The Four Intelligences or Capacities of Our Nature

Our Third Birth-Gift: The Four Intelligences or Capacities of Our Nature

Four parts of our nature: Mind, Body, Heart, Spirit

Four Capacities of our nature: Physical Intelligence (PQ), Mental Intelligence (IQ), Emotional Intelligence (EQ), Spiritual Intelligence (SQ) (50)

Mental Intelligence: the ability to analyze, reason, think abstractly, use language, visualize, and comprehend. (50)

Physical Intelligence: the ability of the body to balance and harmonize all of its functions without conscious effort. (50-51)

Emotional Intelligence: self-knowledge, self-awareness, social sensitivity, empathy and communication. A sense of timing for social appropriateness, courage to acknowledge weaknesses and needs, and the respect of differences. (51-53)

“For star performance in all jobs, in every field, emotional competence is twice as important as purely cognitive abilities. For success at the highest levels, in leadership positions, emotional competence accounts for virtually the entire advantage…. Given that emotional competencies make up two-thirds or more o the ingredients of a standout performance, the data suggests that finding people who have these abilities, or nurturing them in existing employees, adds tremendous value to an organization’s bottom line. How much? In simple jobs like machine operators or clerks, those in the top one percent with emotional competency were three times more productive (by value). For jobs of medium complexity, like sales clerks, or mechanics, a single top emotional competent person was twelve times more productive (by value).” Daniel Goleman (52)

“A person may be a ten on a ten-point IQ scale but emotionally score only a two, and not know how to relate well with others. They may compensate for this deficiency by over-relying on their intellect and borrowing strength from their formal position. But in so doing, they often exacerbate their own weaknesses and, in their interactions, the weaknesses of others as well. Then they try to intellectually rationalize their behavior.” (52)

Spiritual Intelligence: our drive for meaning, source of guidance, discernment of principles and connection with the infinite. (53-54)

Semantics and the Superior Nature of Spiritual Intelligence (54-57)

See Howard Gardner’s book, Frames of Mind for an excellent discussion of the concept of separate, yet overlapping intelligences.

See also Robert Cooper and Daniel Goleman’s work on emotional intelligence.

Some separate visual, verbal, analytical, artistic, logical, creative, economic and other intelligences.

“He who cannot change the very fabric of his thought will never be able to change reality, and will never, therefore, make any progress.” Anwar Sadat (56)

From:  The 8th Habit, by Stephen Covey