A Special Note on Naturalist/Existential Intelligence

By: Dr. Yehia A. Ibrahim, Professor Rational Emotive Behavior Thinker (REBT)

Human-Intelligence spheres are not isolated islands in a mental ocean. They are certainly recognizable, but structurally and functionally connected.

The author, 2004

Howard Gardner has opened a new era of human intelligence. The most important characteristic of this era is the multiplicity and uniqueness of individual intelligence. It is not clear and may never be, as to where those multiple intelligences are located in the human brain. However, the outcome of those intelligences is observable and applicable either solely or synergistically. Gardner's list of multiple intelligences originally contained seven members (intrapersonal, interpersonal, logical, linguistic, visual, kinesthetic, and musical). He has recently discussed three candidates (naturalist, existential, and spiritual intelligences), and decide to only add the naturalist to his list. Other investigators add to Gardner's list the ninth intelligence, i.e., the existential. We here shed some light on the eighth and ninth intelligences, along with 20 questions that existentially-intelligent people may ask. Asking those questions can never be mentally structured without an instrumental help from their logical intelligence. This shows how those spheres of intelligence work.

(1) Naturalist - the ability to discriminate among living things (plants, animals) as well as sensitivity to other features of the natural world (clouds, rock configurations). It is also the ability to identify and classify patterns in nature. During our prehistory, hunter-gatherers would rely on naturalist intelligence to identify what flora and fauna were edible, as well as which were not. Naturalist intelligence was clearly of value in our farming evolution from the hunting-gathering era. People who are sensitive to changes in weather patterns or are adept at distinguishing nuances between large numbers of similar objects may be expressing naturalist intelligence abilities. It is also speculated that much of our consumer society exploits the natural intelligences, which can be mobilized in the discrimination among cars, sneakers, kinds of makeup, and the like.  The kind of pattern recognition valued in certain sciences, i.e., biology, botany, zoology, geology, astronomy, etc. may also draw upon the naturalist intelligence. People who love the outdoors, camping, fishing, hiking and exploring and learning about the earth and space exhibit naturalist intelligence.

(2) Existential - The ability to think about the big picture of life, to understand life's mission and purpose as why we are here, and who else lives in the galaxy. People with this sphere of intelligence enjoy thinking, and questioning, and are curios about life, death, and the ultimate realities. They are good at, enjoy or feel comfortable with philosophical issues, and focus on fundamental ideas and questions about their existence and how meaningful their life is. Existentially intelligent people may show curiosity about:

• What is consciousness?
• How did life start?
• Why in particular are we here on earth?
• Is there human life on another planet?
• Do similar or other forms of life exist on other planets?
• What was the Earth like many years ago, or before mankind?
• Can animals understand us?
• Are there ghosts or spirits?
• Is there another dimension of life?
• Is there life after death?
• Where do living things go after they die?
• Are there a heaven and hell?
• Where are heaven and hell?
• Is there God?
• How does God look like?
• Why and where does God live?
• Were prophets a messenger of God's word?
• If prophets were sent by God, what was the means?
• Who were the famous philosophers, and what are their thoughts about life and human being?

I wonder if naturalist or naturalistic intelligence is extended to or overlapped with existential intelligence. Even though how we relate to our surroundings can be considered a reflection of naturalist intelligence, the role each part of overall surroundings integrally plays can be a reflection of both naturalist and existential intelligences.