"Good Comedy": 36 Dead Giveaways Of Someone’s High Level Of Intelligence

It’s no secret that it’s helpful to be smart in life. To acquire these smarts, we go to school from when we’re little until we’re grown and even then, some folks choose to continue their education. So, usually, when we’re told to imagine a smart person, we think of someone in academia – a professor, a researcher or anything similar, someone with a high IQ. 

But what if we told you that academia or IQ levels are not the only ways to be smart? As Bored Panda's interviewee, professor Maurice Elias from Rutgers University, pointed out, American developmental psychologist Howard Earl Gardner suggested a theory of “multiple intelligences.”

He identified 8 different types of intelligence. The first is the “visual-spatial” type. These people are good at visualizing things, so often they’re good with recognizing patterns easily, reading and writing for enjoyment, solving puzzles, drawing and interpreting visual stimuli. 

The second is “linguistic-verbal” intelligence. Just as the name suggests, it’s people who are strong verbally, whether it comes to writing, speaking, or learning new languages. 

Then, “logical-mathematical” smarts follow. Again, the name kind of gives it away – these folks have an easier time than others dealing with mathematical operations – analyzing, thinking about numbers, solving complex math problems, thinking about abstract concepts, and things like that.

The fourth type of intelligence Gardner distinguished is the “body-kinesthetic” type. This one might be a tad harder to understand solely from the name. It refers to people who have an ability to use physical skills with perfect timing along with mind-body union skills. 

As an example, you can think of athletes, dancers, surgeons – basically, people whose every move is strictly calculated and comes from years of experience or, in other words, “body-kinesthetic” intelligence. 

The fifth is musical intelligence – those who have a strong appreciation for music and are usually good at musical composition and performance. 

Then there's “naturalistic” intelligence. Basically, it’s when a person is good at observing, identifying, and understanding natural elements in other ways. 

The last two types Gardner suggested were interpersonal (a person with it is good at understanding and interacting effectively with others – whether verbally or not) and intrapersonal intelligence (when a person is very in tune with their emotions, thoughts, and motivations.) Our interviewee said that usually, these two intelligences are associated together as part of emotional intelligence.

He described emotional intelligence (or EI) as "a set of skills that lead us to care for others, show them compassion, support them in times of need, and not expect something tangible in return for doing so."

Our interviewee also noted that it's important for all of us to practice emotional intelligence. In fact, he suggested that we should be teaching it at schools, just like we do with other types of intelligences, like cognitive.

Speaking of all intelligences together, Maurice Elias said that "None of them are inherently better or more important than others." Rather, they're just "areas of competence that we all possess, to a greater or lesser degree, and that we develop based on our genetics, our opportunities, and our environments."

So, basically, depending on many factors, some people might be more intelligent at one thing, and others at something different. To add a few practical examples to this whole theory, we created this list. All of the items on it aren’t something we just made up – they were submitted by various netizens on Reddit. 

So, what do you think – which type of intelligence fits you the best? Share with us in the comments along with your take on non-obvious signs of intelligent people!