Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism.

Gardner begins with the example of a young girl taking an IQ test. She is asked basic vocabulary and trivia questions and tested on her math skills, her memory, and her ability to think abstractly. Her results from this test are “likely to exert appreciable effect upon her future” and even to change how her teachers think of her and what opportunities she is afforded (3). Many are dissatisfied with this method of measuring intelligence but accept it as an imperfect method of basic categorization for academic life.

However, many humans might fail that test but succeed admirably in life. Gardner introduces a Puluwat sailor, an Indigenous Micronesian who learns to navigate by memorizing historical tradition and information, reading the ocean, stars, and geography to successfully sail through a dangerous archipelago of hundreds of islands. Next, he describes a young Iranian Koranic scholar who has memorized the entire Koran and mastered the Arabic language. Finally, he gives the example of a young programmer in Paris who uses a computer to compose music with a synthesizer. Each of these individuals has a high level of competence that undoubtedly displays intelligent behavior, yet if they were to take an IQ test, they could very well fail it.