It’s a question that vexes us because we know that our
life path is often defined by, and shaped by, the answer. But the question may be as ill-advised as the
IQ test itself which, after a century on center stage (it first took root n the
U.S. in 1916), may (finally) be losing some of its punch.
In a provocative speech delivered to college admission counselors last year (and reprinted by
businessinsider.com), author Annie Murphy Paul builds a dynamic argument
that intelligence, far from being “fixed” at birth, is highly variable and is
shaped by a multitude of factors. Drawing on what she calls the “science of
learning” (a relatively new discipline, combining cognitive science,
psychology, philosophy and neuroscience), Paul provides us with “eight ways to
look at intelligence” and how we can become smarter. Here are the eight:
1. “Situations can make us smarter.” Said
Paul: “The science of learning has demonstrated that we are powerfully shaped
by the situations that we find ourselves in, situations that can either evoke
or suppress our intelligence.” Paul explains that situations can be internal (e.g.,
psychological stress, lack of sleep, exercise or lack thereof) or external
(e.g., peer group pressure or study conditions). Adds Paul: “On one level this
is obvious, but on another it is really very radical. Radical, because, since
its earliest beginnings, the study of intelligence has emphasized its inherent
and fixed qualities. Intelligence has been conceptualized as an innate
characteristic of the individual, invariant across time and place, determined
mostly by genes (or before that, what was called 'heredity').”
2. “Beliefs can make us smarter.” Paul
cites Carol Dweck’s work on the two types of mindsets: the fixed mindset (the
belief that ability is fixed and unchanging) and the growth mindset (the belief
that abilities can be developed through learning and practice).
3. “Expertise can make us smarter.” Do experts think differently? The research says yes, which is why Paul
encourages young learners to dive deep, then transfer these new ways of
thinking to new challenges. Notes Paul: “What researchers have found is that
experts don’t just know more, they know differently. . . . ” Expertise breeds
new ways of thinking, encourages flexibility and organization. Being an expert,
in short, enhances intelligence.
4.
“Attention
can make us smarter.” Can we indeed pay attention to two things at once? (a
notion tested daily by the Smartphone generation). Paul says no and maintains
that learning to “attend” is a critically important skill that allows
individuals to “fully express their intelligence.”
5. “Emotions can make us smarter.” No
surprise here, positive moods allow us “to think more expansively and
creatively,” says Paul, while “anxiety uses up some of the working memory
capacity we need to solve problems.”
6. “Technology can make us smarter.” Paul
introduces us to the concept of “the extended mind” – the idea that “the mind
doesn’t stop at the skull, that it reaches out and loops in our bodies, our
tools, even other people, to use in our thinking processes.” She cites some
extraordinary research: “Brain-scanning studies have found that when we use a
tool, say a rake we’re using to reach an object that’s out of our grasp, our
brains actually designate neurons to represent the end of the rake – as if it
were the tips of our own fingers.”
7. “Our bodies can make us smarter.” It may be time to stop comparing our brain to
a computer, says Paul, and instead to compare the brain to the heart. She
explains: “All the things that make the heart work better – good nutrition,
adequate sleep, regular exercise, moderate stress – make the brain work better
too.”
8. “Relationships can make us smarter.” The point is unassailable – interacting with
others enhances our own potential, our own breadth of knowledge and ability to
process information. Paul points to what
is called “transactive memory” (a memory system that is more complex and
potentially more effective than that of any of its individual constituents) as
“just one of the ways that relationships with others can make us smarter than
we would be on our own.”
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