Alternative Views Of Intelligence Example

Alternative Views Of Intelligence Example Alternative Views Of Intelligence â€" Assignment Example > “Multiple Intelligence” Theory and its Educational ImpactIntelligence: Poorly Defined and Politically LoadedMost people would agree that some people are “smarter” than others: that is to say, that there is some kind of mental ability of which some of us have more, and others less. Beyond this very basic observation, however, consensus breaks down. Intelligence is something that we all sense exists, and yet it is extraordinarily difficult to define precisely. What, exactly, is intelligence? Andâ€"perhaps even more importantlyâ€"how can it be measured? Intelligence is a key component of our identity as humans. We are, after all, not the fastest creatures on Earth, nor the strongest, nor even the best looking; but we are by far the smartest species on our planet. To be more intelligent, then, is to be in some way more human; and conversely, to be less intelligent is to be less than fully humanâ€"to be, to some degree, an “animal”. It is unsurprising, then, that intelligen ce has long been used as a means of ranking peopleâ€"both individually and collectively. The topic of intelligence has thus become not only a scientific and philosophical question, but also a highly political one. Traditional Views of IntelligenceSince we firmly believe that “smarter” is “better”, and since we are endlessly obsessed with comparing ourselves to others in order to establish hierarchies of merit (preferably with ourselves and our peers at the top), it is only natural that we seek some way of systematically measuring intelligence. Further, a meaningful way to measure mental ability would be very useful to our modern, large-scale, bureaucratized educational systems. But until one hundred years ago, when Alfred Binet designed the first test of what eventually became known as “IQ”, there was no convenient means of quantifying intelligence (Reingold). Before Binet’s innovation, scientists attempted to measure intelligence through physical means; for example, they measured brain sizes by pouring lead shot into skull cavities, or measured the heads of living people. In some cases these researchers were attempting to validate supposed differences in the intelligence of various races and between men and women; they expected, of course, that white males would be shown to be the people with the largest brains, and thus, “obviously”, the most intelligent. In other casesâ€"including Binet’s own attempts to quantify intelligence by physical means, before he began to create performance-related testsâ€"racism and sexism were not involved. In any case, none of these efforts yielded meaningful results (Gould, p. 146; see also Chapters 2-4). The French government commissioned Binet to create a practical means of testing intelligence in 1904, in order to identify at a young age those children who were likely to have problems mastering school subjects, so that they could receive special education. Having already determined that physical testing was worthless for this purpose, Binet created what evolved into modern IQ testing. It is perhaps worth noting that IQ was invented in the service of an educational system thatâ€"since Napoleon’s dayâ€"has been known for a high degree of intellectual regimentation and inflexibility.