Multiple intelligences are an educational theory developed by Howard Gardner, which describes an array of different kinds of “intelligences" exhibited by human beings. Gardner suggests that each individual manifests varying levels of these different intelligences and thus each person has a unique "cognitive profile. The theory suggests rather than relying on a uniform curriculum, schools should offer "individual-cantered education", with curriculum tailored to the needs of each child. Gardner identifies kinds of intelligences based upon nine criteria. His nine criteria describe something as an independent kind of intelligence. Multiple Intelligences is a way of understanding the intellect. Howard Gardner originally identified and labelled seven different kinds of intelligences, although he recently added an eighth. There has even been some consideration of a ninth intelligence - existential intelligence. The eight intelligences according to Gardner are: Musical Intelligence, Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence, Logical-Mathematical Intelligence, Linguistic Intelligence, Spatial Intelligence, Interpersonal Intelligence, Intrapersonal Intelligence and Naturalist Intelligence. The theory has been widely criticized in the psychology and educational the01y communities. The most common criticisms argue that Gardner's theory is based on his own intuition rather than empirical data and that the intelligences are just other names for talents or personality types. Despite these criticisms, the theory has enjoyed a great deal of success amongst educators over the past twenty years. There are several schools which espouse MI as pedagogy and many individual teachers who incorporate some or all of the theory into their methodology. Many books and educational materials exist which explain the theory and how it may be applied to the classroom.