I’m passionate about the cultivation of intelligence. Nurturing it in myself and in others is one of the most thrilling things I can imagine undertaking on planet Earth.
I’m writing a book about teaching and today found me gathering pieces I’ve written over the years. This excerpt on what I call “integrative intelligence” caught my attention and – I must admit – made me feel excited and happy:
“Intelligence is whatever in us feels quickened, attentive, alert, engaged, and eager.
That includes all forms of intelligence in addition to the ability to learn in school: the intelligence to recognize what’s good for us, forms of sensory intelligence (visual, auditory, tactile, physical), forms of interpersonal intelligence, verbal intelligence, mechanical intelligence, and every other kind of intelligence.
The exercise of our intelligence is one way our souls/essential selves manifest themselves in the world.”
(The intelligent people in the photograph are budding Irish folklorists at the Harvard Extension School).
