What is bodily-kinesthetic intelligence? What separates everyday coordination from the exceptional bodily awareness of athletes such as Kobe Bryant or Bruce Lee?
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence involves far more than simple physical coordination. Howard Gardner explains that it encompasses sophisticated cognitive processes that control movement and object manipulation. Even basic actions such as picking up a spoon require complex calculations.
Keep reading to discover how this physical form of intelligence shapes your daily experiences and why some people naturally excel at mastering their bodily movements.
Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
What is bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, exactly? Gardner explains that the core function of this type of physical intelligence is to control your body’s movements. This includes handling objects.
While this form of intelligence doesn’t seem intellectual, it actually involves sophisticated cognitive processes and problem-solving abilities. Even the simple act of picking up a spoon requires many calculations: How far does your hand need to move to reach the spoon? How will you position your fingers to hold it? How much pressure will you apply?
(Shortform note: Gardner explains that moving your body requires a great deal of subconscious processing and calculation, but some cognitive scientists believe that this mind-body connection goes the other way as well. The theory of embodied cognition proposes that your thoughts and emotions are fundamentally shaped by your physical experiences. For instance, people often approach abstract ideas through physical metaphors, such as describing affection as “warmth” or importance as “weight.” Similarly, a physical action that you associate with a certain emotional state can actually cause you to feel that emotion. For example, when you fake a smile, you can actually feel happier.)
As with spatial intelligence, there is no particular set of symbols associated with bodily-kinesthetic information, but Gardner says that movements themselves often take the place of such symbols. For example, someone teaching a skill or technique will often demonstrate it so that the learner can copy their movements—therefore, those motions are the method by which that bodily-kinesethic information is shared.
(Shortform note: The process of sharing information through movements is known as imitative learning, or mimetic learning. In simple terms, this means acquiring skills or behaviors by observing and copying others.)
Almost everyone relies on bodily-kinesthetic intelligence in their daily lives, but some people have exceptional control over their bodies, and Gardner argues that such people are bodily-kinesthetic geniuses. Examples include all-star athletes such as basketball player Kobe Bryant and world-class martial artists such as Bruce Lee.
(Shortform note: Research supports the idea that some people have more innate control over their bodies, and suggests that such people reap more benefits from practicing than do people with typical levels of bodily-kinethetic intelligence. In The Sports Gene, journalist David Epstein cites a study showing that people who were more naturally adept at a task also improved at that task more quickly than their less-talented counterparts. This calls into question the oft-cited argument that 10,000 hours of practice can make anyone a master at any skill, indicating instead that practice provides a medium for genetic ability to flourish, but that it doesn’t guarantee everyone success at a skill.)
Finally, Gardner explains that, while many parts of the brain and nervous system must coordinate to make your body move, certain areas such as the frontal lobe and the cerebellum play particularly important roles in bodily-kinesthetic abilities. Damage to those areas can lead to impairments in motor skills without impairing other cognitive functions. Apraxia (the inability to make certain movements) is one example of this kind of impairment. This supports the idea that bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is a distinct form of intelligence.
(Shortform note: The example of apraxia lends additional weight to the idea that bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is indeed a form of intelligence—a capacity for processing and using information. This is because someone with apraxia has fully functioning muscles, but their brain can’t correctly use some type of bodily-kinesthetic information: The brain is unable to compile and send instructions to the muscles. Phrased more simply, the person is physically able to do whatever task their apraxia interferes with, but they can’t remember how to do it. Incidentally, and contrary to what Gardner says here, recent studies cite damage to the parietal lobes (located at the top of the head) rather than the frontal lobes as the most common cause of apraxia.)
