The Intelligence of Six

(6+6) x 6 Ideas

‘If you’re so clever how come you can’t fix a dripping tap?’ The words my future in-laws had said were, ‘Welcome to the family, we know you will make our daughter very happy’ but I could see what they were really thinking. And on this point (and this point only) maybe they were right.

I have a degree and so, officially, I am clever with certificates and a handshake from Dame Margot Fonteyn to prove it. But clever in a medieval French love poetry, conjugate an irregular subjunctive verb, read both volumes of Les Miserables in the original sort of way. I could write eloquently about how I feel about a broken down car but when it comes to fixing it I never get past the lifting up the bonnet and trying to appear like I know what I’m looking at to reassure my wife in the passenger seat phase. Haines Manual? Da Vinci code? It’s all blah blah to me.

But with the widening acceptance of Howard Gardner’s ideas on multiple intelligence the question ‘How smart are you?’ has changed to ‘How are you smart?’ and I can be proud of my intelligence and accept my stupidity in equal measure. Logical mathematical with bodily physical is not exactly my thing but verbal linguistic with intrapersonal and some naturalistic thrown in for good measure is where I excel.

With this in mind I have put together a whole series of questions that revolve around the number 6 that, put to a class of children, will allow every single one of them to be top of the class (and cleverer than the teacher) at least once.

Have fun with these questions and let me know how you get on won’t you:

1. What’s the square root of 36?
2. The answer’s 6, what’s the question?
3. You have two hours to turn this £6 into as a big a return as possible
4. How would life be different if we worked in base 6 and not base 10?
5. What would you do if you only had 6 years to live? 6 days? 6 minutes?
6. Design a new numerical symbol for ‘6’
7. How many things can you make out of the symbol ‘6’?
8. Write a poem entitled ‘6’
9. Get from ‘dog’ to ‘combine harvester’ in 6 steps
10. What are the 6 biggest problems facing the world today?
11. Come up with 6 answers to each
12. Why is it 6? centigrade?
13. What’s the most important thing about 6.00am? 6.00pm?
14. Is a 6 on its side a 6 or a 9?
15. How could you make life better for 6 year olds?
16. Write a tune with only 6 different notes in it
17. Design a car for 6 people
18. Why do insects have six legs and not more? Or less?
19. How could you work out if the idea of ‘6 degrees of separation’ is really true?
20. Who are the 6 people who mean the most to you?
21. Who are the 6 people you mean the most to?
22. Prepare a three course meal with only six ingredients
23. Make someone laugh in only 6 words
24. Tell me the story of Cinderella in only 6 words
25. Tell me your life story in only 6 words. 6 pictures
26. Come up with 6 uses for a fork
27. There is an Amazonian tribe who onl work in 2s – how would you get across the concept of ‘6’ to them?
28. What are the 6 most important lessons every 12 year old should know?
29. You need to find £6 in 6 hours – what 6 things could you do?
30. Which are the 6 most important species on the planet and why?
31. You are marooned for 6 days on the moors – what would the first 6 things you would do?
32. There has been an accident in a tunnel and you have to put a 6-person rescue team together – who would you choose and why?
33. Attacking aliens have asked for 6 people to represent planet earth – who should we send?
34. Get from the word ‘dog’ to ‘cat’ in 6 steps
35. Find the word for 6 in 6 different languages
36. Find the symbol for 6 in 6 different scripts
37. Get from 6 to 666 in 6 steps
38. What 6 things would happen if there were suddenly no 6s in the world?
39. Name 6 things that make you happy
40. Name 6 things that would make someone else happy
41. You are the head of a school – what are the 6 biggest challenges you face? The 6 smallest?
42. Name 6 things you could do today to make the world a better place
43. What 6 things could you do to fix a dripping tap?
44. Name 6 emotions you feel when watching a football match
45. Name 6 emotions you feel during a science lesson
46. Name 6 causes of a headache
47. Name ‘The Nation’s 6 Favourite 6-letter words’ in your opinion and why?
48. Name 6 things you could do to halt climate change
49. Name 6 things you want to do before you die
50. Name the 6 most important people in the history of the world and why?
51. Name th 6 most important inventions in the history of the world and why?
52. You have to pack a suitcase for a 6 week holiday in Australia and you’re only allowed 6 items – what would you take?
53. Name 6 reasons why 6 is a special number
54. Write a 6 word slogan to sell yourself to a potential employer
55. Name 6 things you’d save if your house was on fire? What if it was your school on fire?
56. Name 6 steps to a healthier lifestyle
57. What are the s longest words you know?
58. Name 6 technological inventions you would come up with if you were Bill Gates
59. If you typed ‘6’ into Google what do you think would be the first s things that would come up?
60. What are the 6 most important companies in the world today?
61. Name 6 uses for old people
62. Name 6 ways to reduce traffic congestion where you live
63. Name 6 reasons why your car won’t start
64. What 6 things could you do if your computer is running slow
65. You’ve got 6 people coming to dinner and a budget of £6 per person – what would you repare for them? What if your budget was just £6 in total?
66. You have a pen, some paper, a mobile phone, a spoon and computer connected to the internet – name 6 ways you could make money just using that equipment
67. Design a 6 room house for a family of 6
68. Identify 6 ways to reduce teenage crime
69. Identify 6 ways to reduce teenage pregnancy
70. What are the 6 worst things you could to a friend? The 6 best?
71. Name 6 things with six sides
72. Name 6 things a horse needs

And finally, get them to come up with 6 more 'Intelligence of 6' questions.