For more than a century, the dominant measure of human intelligence has been the ( intelligence quotient ( IQ ) test ), a tool designed to quantify reasoning ability through the resolution of linguistic and logical-mathematical problems.
Intelligence: a multifaceted issue
However, a growing number of academics and educators have questioned whether this reductionist and limiting approach truly captures the full breadth of human potential.
Among the most influential critics is Howard Gardner of Harvard University , whose theory of multiple intelligences argues that traditional measures fail to account for cognitive and interpersonal skills, which are equally necessary for learning, personal development, and, of course, professional success.
Gardner identified at least nine distinct forms of intelligence: spatial , linguistic , logical-mathematical , bodily-kinesthetic , musical , interpersonal , intrapersonal , naturalist , and existential. Educational systems, however, have tended to emphasize only the first three, neglecting the other forms of talent and ability.
The consequences of this omission are clear. Many of today’s most successful entrepreneurs emerged from non-academic backgrounds, with little formal training in conventional disciplines. Their success highlights that talent is often found in areas that transcend the narrowly defined parameters of traditional intelligence.
Intelligence is not only inherited, it is cultivated
Following this line of thought, other researchers developed the theory of emotional intelligence: the ability to perceive, understand, and integrate emotions in a way that shapes our behavior and relationships. Daniel Goleman , who popularized this concept, argues that emotional intelligence is not innate but cultivated. Skills such as self-awareness, social awareness, and relationship management can be developed through deliberate practice and, when mastered, significantly enhance leadership.
We all know brilliant analysts, endowed with prodigious intellectual capacity, who lack the emotional skills necessary to lead teams, making it difficult for them to reach positions of influence. Similarly, there are many leaders with average IQs who have achieved prominence precisely because they invested in developing their emotional intelligence.
Science has refuted the belief that intelligence is entirely genetic. As Richard Nisbett , professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, has demonstrated, it is becoming increasingly clear that intelligence can be modified by the environment .
Educational environments have evolved to the point where they make populations more intelligent, and in more diverse ways, than in the past. Teachers play a crucial role in this process. Most of us can recall at least one teacher whose influence shaped our path, who recognized hidden potential within us, and who knew how to bring forth abilities that would otherwise have remained dormant.
Intelligence, art, beauty
Among the often-overlooked forms of intelligence, one stands out as particularly relevant: aesthetic intelligence, understood as the capacity to comprehend, analyze, produce, or create works of art. Historically, one way to cultivate it was through the Grand Tour : the journey across Europe undertaken by young English aristocrats in the 18th and 19th centuries.
By traveling through France and Italy, they gained direct access to different cultures, arts, and traditions, acquiring not only knowledge, but also perspective, character, and the reflective capacity necessary to face adult life.
Schiller: Beauty as a liberating force
In his “Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man” , Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) emphasized this role of beauty as a force of inner liberation.
Reflecting on the failures of the French Revolution , Schiller concluded that political freedom could not be secured solely through laws: it required an inner freedom, cultivated through aesthetic experience.
Schiller described humanity as divided between two impulses: the sensory, which binds us to desire and change, and the formal, which draws us toward permanence and reason. This tension fragments the individual and destabilizes society. His solution was the “play impulse ,” which manifests itself in the experience of beauty and art, in which human beings are simultaneously rational and sensitive, subject neither to necessity nor obligation, but free.
For him, aesthetic education was not a luxury, but the foundation of any truly humane society. Without it, revolutions risk degenerating into violence or tyranny; with it, citizens, educated in beauty, possess the inner harmony indispensable for sustaining freedom.
Hume: the civilizing power of the arts
A generation earlier, David Hume (1711-1776) had similarly defended the civilizing power of the arts. In his short essay “On the Delicacy of Taste and Passion” (1777), he distinguished between two forms of delicacy that shape human character.
The delicacy of passion refers to the degree of emotional intensity with which one experiences fortune or misfortune. Those who feel intensely experience joy more strongly, but also suffer adversity and criticism more deeply.
Temperate individuals, on the other hand, face life’s ups and downs with equanimity. Hume concluded that, on the whole, it is preferable to be temperate than passionate, since in life sorrow and adversity predominate over pleasure and joy.
Refined taste is cultivated through the appreciation of literature, music, and the arts. Those with refined taste experience profound pleasure in them, while those who lack it remain indifferent. Hume argued that refinement of taste can counteract the pains of passion. By strengthening our judgment and broadening our perspective, it teaches us to consider minor misfortunes as trivial, while providing us with sources of joy within our own control.
This idea remains surprisingly relevant. Cultivating aesthetic intelligence not only enhances resilience but also intercultural management skills. As Hume observed, someone unfamiliar with Italian music cannot be persuaded that it surpasses a Scottish melody. Cultural appreciation requires exposure, patience, and training.
In both professional and personal life, the shared development of refined taste fosters intellectual affinity and strengthens bonds. Hume even noted that it enhances love and friendship by making us more selective in our relationships and less dependent on the company of the crowd.
An education that teaches appreciation and reflection
Taken together, the theory of multiple intelligences, research on emotional intelligence, and the philosophical reflections of Schiller and Hume all point to the same conclusion: education must be broader, deeper, and more humane, preparing people not only to calculate or analyze, but also to empathize, appreciate, reflect, and imagine.
In short, it must cultivate the full range of human intelligences, including aesthetics. Because by doing so, it not only produces more educated professionals but also freer, wiser, and more resilient human beings, prepared to face both the challenges of their time and the timeless demands of living well.
Author Bio: Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño is President of IE University
