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NO one has been more surprised than I by the continuing interest among educators in the theory of multiple intelligences ("Ml," as it has become known). Almost 15 years after the manuscript of Frames of Mind (1983; 1993a) was completed, I continue on a nearly daily basis to hear about schools that are carrying out experiments in implementing MI. And, on occasion, I encounter a series of thoughtful essays such as the set assembled here.
As a result of the almost constant interaction with the "field," I have come to expect certain understandings and misunderstandings of MI. I began to respond to these interpretations, first through correspondence and then through "replies" to reviews and critiques. In 1995, after 10 years of relative silence, I issued a more formal response, in the form of reflections on seven "myths about multiple intelligences" (Gardner, 1995). This article gave me an opportunity to address directly some of the most common misconceptions about the theory and, as best I could, to set the record straight.
Since publishing these reflections, I have begun to think about the theory from a different perspective. Like any new formulation, "MI theory" is prone to be apprehended initially in certain ways. Sometimes the initial apprehensions (and misapprehensions) endure; more commonly, they alter over time in various, often in predictable, ways.
It may surprise readers to know that I have observed this process even in myself; I have held some of the common misconceptions about MI theory, even as I have come over time to understand aspects of the theory more deeply. In these notes, I identify a series of steps that seem to me to reflect increasingly deep readings of the theory.
Judging the book by its title. Anyone who has published a book of non-fiction will recognize symptoms of the most superficial readings of the book (or, more likely, examination of its cover). Such individuals show no evidence of having even cracked the binding. I have read and heard individuals talk about "multiple intelligence" (sic) as if there were a single intelligence, composed of many parts-in direct contradiction to my claim that there exist a number of relatively autonomous human intellectual capacities. Displaying the ability to read the table of contents but not further,...