain-mind-body and beyond in our social environment. |
|
Cultural differences and environment have little effect on one’s intelligence. |
Different cultures emphasize the importance of certain intelligences over others . |
|
You’re stuck with the intelligence given you by nature. |
Intelligence capacities are developmental and move from the level of novice to mastery. |
|
The key is to find out how smart people are. |
The key is to find HOW people are smart. |
|
Standardized intelligence assessment instruments reveal one’s intelligence capacity. |
There is no such thing as a standardized person–we are all unique; standardized tests are invalid. |
To learn more about the MI paradigm and how it can transform any mentor training and coaching you provide, sign up below for my newsletter and you’ll get a regular flow of training tips, strategies, and techniques. I’ll also send you a free video about The 8 Kinds of Smart.
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