What types of intelligence can you find in a translation agency?
We know from psychology that intelligence is a form of optimal and efficient adaptation of the individual to new, problematic situations by restructuring the data of experience. This is how J. Piaget framed the definition of intelligence.
This process rests on other phenomena: adaptation, which is the result of the interdependence between assimilation of information (prior cognitive experience) and accommodation (transformation of cognitive experience).
Much later, multiple intelligences came to be understood. The theory was launched and structured by H. Gardner and is called the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. In Gardner’s view, intelligences are the cognitive capacity of the individual, described by a set of mental abilities, talents and skills that every normally developed person has, grouped into eight categories. These eight intelligences are developed to a certain extent, interact and combine in a unique, singular way.
Without establishing any hierarchy, Gardner identified the following intelligences, listed and described below.
Linguistic intelligence is the ability to solve and develop problems through the linguistic code, with sensitivity to the meaning and order of words. Here we find, as professions, authorized and specialized translators, grammar specialists and foreign-language teachers, as well as interpreters, linguists and philologists of all specializations. Since school they stood out in subjects such as literature and foreign languages, enjoyed reading, easily remembered grammar rules and wrote complex texts or literary commentaries with ease. Whether native translators or philologists and authorized translators, all show a refined level of linguistic intelligence.
Logical-mathematical intelligence is defined as the ability to operate with patterns, categories and relationships, to group, order and interpret data, and to problematize. It is not exclusive to engineers or IT people, that is clear. In those fields it is sought after and noticed as a passion or inclination for the “exact sciences”. Many grammar specialists and translators specialized in the technical field score highly on this type of intelligence.
Spatial-visual intelligence is the ability to form a spatial mental model and solve problems through spatial and image representations, a sense of orientation in space, and the ability to read maps, diagrams and charts. The people who work in translation teams or projects, who are very important in a translation agency, also have this characteristic. Attention to layout and to the details of the final format, and so on, matter for a quality product in the portfolio.
Musical intelligence is defined as the ability to solve problems and generate products through rhythm and melody, sensitivity to rhythm, and the ability to recognize different forms of musical expression. Alongside it is bodily-kinesthetic intelligence – the ability to solve problems and generate products through body movement and skill in handling objects. Here we cannot fail to mention sign-language interpreters who, although they do not necessarily work in a translation agency, also facilitate communication in a special area of society.
Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to solve problems through interaction with others, and to distinguish and respond appropriately to the manifestations and wishes of others. It is essential and dominant in professions that involve direct communication with the client, negotiation and the art of presenting and public speaking. In a translation agency such as Syncro Translation Services, the emphasis is always on the qualities that come from interpersonal intelligence, both in communication with clients and in organizational values.
Intrapersonal intelligence is described as the ability to solve problems and generate products through self-knowledge, access to one’s own feelings and the ability to distinguish and express them, and awareness of one’s own knowledge, abilities and wishes.
Naturalistic intelligence is seen as the ability to solve problems and develop products by means of taxonomies and representations of the surrounding environment. Specialists in the medical sciences and translators specialized in that field have this type of intelligence highly developed.
The last one described is existential intelligence, responsible for knowing the world, specific to philosophers, writers, and people passionate about spirituality or alternative therapies, although the brain area that activates it has not been located. For example, a good literary translation draws on this type of intelligence from the translator; otherwise the text is dry and lacks emotion, translated without conveying the emotion felt in the source text.
If at first sight a translator is seen as just a person “who liked foreign languages”, and so has good linguistic intelligence, a closer look at a good team of translators in a translation agency reveals a whole constellation of types of intelligence, absolutely necessary for efficient and creative work in this field. Everyone uses different combinations and matrices of several types of intelligence in daily life, always with one dominant.