Practical Intelligence

Practical intelligence is one of the three forms of intelligence besides analytical intelligence and creative intelligence as theorized by Robert Sternberg in his triarchic theory of intelligence. Practical intelligence, also known as common sense or street smarts, is the intelligence that is highly valued in daily life, often more so than academic intelligence or book smarts. Specifically, practical intelligence is the ability that individuals have to adapt successfully to situations that arise in daily living with whatever knowledge and skills that they have to creatively overcome the problems facing them. Such situations include taking care of oneself; social interaction with others; and climbing the career ladder. Academic intelligence is useful in [Page 694]academic settings, especially in school, and it is rendered useless if one does ...