According

tial thinking. The researchers found that for solving
spatial problems people used the lateral prefrontal
cortex on both sides of their brain, while for verbal
problems they used only the left side.8 The lateral
prefrontal cortex, incidentally, is a region about the
diameter of a golf ball on either side of the brain,
situated above the outer edge of the eyebrow.
Danah Zohar writes:
The simplistic model of ‘thinking’ as something
linear, logical and dispassionate is not wrong—it
is just not the full story. It is derived from formal,
Aristotelian logic and from arithmetic: ‘If x, then
y’, or ‘2+2=4’. The brain can do it because of a very
distinctive sort of neural wiring known as neural
tracts which resemble a series of telephone cables.
The axon of one neuron or group of neurons stimulates
the dendrites of the next one or group, and
an electrochemical signal passes along the chain of
linked neurons being employed for any thought
or series of thoughts. Each neuron in the series
is switched either on or off, and if any part of the
chain gets damaged or switched off the whole
chain ceases to function. It produces the kind of
thinking that is useful for solving rational problems.
Serial thinking ability is the kind of mental
ability tested for in standard IQ tests. Serial thinking
is very similar to the serial processing done by
many computers.9
Serial neural connections, the basis of our iq,
allow the brain to follow rules, to think logically
and rationally, step by step. It is generally thought
that iq being intrinsic to the human brain, one cannot
do anything about it. It is not so. There are a
number of ways to improve one’s iq, like writing—
a diary, an idea-journal, poetry, notes, stories, and
the like—listening to soft music, moderate physical
exercise, solving puzzles, and brain games. Interestingly,
unnecessary argumentation is detrimental to
the flexibility of the mind, the hallmark of intellectual
intelligence.10
iq is linear and deterministic—one event should
always follow another in the same way. This kind of
thinking does not tolerate ambiguity; it is strictly
on-off, either-or. Though it is effective within its
given set of rules, the logical thinking process breaks
PB August 2009
Varieties of Intelligence 27
down in changing situations. In The Mismeasure of
Man, Stephen Jay Gould argued that intelligence
tests for measuring iq were based on faulty assumptions.11
Many psychologists, including Gardner, believe
that traditional measures of intelligence, such
as iq tests, fail to fully explain cognitive ability.
Emotional Intelligence
Often expressed as emotional intelligence
quotient or eq, it refers to the ability, capacity,
or skill to perceive, assess, and manage one’s
own and others’ emotions, as well as the emotions of
groups. Emotional intelligence being a relatively new
area of study, its definition is constantly changing.
Typically, emotional intelligence is defined in
terms of emotional empathy with, attention to, and
discrimination of one’s emotions; accurate recognition
of one’s own and others’ moods; mood management
or control over emotions; appropriate
(adaptive) emotional and behavioural responses to
different situations, especially to stress and difficult
situations; and balancing of honest expression of
emotions against courtesy, consideration, and respect.
Additional qualities, though less often mentioned,
include selection of work that is emotionally
rewarding and a balance between work, personal life,
and recreation. Peter Salovey classifies these abilities
into five main domains: (i) knowing one’s emotions
(self-awareness), (ii) managing emotions, (iii) motivating
oneself, (iv) recognizing emotions in others
properly, and (v) handling relationships.12
The term ‘emotional intelligence’ has been popularized
by Daniel Goleman, who has published several
books and articles on emotional intelligence and
its application to business. However, the term seems
to have originated in an article by Keith Beasley.13
Unlike iq, it is difficult to measure eq quantitatively.
The available tests on eq are fundamentally
qualitative. These include: self-report
measure, ability-based measure, and the behavioural
measure developed at Swinburne University.
The Swinburne model, for example, measures
seven dimensions of an individual’s emotions: (i)
emotional self-awareness, (ii) emotional expression,
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