Growth Mindset: Eight Ways of Looking at Intelligence

For my reading, I chose the article called “Eight Ways of Looking at Intelligence” by Annie Murphy Paul. It was a really interesting article and they discussed many things that I have never ever thought of before. It was very thought provoking. One thing that the article confirmed for me that I already knew was the idea that beliefs can make us smarter. I have always felt that how you view a situation is what determines your abilities. If you believe that you are able to develop your abilities through learning and practice, you are able to achieve more.

One new thing that I learned that I did not know before was the idea of situational intelligence. I have never thought that the situation can either evoke or suppress your intelligence. It makes total sense because your surroundings have a huge influence on us. It is interesting that this is the only real kind of intelligence that exists.

One thing that I am curious to explore is the idea that emotions can make us smarter. This is another thing that I had never really considered before. I think it is important to realize how much of an influence that our emotions have on our performance and our intelligence. In the reading, the author mentions that during a test, we are likely to feel anxious. The anxiety takes up some of the memory capacity so we actually have less intelligence to apply to the exam itself. I want to try this in my own life. I want to try to have a more positive attitude and outlook when I am in stressful situations to see if I am able to perform better. I am going to try to really calm myself down and make sure I am as prepared as I can be in order to prevent having anxiety. It will take some work to get used to, but I believe that I could do it.

Image information: Anxiety cloud by John Hain. Web Source.