Most people are not total "geniuses" in one clear-cut area. Everyone is blessed with a mixture of several abilities from different intelligence types. To a large degree it is this "mixture" that determines uniqueness. If John learns to use his various intelligences in combination with each other, he will be well on his way to success.

John's main intelligence type: Linguistic

Individuals with linguistic intelligence have a highly developed capacity to use words effectively in writing or in speech, as well as the ability to persuade, remember information, and explain. John likely possesses excellent writing skills, is good at expressing himself to others, and may have a knack for learning languages. He understands things best when they are put into words, and probably reads more than most people. When he was young, he probably picked up vocabulary quickly and learned to read quite easily. Authors, poets, journalists, speakers, and newscasters exhibit high degrees of linguistic intelligence.

Bodily-Kinesthetic (score 57)

Description:
An individual with bodily-kinesthetic intelligence possesses exceptional coordination and motor skills, and/or tends to learn best through "hands on" types of activities. Body-kinesthetic intelligence is awakened through physical movement or tactile manipulation as in the area of sports, dance, and physical exercise or sculpting and carpentry. People with this type of intelligence express themselves through their body, whether it's in the form of interpretive dance, drama, or building things. As a child, John probably had very good motor-coordination, and excelled in sports and/or crafts like carpentry or pottery. Athletes, dancers, actors, and craftsman are examples of people with high bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

Common capacities and strengths, or interests:

• Athletic pursuits
• Performing arts (dancing, acting, music)
• Trades, manual labor, using tools
• Protective services (police, fire fighters, soldiers)
• Medical services (surgeons, doctors, lab workers)
• Well-coordinated: good timing and control of "voluntary" movements and balance
• Mind/body connection; turning physical responses into reflexes (muscle memory)
• Inventive: creating things with hands; ability to handle objects skillfully
• Working with your hands
• Taking things apart and putting them back together
• Sports/athletics
• Outdoor pursuits
• Creative dance
• Drama
• Martial Arts

• Jim Carrey (actor and comedian)
• Carol Burnett (actor and comedian)
• Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Olympic medalist)
• Michael Jordan (basketball player)
• Tiger Woods (golfer)
• Jim Henson (puppeteer)

Logical-Mathematical (score 45)

Description:
Individuals with logical-mathematical intelligence tend to be good with numbers and possess excellent reasoning skills. They can easily recognize and solve problems using logical patterns to categorize, infer, make generalizations, and test hypotheses. This intelligence is most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking. John likely enjoys playing with abstract and logical ideas. He probably finds it easy to work out numerical problems in his head and has a natural talent for thinking sequentially. He learns best by approaching each problem as a puzzle to be solved. Scientists, mathematicians, engineers and programmers exhibit high levels of logical/mathematical intelligence.

Common capacities and strengths, or interests:

• Mentally compute measurements and formulas
• Good sense of cause and effect
• Abstract pattern recognition; symbolic thought
• Inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, sequential reasoning
• Finding relationships and connections
• Scientific reasoning; proposing and testing hypotheses
• Logical thinking
• Recognizing numeric patterns
• Calculation
• Deciphering codes, solving mysteries, strategy games
• Problem-solving
• Keeping things in order
• Curious about how things work
• Logic puzzles, games of strategy (e.g. chess)
• Solving scientific/technological problems
• IT-related stuff, science

• Albert Einstein (physicist and mathematician)
• Bill Gates (computer tycoon)
• Marie Curie (physicist and mathematician)
• Gertrude Belle Elion (chemist)
• Thomas Edison (inventor)
• Johannes Kepler (astronomer and mathematician)

Linguistic (score 97)

Description:
Individuals with linguistic intelligence have a highly developed capacity to use words effectively in writing or in speech, as well as the ability to persuade, remember information, and explain. John likely possesses excellent writing skills, is good at expressing himself to others, and may have a knack for learning languages. He understands things best when they are put into words, and probably reads more than most people. When he was young, he probably picked up vocabulary quickly and learned to read quite easily. Authors, poets, journalists, speakers, and newscasters exhibit high degrees of linguistic intelligence.

Common capacities and strengths, or interests:

• Advanced vocabulary
• Writing
• Spelling
• Playing with words
• Public speaking, Journalism
• Convincing others
• Teaching, explaining
• Debating
• Languages
• Good memory for quotes, people's names, etc.
• Writing; creative or non-creative
• Telling jokes and stories
• Reading, story-telling
• Word games, puns
• Crossword puzzles or games such as Scrabble ®

• Shakespeare (playwright)
• Margaret Atwood (writer)
• Woody Allen (writer, director, actor)
• Edgar Allen Poe (writer)
• Ellen DeGeneris (comedian)
• Abraham Lincoln (16th President of the United States)

Visual-Spatial (score 67)

Description:
Visual-Spatial intelligence refers to a highly developed capacity to perceive the visual world accurately and to transform, manipulate and recreate mental images. People with this intelligence have the capacity to think in two and three-dimensional ways. John is probably the type of person who "thinks in pictures". This ability is relevant in everyday activities and problems, from space orientation (reading maps, orienting oneself in a strange environment) to practical tasks (re-arranging furniture, maximizing closet space). He is probably one of the very few people who can find his way around a strange city after having visited it only once. He likely finds mazes relatively easy and could finish a jigsaw puzzle long before anyone else. There is a strong likelihood that he could draw well at an early age, preferring to show an idea on paper rather than explain it verbally. Spatial intelligence is valuable for occupations that involve the manipulation of tangible objects, such as in the engineering, mechanics, technical, and design fields.

Common capacities and strengths, or interests:

• Drawing or doodling
• Strong sense of color
• Easily form a mental image from a description
• Can imagine easily how objects look from different angles
• Patterns/designs, graphical skills
• Painting
• Designing
• Drawing
• Sculpting
• Interior decorating
• Good visual memory and hand-eye coordination
• Watching movies and looking at/taking photos
• Doing mazes or other visual type puzzles; noticing details in patterns and images
• Visual arts, Geometry
• Thinking in 3D
• Work related to navigation and spatial orientation (flying, sailing, architecture, truck driving)

• Pablo Picasso (artist)
• Amelia Earhart (aviator)
• Frank Lloyd Wright (architect)
• Leonardo Da Vinci (inventor, engineer, artist)
• Coco Chanel (French fashion designer)
• Vincent Van Gogh (painter)

Musical (score 62)

Description:
Musical intelligence encompasses the ability to compose and perform musical patterns, and recognize pitches, tones, and rhythms. This type of intelligence is most easily recognized in an environment in which music is important, instruments are readily available, or with activities that require rhythm, like singing or dancing. People with a high musical intelligence, probably hummed or sang to themselves as children and could pick up a tune the first time they heard it. John probably has a knack for distinguishing a musical note and could match it if asked to do so. As soon as he hears music he may often feel the need to move to its rhythms. Playing an instrument is probably (or would be) easier for him than most people. He is particularly sensitive to sounds within the environment, from running water to a bird's song. Those demonstrating high musical intelligence include composers, conductors, musicians, musical critics, as well as instrument makers.

Common capacities and strengths, or interests:

• Can tell when music is off-key
• Playing an instrument
• Singing
• Sensitivity to sounds
• Ability to reproduce melody/rhythm; good auditory memory
• Know tunes to many songs
• Rhythmic way of speaking/moving
• Musical composition ability
• Ability to recognize tonal patterns
• Humming and singing
• Playing a musical instrument
• Listening to different kinds of music
• Often good at logic and math
• Likely to be sensitive listeners
• Good at learning/discerning accents in foreign languages

• Jimi Hendrix (musician)
• Ludwig van Beethoven (composer)
• Stevie Wonder (composer, singer, musician)
• Leonard Bernstein (composer and conductor)
• Celine Dion (singer)
• Miles Davis (musician)

Intrapersonal (score 90)

Description:
Intrapersonal intelligence is the capacity to detect and discern among one's own feelings (self-knowledge) and the ability to use that knowledge for personal understanding. Individuals with this kind of intelligence are able to construct an accurate perception of themselves and use such knowledge in planning and directing their life. This is essentially a private intelligence that does not need the interaction of others to realize its aspirations and goals. John is probably a person who prefers to pursue his own interests and ideas. He may even be accused of living in a world of his own on occasion. He has a strong sense of his own independent worth and exhibits certain intuitive skills. This deep sense of self-reliance means that he does especially well on his own; he is a self-starter who learns best when he is left to his own devices. People with strong intrapersonal intelligence can excel in a wide range of fields such as theology, psychology, and philosophy, to name but a few.

Common capacities and strengths, or interests:

• Strong-willed and independent
• Lean towards being a loner (introspective)
• Higher-order thinking and reasoning
• High level of concentration/focus; self-motivated
• Ability to detect and discern among own feelings (self-knowledge) and the ability to use that knowledge for personal understanding
• Rich inner life
• Accurate perception of yourself; good intuition
• Choose projects with personal meaning/importance.
• Working alone
• Learning about yourself
• Reflection
• Independent activities
• Psychology, philosophy, theology
• Complex ideas and problems, critical analysis, deconstructing arguments

• Sigmund Freud (psychologist)
• Dali Lama (spiritual leader of the Tibetan people)
• Simone de Beauvoir (philosopher)
• Helen Keller (author and humanitarian)
• Plato (Greek philosopher)
• Eleanor Roosevelt (wife of 32nd President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt)

Interpersonal (score 82)

Description:
Interpersonal intelligence is the capacity to understand and interact effectively with others. This intelligence involves the ability to discern the moods, temperaments, dispositions, motivations, and desires of other people and respond appropriately. This is the "people-person" intelligence. It is evident in successful teachers, social workers, actors, or politicians, and operates primarily through person-to-person relationships and communication. It involves skills such as effective communication, working together with others towards a common goal, and noticing distinctions among individuals. A person who has high interpersonal intelligence is probably popular and has many friends. As a child, it is likely that John was often the leader of a group and was able to organize and influence his peers with skill. His talent for interpreting and understanding the feelings of others makes him a good mediator and a potential earpiece for many of his friends. He learns best when he is involved in team activities and cooperative ventures.

Common capacities and strengths, interests:

• Extroverted, cooperative
• Sought out by others for advice and counseling
• Good communication and social skills
• Empathy/sensitivity to others' feelings, moods, motivations (social insight)
• Leadership ability
• Negotiating skills
• Socializing
• Group activities, brainstorming
• Social sciences, teaching, training, coaching, politics, social work
• Talking over problems with someone else rather than alone

• Oprah Winfrey (talk show host, actress, entrepreneur)
• Mahatma Gandhi (spiritual/political leader)
• Florence Nightingale (nurse and health-care reformer)
• Martin Luther King Jr. (Civil Rights leader)
• Winston Churchill (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom)
• Mother Teresa (humanitarian)

Naturalistic (score 54)

Description:
Naturalistic intelligence, the most recent addition to Dr. Howard Gardner's list, refers to a deep and extensive understanding of the natural world. With their keen observational skills and classification abilities, people with this intelligence can easily identify and categorize various types of plants and animals. Individuals with "nature smarts" are very perceptive to changes in their environment, and often have a deep connection to all living things. This type of intelligence is evident in biologists, zoologists, geologists, astronomers, environmentalists, meteorologists, and botanists - people who find both interest and inspiration in nature.

Common capacities and strengths, or interests:

• Classification abilities; ability to discriminate among plants and animals
• Keen observational skills
• Attuned to nature; sensitivity to features of the natural world (clouds, rock configuration)
• Affinity for animals
• Activities outdoors (e.g. camping, gardening, scuba diving, etc.)
• Collecting and studying various aspects of nature
• Books, TV shows, and magazines related to the natural world
• Environmental sciences, agriculture, geology, mineralogy, meteorology, astronomy, zoology, oceanography, botany

• Charles Darwin (British naturalist)
• Jane Goodale (anthropologist)
• Jacques Cousteau (oceanographer and environmentalist)
• Gregor Mendel (biologist)
• John Muir (writer, naturalist, conservationist)
• Rachel Carson (biologist and ecologist)