I like to think of myself as an intelligent person, but when my husband comes home with a problem invented by Google to screen its prospective employees, and has the solution while I’m still scratching my head, I realize just how stupid I really am.
Here’s the problem: You have eight balls which are identical in appearance, but one is heavier than the others. You have a scale, and can use it twice to determine which of the eight balls is the heavy one. How do you proceed?
While you’re chewing on that one, let me ruminate on one of my favorite subjects, multiple intelligences, as outlined by Dr. Howard Gardner.
Gardner’s thesis, now widely supported in the mainstream, proposes that there is no such thing as a universal intelligence, but says that we all possess gifts that constitute what the world would define as being smart. Here are the categories that Gardner defined:
Linguistic intelligence ("word smart")
Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")
Spatial intelligence ("picture smart")
Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart")
Musical intelligence ("music smart")
Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart")
Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart")
Naturalist intelligence ("nature smart")
I suppose the more categories we can lay claim to, the smarter we are. Truth be told, I'd claim three of the eight at most. I won’t tell you which three, but I will confess it IS NOT logical-mathematical intelligence, the category that is most rewarded in our society. (Thank goodness my oldest child inherited that gift from her father.)
So although I’ll put my head down on my pillow tonight feeling dumber than dirt because I’d never make the cut for Google, perhaps I’ll awaken in the morning inspired to write another blog piece, or play a Beethoven sonata on the piano, or counsel a friend who is going through a nasty divorce.
Let that be my contribution, for just one day, to a better world through my limited intelligence.
As for the solution to the Google problem, well, just Google it. Or tune in here tomorrow.
Weigh six.
ReplyDeleteIf they balance, the heavy one is among the two on the table. Weigh those two and the scale will tip toward the heavy one.
If they don't balance, take the three that were on the heavy side of the scale. Weigh two of them. If they balance, the heavy one is the ball not on the scale. If they don't balance, the scale will tip toward the heavy one.
As for myself, I think multiple stupidity is more applicable. I believe that more an more every day.
John, you are brilliant. That's why we have been married for 33 years.
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