Developing your intelligences to succeed in a complex world

" Intelligence is what enables us to deal with new situations. "

Jean Piaget

AI is brilliant as long as we use it wisely and critically to boost our performance in many tasks. The notion of intelligence has many facets, each better suited to specific situations, as Daniel Goleman showed in 1995 when he popularized the concept of emotional intelligence.

According to American developmental psychologist Howard Gardner, the mission of education should be to develop all forms of intelligence. For French thinker Laurent Alexandre—ENA graduate, surgeon, and entrepreneur (founder of Doctissimo)—neurologists will be the ones qualified to train young children by 2030, as they are the only ones able to understand and scientifically assess children's capacity to learn and become more intelligent.

Meanwhile, Sir Ken Robinson, the British education expert internationally known for promoting creativity and innovation in learning, praised creativity in education and suggested that there are many different ways to express intelligence (see his TED Talk for visual illustration).

What is intelligence or intelligences?

Howard Gardner defines it as:
“The ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings.”

This renowned psychologist has spent over 30 years researching intelligence and developed the theory of multiple intelligences in the 1980s—eight in total—that is now a reference in education and lifelong learning. He has even considered adding a new form of intelligence related to spirituality or existential awareness.

The new and controversial form of intelligence: AI

The latest disruptive form of intelligence is, of course, Artificial Intelligence. Like computers before it, AI is reshaping our relationship with memory—and it will gradually alter many of our habits.

Should we fear it? Not everyone in Silicon Valley is starry-eyed about AI. Even within Google, it’s just one technology among many, useful for assisting with complex tasks. According to Dr. Laurent Alexandre,
“We fantasize about a strong AI—self-aware, emotional, and hostile—and ignore the real problem.”
His view? The true danger lies in weak AI—systems without consciousness—that become increasingly capable of performing human tasks better than we can.

Is intelligence reserved for a privileged few—or shaped by life itself?

Is intelligence a gift granted at birth—or is it shaped by each person’s life experiences and environment?

Epigenetics: Genes vs. Environment

What determines behavior, health, and intelligence? Genes or environment? Nature or nurture? To what extent is an individual the result of their genetic heritage—and to what extent the product of their upbringing? Only recently have scientists begun to answer these questions.

The answer? It’s not genes or environment—but the interaction between the two. The environment can actually influence the activation or suppression of our genes. So, is intelligence defined solely by DNA—or can it be developed through education and training?

For more on this, see geneticist Axel Kahn’s book “Being Fully Human”, where he shows how two identical twin sisters developed in completely different ways due to radically different environments.

Epigenetics research has revealed that environmental factors—like stress, diet, and lifestyle—strongly influence the expression of genes in brain cells. This opens exciting possibilities for continuous learning and cognitive development. Though the full effects of epigenetic differences on human genes remain unclear, we can start creating the conditions to boost our intelligences.

Raising Children with Multiple Intelligences

As a new father, I wonder: How do I prepare my child for an AI-driven world in constant transformation? I’m convinced that mastering language and math won’t be enough—quite the opposite of the elitist education I received.

What do Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, video game pioneer Will Wright, rapper P. Diddy, and Wikipedia’s founder Jimmy Wales all have in common?
They all attended Montessori schools. This method emphasizes a collaborative environment without grades or tests, multi-age classrooms, and teaching that fosters autonomy and self-directed discovery.

That approach may explain their creativity and success—by encouraging them not to blindly follow rules, but to stay curious, ask questions about the world, and think differently. Our challenge as parents—and as individuals—is to learn from this and turn it into a resource. We can foster inquiry in our children, and apply the same principles to ourselves through collaboration, diversity, and self-learning.

Strengthening Our Intelligences

Strengthening our different intelligences—especially through play—and staying attuned to our emotions is a powerful, reliable way to build our mental resources.

Since each intelligence has its own logic, developing agility means strengthening multiple intelligences. Likewise, each Archetype has its own internal logic—its own kind of intelligence. So, the more we integrate the complexity of our inner intelligences, the better prepared we are to face the complexity of the world.

The society of tomorrow will be made up of individuals who embrace their multiple intelligences, allowing them to collaborate effectively—and intelligently—with AI. By recognizing that we are not limited to one kind of intelligence, but capable of a broader vision, we unlock more tools for adapting. By fully inhabiting our intelligences—and working with our inner sub-personalities—we enrich our outlooks and give ourselves the best chance to thrive.

And you—how are you growing your inner power by tapping into your multiple intelligences?

#MultipleIntelligences #Empowerment #Leadership #EmotionalIntelligence