In school, calling someone smart often meant they were good at math or science, but American developmental psychologist Howard Gardner has a different conception of what makes a person bright. Instead of there being one type of intelligence, he contends that there are actually nine that we possess: naturalist (nature smart); musical (sound smart); logical mathematical (number/reasoning smart); existential (life smart); interpersonal (people smart); bodily kinesthetic (body smart); linguistic (word smart); intra-personal (self smart); and spatial (picture smart).
To visualize what these intelligences mean, Mark Vital designed an infographic for his entrepreneurial-focused site Funders and Founders. The image is based on Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences by Gardner, and it’s a helpful, easy-to-understand guide that color codes and defines the factions. What were typically seen as soft skills–good with people, identifying music, etc–now have an added sense of importance. Gardner’s altered definition recognizes that each type of intelligence gives someone the crucial ability to understand the world. There are respective advantages to every group, and they all foster the diverse skills needed to make the world go round.
