Frames of Mind summary

Scientists have come up with wildly different estimates about whether or not intelligence has a genetic component. Some claim that up to 80 percent of the variability in intelligence scores in the general population can be chalked up to genetics. Meanwhile, other scientists estimate a heritability of just 20 percent,⁠ and some even believe that intelligence can’t be inherited at all.

Given this variability, should all language referring to intelligence as an inherited trait be set aside? It might be better to instead consider certain individuals as genetically “at promise” for a particular talent. Having this “diagnosis” doesn’t mean they’ll develop the talent, of course. A person can be born with the ability to become a great chess player, but if she’s never given a chessboard, she’s not going to get very far.

When working on a poem, the writer Robert Graves was struggling over a particular line. It originally read, “and fix my mind in a close pattern of doubt.” But he was bothered by the word pattern; he felt that there must be some better substitute. “Frame of doubt” sounded too formal. “Net of doubt” was too negative.

Finally, Graves hit upon the word “caul.” The word had many different senses: it simultaneously referred to a type of woman’s cap, a spider web, and a membrane that sometimes covers the head of a child when it’s born. All of those fit within the poem –⁠ and even better, “close caul” alliterated nicely. In the end, the line read, “and fix my mind in a close caul of doubt.”

Three preschool-aged children have just performed at a musical audition. The first child accurately and emotively played a Bach suite for solo violin. The second sang a complete aria from a Mozart opera after hearing it sung just once before. The third played a simple minuet for piano that she composed herself.

Each of these children is a hypothetical example of a musical prodigy, and they’ve all arrived at their talents via different routes. The first child participated in the Suzuki Talent Education Program, which teaches very young Japanese children to play string instruments. The second has severe autism, which in his case manifests as an inability to verbally communicate with others coupled with a talent for flawlessly singing back any piece of music he hears. And the third child was raised in a musical family; that experience enabled her to pick out and create tunes on her own, like a young Mozart. What the children all have in common is musical intelligence.

A child is sitting on the floor in front of a set of objects. She decides to count them and determines that there are ten. Then she points to the objects in a different order. Ten objects again! She tries over and over. Eventually, she begins to understand that the number ten represents all the elements in the set, no matter which order she counts them in.

This child has naturally arrived at an insight about the concept of number. In doing so, she’s exercised her logical-mathematical intelligence. This type of intelligence begins through interaction with the world of objects. As it develops, it becomes more and more abstract until it enters the realms of logic and science.

If you can, visualize a tall animal –⁠ say, a horse –⁠ in your head. From just that image, can you determine which point is higher –⁠ the top of its tail or the base of its head? Now try this one. Visualize folding a piece of paper in half three times. How many rectangles are created by the folds after you’re finished?

It’s probably clear right away whether or not these tasks are difficult for you. Though different, both are related to spatial intelligence. They ask you to visualize images in your head and utilize your understanding of space. Ultimately, this intelligence is all about the capacity to accurately perceive the visual world, transform and modify that perception, and recreate it even when the visual stimulus is no longer in front of you. Oh, and in case you’re still thinking about those rectangles in that piece of paper: the answer is 8.

Of all the ways people can use their bodies, the one most widely developed is probably dance. Because there are so many forms, uses, and meanings associated with dance, even defining the term can be difficult. But, in general, a dance is a culturally patterned sequence of purposeful, intentionally rhythmic body movements.

Dance goes back many thousands of years. In Paleolithic times, masked and dancing sorcerers and hunters were depicted in cave paintings. Over the years, dance has been used to reflect and enforce social organization, express both secular and religious ideas, and serve as recreation, to name just a few. On a bodily level, dance is all about combining the qualities of speed, direction, distance, intensity, and so on –⁠ qualities that require a highly developed sense of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. 

In 1909, the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud was giving lectures throughout the US, outlining his theories about the human psyche.

After one of Freud’s lectures, the dean of American psychologists and philosophers, William James, came up to him and said, “the future of psychology belongs to your work.”

If you were going to teach someone to program a computer, which intelligences could you utilize? The first and most obvious choice is logical-mathematical, and linguistic intelligence would be a close second. 

But you could also take advantage of musical intelligence by first introducing a student to a composing program. For a student with strong spatial abilities, you might display a flow chart or other spatial diagram. Students with interpersonal skills might be aided by working with a team.