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CHAPTER 4

Intelligences for a machine-led world

While the last few decades have provided us with massive leaps in our understanding of the human brain, I suspect we will say we knew nothing in 2030 as our knowledge increases exponentially. Our desire to simplify the brain has led us up a few garden paths over the years. For example, the handy ‘shorthand’ of the left and right brain developed by Roger Sperry has been discredited, although it remains a useful shorthand for identifying the different functions that we must perform as human beings and the idea that there is some specialisation in the different parts of the brain. Much has also been made of the brain as a computer and it is an alluring simplification, yet our brains are much more complex and flexible than any computer currently available. Philip Ball of the Royal Society of Chemistry says it succinctly: “It’s simplistic but largely unavoidable to portray the brain as a vast bureaucracy of specialised departments, some in constant communication and others barely aware of their mutual existence.”

So, what do we know? Our brains are mostly occupied by the cerebral cortex, divided in each hemisphere into the frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital lobes. They are able to cope with a great deal of information. On occasion, when our senses are working overtime, we become overwhelmed and become less effective. This contradicts the oft-quoted notion that we are good at multi-tasking and there is much research across the sexes that now disproves this illusion. The implications are that we need to break information into manageable chunks and be focused on our main needs rather than wandering aimlessly through the data jungle. Highly effective leaders are great bite size information processors and cognitive librarians, finding ways to hold information in internal compartments and algorithms of the mind.

Our brains continue to develop through our lives but they thrive on stimulation. This contradicts the notion that we cannot learn into our old age, although some people experience isolation as they get older and this points to an important social remedy for staying young through socialisation. Neuroplasticity means that our brains can grow new neurones and adapt to new situations throughout our lives. Importantly our ability to acquire, retain and use information is not thought to be IQ dependent, rather it is a function of our emotional state or what could be called our level of engagement with learning. Simply stated, we learn best when we want to learn best. Stress and anxiety are obstacles to learning new things. We thrive on novelty, which releases dopamine, the so-called happy drug. This perhaps explains how we give disproportionately high levels of attention to well-designed advertisements.

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Learning is also a social process, which explains the importance of bringing adults together in some common cause and also a common geographical space. Some studies show that the oft-quoted idea from Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) that we have a primary learning channel via what people call VAKOG (Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic, Olfactory and Gustatory) senses is false. In other words, we are not visual learners, feelers, etc. That said, the best teachers clearly reach more of their students by ensuring their stories and teachings are rich in the five main senses. A quick scan of great works of literature also demonstrates that we love sensory-rich imagery.

Intelligence on intelligence

The more intelligent we become the more it seems we become confused about what intelligence is. Klaus Schwab, author of The Fourth Industrial Revolution, talks of four forms of intelligence:

There is nothing terribly new in this classification. People have wondered how we become intelligent since the world began. I have used the Kolb learning cycle to great effect over the years as a design strategy for helping to improve the intelligence of individuals, teams and enterprises. Broadly speaking Kolb considers four modes of learning, ranging from direct experimentation, concept formation, reflection and using pragmatism. Yet, the critics say that Kolb cannot be proved in science to have any basis of validity as a theory. However, I would suggest that this is an unfair test. The Kolb learning cycle is not a law of physics. It is a practical construct and not all things that cannot be proved by scientific methods are invalid. Kolb has a lot of face validity with ‘what works’ on an everyday level. Others, however, also see learning and intelligence differently. Howard Gardner seems not to be sure if there are nine or ten forms of intelligence, having wavered on the question of spiritual intelligence, perhaps in order to be taken more seriously by hard-bitten business people who dislike ‘tree hugging’ strategies for business. Regardless of the validation of Gardner’s model, it also has great face validity and utility. It is regularly used by teachers to engage their students, along with the ideas about VAKOG from the field of NLP. These also have practical value in terms of reaching all the senses and therefore stimulate our brains to learn. Gardner’s intelligences are therefore interesting, and they are worthy of exploration here.

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Musical, rhythmic and harmonic intelligence: People with good musical intelligence can often sing, play instruments and compose music. They might have sensitivity to rhythm although this is not guaranteed. I know many great guitar players that have little sensitivity to rhythm (have you ever known a musician who cannot dance?), although great bass players are almost universally gifted with good sensitivity to rhythm.

If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.

Einstein

Visual-spatial intelligence: Visual-spatial people demonstrate good hand-to-eye coordination and have the ability to visualise things in three dimensions. Classically many artists and designers possess visual-spatial intelligence. Madeleina Kay who provided the illustrations for this book has this and many other related intelligences in good supply.

I think I understand something about space. I think the job of a sculptor is spatial as much as it is to do with form.

Anish Kapoor

Verbal-linguistic intelligence: Verbal-linguistic types are typically good at reading, writing, telling stories and memorising facts. When combined with musical intelligence, such people can make good songwriters.

To succeed, you will soon learn, as I did, the importance of a solid foundation in the basics of education – literacy, both verbal and numerical, and communication skills.

Alan Greenspan

Logical-mathematical intelligence: Logical-mathematical people are good at performing abstractions, reasoning, numbers and critical thinking. Accountants and financial specialists are classical professions that need people with such skills, although machines now do much of the logical work. This requires them to become much more interpreters of the data and facts to inform better decisions.

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J.S. Bach was one of the greatest composers of all time. His main achievement was the synthesis and development of late Baroque with the tunefulness and popular appeal of his material. He drew upon the harmonic and formal frameworks of German, French, Italian and English music, while building his own identity. Bach used a mathematical precision in his music. In other words, Bach was an ‘all round learner’ using both musical and logical intelligences in his work.

Bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence: Bodily-kinaesthetic people are good at handling themselves and objects skilfully. They might also have good timing, goal orientation associated with physical tasks, along with the ability to focus their energy. It is what Schwab calls physical intelligence.

Interpersonal intelligence: People with good interpersonal intelligence are sensitive to others’ moods, feelings, temperaments, motivations, and often good at working in teams. Essentially part of what Schwab calls emotional intelligence. This is essentially a skill of reading the world around you.

Intrapersonal intelligence: People with good intrapersonal intelligence have a deep understanding of the self; what one’s strengths or weaknesses are, what makes one unique, being able to predict one’s own reactions or emotions. This is essentially a skill of having mastery of your inner world and perhaps equates to what Peter Senge called Personal Mastery in The Fifth Discipline.

Naturalistic intelligence: Gardner said that if he were to rewrite Frames of Mind, he would probably add the intelligence of the naturalist. This seems to be the recognition of a systemic thinking intelligence, of how things connect as part of a system. It seems that there is a desperate need for systemic thinking, given the joined-up nature of the world’s problems. It is also a rare skill from my own experience, with many people only able to see issues from their own heads.

Existential intelligence: Gardner did not commit to a spiritual intelligence, but suggested that an ‘existential’ intelligence might be a useful construct. These last two elements relate to what Schwab calls inspired, what I call soul or what Jennifer Sertl calls Spiritual Intelligence (SQ). We explore this further when we examine communications and influence.

Gardner said in 2016 that he is considering adding a teaching-pedagogical intelligence ‘which allows us to be able to teach successfully to other people’. I sense a tendency to keep adding elements to it rather than keeping it simple. In this context, I prefer just three umbrella elements that essentially embrace Gardner’s 9/10 intelligences and Schwab’s model – The Head (IQ), Heart (EQ) and Soul (SQ). Schwab’s physical intelligence can be seen as an application of knowledge to one’s own wellbeing. Traditionally we have selected people for their IQ and sometimes sacked them for their EQ (or lack of it). Formal intelligence rather than EQ and SQ is indeed much easier to test for under time constraints, yet increasingly what we know is not what we can do. In the future, low-level IQ might be less important than EQ and SQ as data processing power and analytical thinking pass from our memories to a memory stick, leaving us to up our game in other areas. We are likely to need higher order IQ elements such as creativity and improved decision-making skills. We explore these next after a brief divergence into the world of ignorance, foolishness and un-intelligence.

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Ignorance is bliss: un-intelligence

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.

Confucius

The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.

William Shakespeare

He knows everything but he lacks inexperience.

Howard Gardner

I was asked to volunteer to attend a brainstorming session at Nokia a while back. I should add that it did not produce the Nokia 3310! Asked to search for novel ideas on a particular topic I was simultaneously astonished and dismayed as many participants in the session reached for their phones to ask Google for the answers, thus validating my Shakespearian software sonnet “To Google or not to Google – that is the question”. It is a pity Nokia did not look online to foresee their takeover by Microsoft! Yet, much innovation arises from the unknown and the unknowable! In a data world of ‘knowns’, how do we welcome the unknown into our lives in order to create SCA (Sustainable Coopetive Advantage)? Should we protect such a precious human quality or consign it to the dustbin of the Fourth Industrial Revolution? Our brainstorming example highlights the question of what will the notion of expertise mean in a world where much data processing will be turned over to machines? What does it take to be an expert in a world full of intelligence? What role does naivety play?

Where then does the psychological and physical space for ignorance and human creativity reside in a programmed world? Should we actively protect it rather like we have to protect the environment or, in the words of Jeff Goldblum when challenged about chaos in the film Jurassic Park, “Will nature find a way”? If not knowing is a core skill of coping with VUCA problems, what can we be more certain about in terms of the habits that will help us ride the waves of the unknown and unknowable in the Man-Machine age?