Head First by Tony Buzan
Did you know that you have 10 different intelligences, each one more powerful and capable of development than you ever imagined? In HEAD FIRST, Tony Buzan, the world's leading expert on learning and the brain, proves that you are smarter than you think.
Head First : You're Smarter Than You Think, introduces readers to the multiple and often overlooked aspects of human intelligence and provides a blueprint for utilising and developing the full range of their potential.
"Tony didn't invent the brain - he did invent the instructions!"
…John Husbands, Institute of Management
"Your mental powers are limitless and Buzan's book will give you the key to unlock them."
…Raymond Keene OBE, columnist for The Times
Book Extract
The following extract was prepared by Jennifer Goddard, Managing Director, Buzan Centre:Australia/NZ.
is a revolutionary new book based on the latest research into your brain and body. This research has uncovered the fact that you have far more than the one standard IQ (Intelligence Quotient) everyone has heard about - you actually have 10!.
Having a high traditional IQ, based on measures of your verbal and numerical skills, does not automatically equal personal and professional success. Recently there has been a growing acknowledgement of how important other skills are in life: the ability to communicate with others, to persevere, to plan and balance one's life, and so on.
Head First will guide you on an exploration of these other intelligences and will show you how you can develop and expand each one of your 10 intelligences: it will transform your abilities!
A Brief History of Intelligence
The history of the development of our knowledge about intelligence is fascinating. Although leading thinkers have been searching for a long time for any clues as to 'what makes us tick?' and 'what makes us smart?', amazingly, the concept of the Intelligence Quotient has been around for less than 100 years - the first experiments of intelligence testing by 'scientific means' started only at the beginning of the 20th century.
Some of the early experiments were a little eccentric: measuring knee-jerk response time to see whether the faster your reactions, the smarter you were; relating height to intelligence; and measuring bumps on the scalp to see if any of them were 'smart' bumps. However, a French psychologist, Alfred Binet, eventually come up with the first, genuinely scientific method for objectively measuring intelligence. It involved setting standard verbal and numerical tests, with the scores measured against an average of 100.
Binet's IQ tests were accepted without question for over 60 years, but by the 1970's, ideas about intelligence were beginning to change. Professor Howard Gardner, Professor Robert Ornstein, Tony Buzan and others became aware that there are a number of different kinds of intelligence, and that each different intelligence acted in harmony with each of the others when they were properly developed.
A truly intelligent person is not one who can simply spout words and numbers; it is someone who can react 'intelligently' to all the opportunities, stimulations and problems provided by the environment. Real intelligence means engaging your brain with every aspect of life - you play sport with your brain, you relate to others brain-to-brain; you make love with your brain. All of life is, in fact, lived Head First!
Your Intelligences
| Your 10 Intelligences can be divided into three major categories; your Creative and Emotional Intelligences; your Bodily Intelligences; and your Traditional IQ Intelligences. |
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The Creative and Emotional Intelligences
1. Create Yourself - Creative Intelligence. Creativity was once thought to be a 'magic gift' possessed by only the few. We now know that it is a magic gift – possessed by everyone. Unleashing the power of your Creative Intelligence is simply a matter of understanding how to do this.
2. You And You – Personal Intelligence – Your 'Satisfaction-With-Yourself' IQ. It is possible to rank very highly in certain intelligences, but still to be unhappy within yourself. By exploring the nature of Personal Intelligence, Head First shows you how your brain can become its own best friend.
3. You and Them – Social Intelligence – Your 'Communication' IQ. Social Intelligence refers to your ability to use all your other intelligences to relate in a positive way to those most complex of all creatures – other human beings!
4. Heaven Knows! – Spiritual Intelligence is concerned with being part of the bigger scheme of things. It involves seeing the 'big picture'. Spiritually Intelligent people are motivated by personal values that involve reaching beyond their own interests to those of the community at large.
The Bodily Intelligences
5. Body Talk – Physical Intelligence. In light of new research on the brain/body connection, the 'all brawn no brain' syndrome is being transformed into 'a healthy body equals a healthy mind'. In Head First your body ties for first!
6. Making Sense of Your Senses – Sensual Intelligence. It was once thought that your five senses were static and unchanging receptors of information from the world around you. State-of-the-art science now shows us that each sense is a fabulously dynamic, sophisticated and adaptable system. Each one can be developed to your advantage.
7. Intelligent Sex – Sexual Intelligence is a 'Super Intelligence'. It is a combination and manifestation of all your other Intelligences. It is not, as has been commonly supposed, a genital-led lust; it is a great driving energy which marshals all your intellectual and physical resources to ensure your survival, your family's survival, and not to mention the survival of the human race.
The Traditional IQ Intelligences
8. Count on Yourself – Numerical Intelligence. This intelligence involves your knowledge of the alphabet of numbers. Once you know how, it is a surprisingly easy alphabet to learn.
9. Mind the Gap – Spatial Intelligence is your ability to see the relationships of shapes to each other, and to see the relationship of things in space. This intelligence also includes the ability of your body to negotiate successfully the environment and the world around you.
10. The Power of Words – Verbal Intelligence. This intelligence forms a major part of standard IQ testing, and consists of your vocabulary and your ability to see relationships between words and their concepts. It is vital to general levels of success in life and can be easily improved.
While reading Head First, think of each of your Multiple Intelligences as a finger on a pair of unbelievably adept and agile piano-playing hands. It is possible of course for you to play your life's music with one finger, or with two: for example using only your Verbal and Numerical Intelligences, or only your Physical and Sensual ones. The music of your life, however, is far better played with all the fingers of your Multiple Intelligences performing their magic on the keyboard of your existence.
(Please note that Head First is out of print in Australia but may be found
via EBay or Amazon.com)
-end of extract-
Other Books by Tony Buzan
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