Kinesthetic body intelligence: what it is and how it is expressed

From the precise work of a surgeon saving lives to the graceful and sinuous movement of a dancer, passing through the mastery of the subtle gestures that give credibility to the actions of an actor, the exercise of any of these professions requires a high degree of ability.

Most people might think that we are talking about physical capacity, but the truth is that there is a lot more: coordination, processing and expression of information and control of one's own body and what is produces. In fact, what all these individuals manifest is nothing but a form of intelligence, which Gardner already valued in his theory of multiple intelligences: bodily or kinesthetic intelligence.

• Related article: "Theories of human intelligence"

Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences

Kinesthetic or kinesthetic bodily intelligence is one of the eight basic types of intelligence proposed by Howard Gardner in his Theory of Multiple Intelligences. In order to facilitate the understanding of this concept, it is convenient first of all to assess what this theory implies.

The Theory of Multiple Intelligences is based on the idea conceived by Howard Gardner and various collaborators from Harvard University the fact that the type of knowledge valued in the educational and academic fields does not usually provide enough information regarding the intellectual capacity or intelligence, understood as the capacity or set of capacities that allow the analysis and solution of problems as well What the correct adaptation to the environment.

The author, visualizing that precisely most intelligence tests, the very concept of IQ and its conceptions as a capacity only focused on the verbal and logical (the same type of information that is mostly valued at the academic level), he concluded that although until the At the time they were not considered as such, there are other capacities beyond the verbal and logical essential for adaptation and "intelligent" behavior in the middle.

Gardner developed a theory in which he proposed that success, performance, and even intellectual and adaptive ability depended not on ability logical-verbal but of a set of common skills in all human beings, to a greater or lesser degree, among which the previous ones were only a of them. He also relied on the knowledge of cases of genius and extraordinary abilities. among subjects with little ability to reason verbally. In conclusion: Gardner proposed that there are different types of intelligence.

The Theory of Multiple Intelligences proposes, deriving from the research carried out by himself Gardner, a total of eight intelligences (although the theory is not closed to the possibility that there are more). They are logical-mathematical intelligence, linguistic intelligence, spatial intelligence, musical intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, naturalistic intelligence and finally the intelligence that gives rise to this article: intelligence corporal-kinesthetic.

• You may be interested: "Howard Gardner: Biography of the American Psychologist"

Body intelligence: what is it?

The body intelligence is called the set of cognitive skills that allow the mind to coordinate with the rest of the body allowing fluid and precise control of it. Thanks to it we are able to manage our strength, balance, speed, coordination or precision, being a type of intelligence that allows automation and learning skills. Obviously, it is also linked to both fine and gross motor skills.

The use of this type of intelligence is very varied and allows the correct adaptation to the environment and the achievement of goals and objectives. We mainly use this type of intelligence when handling instruments and tools, whether they are simple, complex or high precision, And it also integrates within intelligence bodily the ability to express emotionally through movement of the body.

This last aspect also has important implications in another sense, and that is that it derives from the fact that the psyche has a great influence on the body and the body on the psyche. In this way, knowing how to manage the body will also imply an improvement in the management of the mind at the level of self-knowledge and self-regulation.

These considerations about bodily intelligence is what makes it be considered that this type of intelligence is specially developed in professions that require great precision or physical abilitysuch as acting, dancing, painting, crafts, or surgery.

• Related article: "The 8 higher psychological processes"

An undervalued mental ability

Body intelligence is a capacity of great value, being in fact fundamental for the human being its development and even its evolution (the handling of instruments and tools has been basic to allow us to hunt and survive in prehistory, and as we have evolved it has been increasingly necessary in order to manage our social interactions and the progress of the technology).

However, despite its great importance, it is an intelligence that is very little valued: it is enough to see the little time and the little consideration that physical education has at the education, or the low social value that is given to most professions that require it (except for highly successful professionals, most people who enter worlds like dance and acting are seen as part of a world apart and even ignored, and professionals such as artisans today are rare and socially little held in account). The exception would be in cases such as those related to medicine.

Perhaps it would be necessary to establish a change in mentality and begin to appreciate that our body and the way we handle it are just as important as conventional knowledge, after all, in our day-to-day lives, we do not limit ourselves to knowing but also to doing.

Bibliographic references:

• Gardner, H. (2003). Reformulated intelligence: Multiple intelligences in the 21st century. Editorial Paidós.