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Intelligence

The Elephant and The River

Mental Floss

The human brain is far and away the most complicated device we’re aware of in our little corner of the universe. No one can claim to have more than a rough idea how it works. But our knowledge is surging forward. I’m convinced that we know enough to start putting our knowledge to work for your child.

It may seem at first like a bit of a paradox, but the seemingly limitless complexity of our brains is the main reason we can feel optimistic about the task at hand. It’s precisely all that complexity, all the amazing capacity of the brain to flex its muscles, that gives you so many ways to help a young brain grow. In the same way, each new perspective on intelligence that I’ll show you points to another route to help develop intelligence better!

How an Elephant Turns into a River

How can you help your child be intelligent — intelligent in ways that really matter? How can you discover her unique way of being intelligent? How can you give him a good start on the joyous and lifelong task of developing his full potential? To show you my answer to these vital questions, I’ll ask you to be guided by two images: intelligence as an elephant, and intelligence as a river.

I’ll use the image of “the Intelligence Elephant” to express the initial confusion we experience as we feel our way through different theories which attempt to understand intelligence. The sages in the parable have each encountered part of a very big, very complex entity — a gigantic and mystifying creature. When you have hold of a tusk, and someone else is holding a trunk, it’s difficult to imagine they could be part of the same thing!

So in the first part of the book, I’ll ask you to picture intelligence as the elephant in the old parable of the sages. The fog surrounding this Intelligence Elephant has sometimes seemed impenetrable. But some of the most thoughtful sages in psychology have bumped into one part or another of this mysterious creature. They’ve thought about what they’ve got hold of. Unlike the sages in my parable, they’ve listened to others who have hold of another part of the elephant. And they’ve gone back to grasp again, each time with a little more understanding.

Their work is paying off. Our new theories are the most mature, best thought-out, best supported, and most creative we’ve managed yet. And these theories aren’t just pie-in-the-sky, academic-ivory-tower stuff! They are full of vital information for you and your child.

Before you read on, let me ask you to drop in a bookmark here right now, close the book for a minute, and have a little discussion with yourself about intelligence. You might ask:
What does intelligence mean to me?
What qualities do I think of when I imagine an intelligent person?
How will I know if my child is intelligent?

In my professional life, I work with children and adults to help them develop their full potential as learners, so naturally I’ve been following these new theories of intelligence with growing excitement. They give us earth-changing and tremendously optimistic ways to think about human abilities. In my personal life, during these same years, I’ve helped raise two terrific kids — excuse me, young adults. I hope what I was reading and learning has helped me respond a little more effectively to them as they grew.

The theorists of intelligence you’ll learn about, like the sages in the parable, often believe their views are opposed to each other. They acknowledge that there’s some overlap, but they intend to offer basically different views of what it means to be smart. It’s important for them to do that — science advances by argument and counter argument, and by different theorists pushing their point of view and submitting it to the critiques of others. And, in truth, there are fundamental differences in their views, which you’ll see as we look at each theory.

But at the heart of this book is my conviction that the theories can all work together for us now, each one contributing to our deeper understanding. Please don't accuse me of arrogance: I don't think I have some grand unifying theory of human intelligence! I just think these modern views of intelligence, seen as part of a still unimaginable whole, hint at a vision of what human intelligence can become.

To reflect that vision, I’ll ask you, in the second part of the book, to imagine intelligence as a river, a beautifully unified whole, whose many streams and tributaries flow naturally together, and whose combined current has almost unimaginable power.

“The Intelligence River” is my phrase for a dynamic synthesis of abilities — based in new research about human intelligence — which blends and focuses goals, interests, natural inclinations, and personal development in a way that leads to effective action in the world. The idea of the Intelligence River gives us a powerful image of what it means for a child to be intelligent. It shows us ways to help our kids grow up smarter. It helps us picture different abilities flowing together into one combined and powerful current. It allows us to see that each child’s personal and unique way of being intelligent is valid and worthy — that each child’s ability can flow powerfully in the world.

In this book, I’ll show you a step-by-step process to

• Recognize your child’s natural strengths
• See them as a unified and powerful river of abilities.
• Help your child develop these abilities naturally and enthusiastically.

Rollin’ Down the River

Since we have this image of a beautiful river in mind, we might as well go for a trip on it, right? We’ll encounter a bit of whitewater, but a little excitement is good for people! Along the route there are some fantastic views, well worth a bit of paddling!

I live in Colorado. One of the great rivers of the American West flows through my hometown, a ten-minute stroll from where I’m writing this. Walking its trails has been one of the critical satisfactions of my adult life, but as it happens, I’ve never floated down it. I sometimes imagine myself exploring it in a kayak — they look like a lot of fun. You might prefer to picture yourself making the trip in a big rubber raft like the tour groups use — having some company along for the ride is satisfying. On the other hand, I don’t see anyone having a better ride than the kids who float along on inner tubes and go where the current takes them. So many good ways to explore a river! As you float along on our voyage of discovery, I hope you’ll keep an image of this river in your mind’s eye: an image of many tributaries flowing together, of the steady growth and mingling of their potentials, and of the smoothly flowing power of the river they create.

What the Intelligence River looks like — and how you can help your child develop his personal, uniquely customized Intelligence River — is the ultimate subject of this book. Our sages are still struggling to understood the parts of the Intelligence Elephant. They have only begun to map the Intelligence River — its vast network of streams and currents is still to be explored. But for those with an adventurous spirit, the river beckons, and offers its first explorers great rewards!