Anna Sims

Self and Circumstance: Defining Successful Intelligence

For the past few weeks, we have been reading and studying about Robert Sternberg’s ideas of successful intelligence. His book, Successful Intelligence, analyzes the relationships between three areas of intelligence: analytical, creative, and practical. He defines all areas of intelligence and explains how to use them in order to be successfully intelligent. The main point of his book is that no one can have only one kind of intelligence and be successful. People must be able to identify their strengths, and compensate for their weaknesses.

The first type of intelligence Sternberg describes is analytical intelligence. He defines it as, “the first component of successful intelligence that involves conscious direction of our mental processes to find a thoughtful solution to a problem” (Sternberg 155). He says that “Analytical thinking is required to solve problems and to judge the quality of ideas” (Sternberg 127). Though he stresses the importance of analytical intelligence, Sternberg believes that analytical intelligence is overvalued in our country.

Many of our standardized tests, like the SAT, only measure analytical intelligence. Sternberg believes that other types of testing that measure creative intelligence and practical intelligence should be integrated into our educational system. American educational programs teach us to suppress our creative intelligence and to become too concerned with analytical intelligence. This is not a good idea, Sternberg believes, because success in the real world isn’t based only on an individual’s ability to think analytically. The other two intelligences, creative and practical, are extremely important in the business world.

Many people who are good memorizers and make excellent grades on tests might not do well in the business world, even though their credentials make look superior. Many of them lack creative and practical skills that are required to do well in careers. It can be a major disappointment to a person if they fail at a job, especially if they soared through high school and college at the top of the class. This is the reason Sternberg believes that it is very important for people to understand that analytical intelligence is not the only type of intelligence that is required for success.

I am very glad we have learned about analytical intelligence in this class. I agree with Sternberg that too much emphasis is put on analytical abilities in our society. I am not a very analytical person. I do not analyze things all that well, and I don’t memorize easily. I did fairly well on the quizzes in class, but am less confident with IQ tests and standardized tests.

The second type of intelligence Sternberg focuses on is creative intelligence. He says that creativity and creative intelligence are not the same thing. Creative intelligence is used for formulating good problems and ideas (Sternberg 127). Creativity is a balance of using all three intelligences, but creative intelligence is the most important aspect of creativity (Sternberg 191).

Creative thinkers often do not get all the credit they are due. They may not do well on standardized tests because, unlike analytical thinkers, many of them are not good memorizers. Though they come up with innovative ideas, they are often turned away when trying to get employment because they don’t have good credentials.

Sternberg believes that more tests should be created that examine and measure creative intelligence. He believes that the reason few tests measure creative intelligence is because they are hard and more time-consuming to grade. With normal standardized tests, multiple choice questions are typically asked, and can be graded very easily. Exams that measure creative intelligence, such as essays, take time to grade and can be hard to interpret.

Since we are taught to suppress our creative intelligence at a young age, many people reject creative ideas, thinking that they are foolish or impossible. In order to be creatively intelligent, though, it’s important to defy the crowd (Sternberg 191). Most inventors who have created things that are widely used today had to face rejection, but they didn’t give up. If they had, many of our modern inventions might not be in use today.

I believe that I am pretty creative. I enjoy coming up with ideas for stories, and writing them. I also find it extremely relaxing to paint and do other types of crafts. I think that many of my ideas are innovative. My favorite activity that we have done in class so far is the exercise where we tore up little pieces of paper to create pictures that described ourselves. We were using our creative intelligence, and had I had the time, I think that I would have been able to do something really cool with all that paper.

The third type of intelligence that Sternberg explains is practical intelligence. This type of intelligence is very important in order to be successful. Practical intelligence involves “using ideas and their analysis in an effective way in one’s everyday life” (Sternberg 125). For this reason, practical intelligence is sometimes called “social intelligence.” People with practical skills are typically well-liked because they have good interactive abilities.

Practical intelligence is also undervalued in our society. People who use their practical intelligence can often be more successful than those who are analytically intelligent. This is because people who use practical skills are able to come up with efficient ways of doing things.

The socials skills that practically intelligent people have often make up for their lack of analytical abilities. For instance, in an interview setting, one that is warm and friendly would likely get more attention than one who is rigid and arrogant. This ability to interact with people can help practically intelligent people flourish in their careers.

We watched a movie in class about the Incans. They used their practical skills very efficiently to build a bridge with ropes. As I watched, I began to think about how amazing it was for them to build such a sturdy bridge. Although I think that I have pretty good practical skills, they aren’t nearly as developed as those of other people who rely on them to live. If I was thrown into a situation where I had to use my practical intelligence fix things and solve practical problems in order to survive, I would find it very difficult.

The information I learned about successful intelligence from Sternberg’s book, and from the videos and speakers in class, has been extremely helpful. I have learned that there are three main kinds of intelligence, which are analytical, creative, and practical. I also learned that to be successfully intelligent, it is necessary to use the abilities that I have, and to compensate for those that I don’t. Only when I balance all three intelligences will I be successfully intelligent.

Work Cited

Sternberg, Robert. Successful Intelligence. New York: Penguin Group, 1997.