People are always coming up with different 'types of intelligence'. This most likely comes from the observation that people can be smart about some things and stupid about others at the same time. Probably the most basic and most bandied about is the right brain / left brain split -- there are two ways of thinking, based on which side of the brain you use. Dubious as this is, it does seem to mirror a more real division, in the gestalt thinking versus analytical thinking split. This opened up the door to studying different learning styles.
Howard Gardner took this idea and ran with it, introducing the idea of multiple intelligences, a number of different areas of intelligence that can be isolated and developed independently of each-other. Daniel P. Goleman came up with emotional intelligence, another type of intelligence which he thinks is even more important than any measurement of 'traditional' IQ. The only problem with this great diversity of intelligence is that it's pretty much useless as far as the US public school system goes -- you don't graduate because you have good emotional intelligence, and while idealistic teachers might (and do) encourage students to identify their talents and go with them, if you want to get good grades you'd better learn math, writing, and time management.
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