An Analysis of the Connection between Brainpower and Originality

Picture this: you're walking home late at night when two burly muggers suddenly encircle you. Just as they're about to attack, Neo, the hero of the Matrix films, arrives out of nowhere and grants you one wish. It's your lucky day; he continues since you get to pick from the following list of brilliant minds and impressive abilities to lend a hand. To know what it is Creative Intelligence, click here

• It's Einstein.
• Dr. Marie Skodowska-Curie
• Singer Mariah Carey
• Arnie
• Bruce Lee
• One: Bill Gates

Why did you pick that one over the other?

Before continuing, please pause for some quiet thought.

So, who did you end up choosing?

Mariah is out unless we want someone to sing the assailants to death. Of course, bill Gates could give them money, but he probably never has any on him, and Arnie is a vast, sluggish guy.

If Bruce Lee were still alive, I'd put my life savings on him.

The truth is that Bruce Lee was gifted in a way that no other martial artist was. This was because he was not only innovative but also physically inventive.

He used his imagination to develop new martial arts techniques, eventually settling on the name "Jeet Kune Do." (The Way of the Intercepting Fist).

He used his brain to determine when and where to land devastating blows on his opponent's body.

Looking at famously talented people, we can see more than just their skill at what they do. Both intelligence and originality are on display.

Most folks I've spoken with don't immediately associate intelligence and creativity. In contrast to intelligence, typically linked with the academic world, creativity is generally viewed as a "special" skill or capability reserved for naturally brilliant persons who engage in the arts.

However, the farther we go into this topic, the more we see that creativity may be manifested in everyday behaviors in a wide variety of ways; for example, coming up with a solution to get back into your house after locking yourself out without a key, or coming up with a list of people to invite to dinner.

You might think these are just examples of difficulties that can be solved with sound old-fashioned reasoning and reason. However, whether or not your answer is creative, intelligent, or a hybrid of the two will depend on how new it is and how well it works. The relationship between intelligence and creativity is intriguing because there is more than one kind of intelligence.

Developmental psychologist Howard Gardner deeply delved into this topic with his 'Multiple Intelligences' theory in 1993.

According to Gardner, there may be more than one type of intelligence at work in each of us. Furthermore, he implies that many forms of intelligence each have their unique intelligence quotient. This contradicts the common belief that there is just one level of intelligence and that people are either very intelligent or stupid. Experts in the field of creativity have shown that people are further motivated to think creatively when inspired by something they care about.

If you're a foodie, for instance, you might try to think of exciting methods to cook vegetables. If you're the social type, you might have fun coming up with party themes. If you're a mathematician, you could appreciate the room for original thought in quantum physics, and if you're a sports fanatic, you might find inspiration in finding new ways to play. David Beckham, for instance, is a soccer player who exemplifies style and originality.

There are two primary motivations for highly creative behavior.

• The compulsion to put thoughts into words.

• Inspiration to make something different happen.

Furthermore, we can excel at both when our interests and goals are in harmony.

But before we go any further, why don't we look at how certain professionals define creativity?

As S.A.Mednick put it in 1962, "creativity is the forming of associative elements into new combinations which either meet specified requirements or are in some way useful."

According to E.P. Torrence (1966), "creativity is defined as becoming sensitive to problems, deficiencies, gaps in knowledge, missing elements, and disharmonies."

"Creativity can be viewed as the quality of products of responses judged to be creative by appropriate observers" and "the process by which something is produced that is judged to be creative."
Amabile, T.M., 1983

"Creativity is a blend of exceptional intelligence and an unconventional way of looking at the world and solving problems. However, regardless of background, some of the most creative people will have no trouble expressing themselves in all four dimensions.
Waller, P.E., 2011.

Standard definitions of intelligence emphasize the capacity for analytical and abstract thought and the ability to take in, organize, and communicate a great deal of data. However, recent research suggests that intelligence encompasses much more.

For instance, according to the research of authors like Daniel Goleman (1999), Howard Gardner (Harvard), Peter Salovey (Yale), and John "Jack" Mayer (New Hampshire), we know that there is a concept called EQ, or "Emotional" intelligence.

Dan Zohar has written extensively on SQ, or "Spiritual" intelligence, which can be defined as one's "inner drives and motivations" fueled by one's values and beliefs.

Then there's "Physical" intelligence, which artists, singers, actors, and athletes use. Science has known for a long time that the body has its communication channels conveyed through the nerves by "intelligent" chemicals and hormones.

How do Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences (MI) map onto the four dimensions of human expression? First, let's take a closer look.

In Gardner's taxonomy, "Physical" intelligence could include the following three subsets, all with creative applications.

People with high levels of physical awareness and an understanding of their relationship to and occupation of space are considered to have high levels of visual-spatial intelligence.

Successful athletes, dancers, actors, surgeons, comedians, builders, and artisans, such as Vanessa Williams, Michael Jordan, Jim Carrie, Dr. Christian Bernard, Fred Astaire, and Beyoncé Knowles, all have a high level of kinaesthetic intelligence, which includes a high level of control of bodily movement and an ability to handle objects skillfully.

Those with musical intelligence are highly sensitive to rhythm, melody, and sound and would include instrumentalists, singers, conductors, and composers. For example, Beethoven, who went deaf at the end of his life, could continue composing because his musical intelligence was so high.

The following two forms of intelligence are typical of the Intellect category.

Scientists, mathematicians, engineers, doctors, and economists are all examples of professionals with high levels of logical intelligence. Albert Einstein is perhaps the most well-known scientist who has expressed a "creative intelligence" for rational thought. He is credited with the "General Theory of Relativity" after imagining himself riding on a sunbeam and speeding out into the universe.

Anyone who can originally use languages, such as James Joyce or William Shakespeare, demonstrates linguistic intelligence. This category includes writers, lawyers, philosophers, politicians, and teachers.

Gardner has identified "Spiritual/Motivational Intelligence," which describes the third form of intelligence.

For example, the great ancient Greek philosophers Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus were the first to create ideas about atoms and the interconnection of the universe, long before anyone knew about the big bang or quantum physics and not long before Galileo pointed his telescope out into the night.

At last, we come to the 'Emotional' axis, which would incorporate the following:

Politicians, managers, educators, social workers, and diplomats benefit from high levels of interpersonal intelligence; Bill Clinton and Tony Blair were masters of creatively applying their emotional intelligence to connect with people.

Psychologists, theologians, authors, and scientists have all expressed the importance of developing a high level of intra-personal intelligence. Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, arguably the two most influential figures in the field of psychoanalysis, were brilliant thinkers and artists in this respect.

By drawing on Gardner's work, we can develop a model that provides a definition for the term "creativity," as the process by which an individual uses and expresses their unique set of intelligence to solve problems and generate new ideas.