# i1 : Kinesthetic Intelligence
>[!Info]
>The [[Intelligences|sensitivity]] to the physical world - the positioning and piloting of the body in space, spatial awareness, natural athletic ability, etc.
# Overview
| Ancestor Species | [[1 - Cells\|Cell]] |
| ------------------------ | ----------------------------------- |
| **Emerged in Evolution** | ~3.7 Billion Years Ago |
| **Associated Location** | [[1 · 🔴 · Root]] |
| **Alternative Names** | Athletic, Tangible, Spatial, Bodily |
# Often Seen In
- Athletes
- Dancers
- Construction workers, carpenters, handymen
- Martial Artists
- Soldiers
- Surgeons
- Racing drivers
- Fighter pilots
- Professional chefs
- Textile makers, ceramicists, sculptors
- Craftsmen, fine artists, jewelers, watchmakers
- Gym goers
- Yoga practitioners
- Sailors
- Tattoo artists
- Circus performers, stuntmen, parkourists
Anyone repeatedly and skillfully using their body or hands will develop i1. Often, the people who excel in these fields are i1 dominant and of high potency.
# High i1 Strengths
- Athleticism
- Reflexes
- Balance
- Precision of movement
- Prediction of the movement of other objects
- Focus on the current sensations and surroundings
- Thinking spatially
- Spatial memory
- Navigation ability, figuring out spaces
- Awareness of surroundings
- Focus on tangibility
- Communication is often very direct
- Overall groundedness
- Reduced anxiety about emotional, mental & spiritual things
- Increased tolerance before loss of coherence under influence of alcohol and drugs, especially hallucinogens
- Effective use of physical touch, expressing through body
i1 is often thought of just for its benefits to the body itself, making it more reactive, aware, and accurate - less clumsy, spacey, etc. It certainly does, and I believe this is well understood, so I won't spend too much time on this. However, it *also* has powerful mental, or "processing" strengths as well.
When focusing on i1, or when i1 dominant naturally, it gives an overall grounded feel to all of life, as the attention is prioritizing the physical world here and now over the emotional, mental or spiritual information that is often flying around on top of it.
High i1 stacked people also seem to be able to remember where they are in new places more easily, navigate more intuitively, and think about things in spatial ways, like rotating an object they see in one orientation into other ones in their head.
When i1 manifests in a relationship context - or commonly, as a love language - it often takes the form of physical touch, desire to be physically close to the other, showing affection through the body, and less so kind words or thoughtful gestures.
## Modern Life Interlude
In modern, affluent societies, physical environments are typically well-organized, secure, and comfortable. For i1 dominant people, for some of the first times in history, this actually allows them to be extremely calm as a baseline, as things in the physical plane have become quite nice, and there is little out of line to worry about.
Of course, there are also some new situations that can be challenging, like large crowds, constant sounds of people and cars, extreme lighting, which may be physically overstimulating,
However, while they may be more physically sensitive, it is common to see people with high i1s not react as strongly to purely mental information or even mental danger (threatening thoughts, ideas), which can actually be quite adaptive today in our world of intense mental stimulation at all times.
For others with less a dominant i1, this modern situation often contributes to a few things:
1. The serious lack of development of i1, as it is never really required as a necessity, and so misses out on the passive training of the body that would have been a fixture of the life of every ancestor of ours until basically the industrialized era of factories, cars and planes. For most of human history, even the people with i1 stacked last would have had to be quite developed in it, for the sake of hunting, farming, war, and general life tasks. This is similar to the intensive focus on i6 today for all people going to school.
2. A lack of groundedness, and higher susceptibility to stress from the other intelligences. With very little connection to the physical world, a turbulent emotional and mental life can feel like a nightmare, grounded in nothing and changing fast. For people with naturally low i1s, who have spent very little of their attention in life on the physical world, the world is made up of emotions and ideas. When these are hostile, or challenging, or spiral the wrong way, the whole world seems to go with it, as the attention is not present in the here and now which is probably pretty ok from a physical standpoint.
# High i1 Weaknesses
Any "weaknesses" i1 has, or that any of the intelligences have for that matter, are simply one of its strengths being misaligned with the needs of a certain context, task, or situation. What is ideal in one scenario can be quite ineffective or damaging in another. Imagine scenarios in which excessive focus on the body, tangibility, sensation, and the physical world are not useful, but are inappropriate or maladaptive.
A few examples:
- Difficulty wrangling with abstraction due to overemphasis on tangibility
- Trying to solve all problems physically, or with force
- Missing, downplaying, or ignoring emotional, mental or spiritual data / cues
- "You have a roof over your head, I'm a good parent."
- "You're healthy and have a great house, what could possibly be wrong?"
- "I've done everything myself, I've had no help from luck."
- Missing the symbolism or meaning of things beyond their physical nature
- Obsession with physical activity to the point of injury
- Obsession with attributes of the body to the point of dysmorphia
- Etc.
# Low i1 Weaknesses
- Spaciness
- Clumsiness
- Lack of situational awareness
- Forgetting where you left things
- Getting lost easily, being confused in spaces
- Lack of grounding, getting swept up in heart or mind
- Have a hard time relaxing
- Disconnection from body, leading to health issues of various kinds
- Eating poorly
- Lack of flexibility, tightness
- Bad posture
- Physical stagnation, weight
- Etc.
- Timidness in crowds, inability to take up and hold space
# Commonly Confused With
i1 is most often confused with the other 2 "lower" (not a bad thing in Ancestor) intelligences ([[i2 - Aesthetic Intelligence|i2]] & [[i3 - Practical Intelligence|i3]]), due to all 3 of their focuses being on the material world.
It is quite hard to get i1 confused with the [[i4 - Emotional Intelligence|intelligence of the heart]], or any of the 3 "higher," [[i5 - Expressive Intelligence|more]] [[i6 - Abstract Intelligence|mental]] and [[i7 - Spiritual Intelligence|spiritual]] intelligences, as they are categorically different intuitively.
### Confusion with i2, Aesthetic Intelligence
The confusion here stems from the concept of sensation. Both i1 and [[i2 - Aesthetic Intelligence|i2]] are sensitive to the [[3.1D · Sensation|input data coming through the 5 senses]], but i1 is using them like a pilot looks at instruments in a cockpit, as information to help navigate, whereas i2 is looking at the aesthetic quality of this information, and is thinking of it through the lens of taste, that is, how attractive or unpleasant the sensory information is.
For i1, the focus isn't on the "quality" of the sensory input like it is for i2, but rather the tangible information it provides. There is less sensitivity to the intricacies of color or sound, from the perspective of their "beauty," but rather from the perspective of their volume, the physical space they take up, etc.
### Confusion with i3, Practical Intelligence
Here, the confusion is around the focus on tangibility and action. Both i1 and [[i3 - Practical Intelligence|i3]] are usually pretty interested in doing, visible outcomes, and obviously productive activity in general. This would be in contrast to the "higher intelligences," which can communicate (i5), analyze (i6), and derive meaning (i7) while not "doing" or ''achieving" anything tangible with the physical body.
However, i1 is interested in physical action and bodily movement, whereas i3 can be satisfied sending emails, writing roadmaps, and other non-bodily forms of task completion. i1 can also be considered more "unconscious" or "instinctual," whereas i3 tends to often involve more concentrated thinking, planning, and active mental effort - especially today in our complex world.
# Archetype Resonances
i1, like all intelligences, can resonate with every [[Archetypes|archetype]]. Here are some ways i1 can manifest in the energies of the types:
[[The Ruler]] : Taking up or commanding physical space, synchronized movement / dancing, athletics coaches, police officers conducting chase or arrests, pop stars like Beyonce or JLo performing on stage, confident body postures, podiums that elevate height, thrones & throne rooms
[[The Caregiver]] : Physical therapy, massages, using band-aids / crutches / casts, eating healthy food, taking consumable medicine, applying deodorant or ointments, using moisturizer, soap, and hygiene toiletries, giving someone a hug when they need it, a reassuring hand on a shoulder, carrying someone or something
[[The Sage]] : Highly trained, masterful or technical control of the body - ballet dancing, sharpshooting / archery, athletic accuracy (shooting balls, pitching, kicking, etc), calligraphy, fine handicrafts (engraving, etching, embroidery), high-level musical instrument playing, etc
[[The Fool]] : Humorous ways of walking, emoting, dancing, posing; Physical humor and slapstick (think Charlie Chaplin, Home Alone, fail videos, etc)
[[The Innocent]] : Slow, soft, or gentle movements and postures, physical rest, not moving, lounging, physical calm, deep breathing, sleep
[[The Explorer]] : Wandering physically, inability to sit still in one place, exploring a new city or place, constant activity, trying new things physically
[[The Lover]] : Kissing, hugging, hand holding, physical touch, closeness and affection, holding on dearly to something, tender repeated interaction with a physical object
[[The Animal]] : Sex, wild, instinctual, erratic physical behavior or dancing, crawling on all fours, sweating, being naked, going barefoot, vomiting, body hair, intense smells, spit, eating with hands, being primal generally
[[The Muse]] : Seductive movements, dancing, and postures; enticing or teasing sensations; beautiful physical features; models, strippers; makeup items and tools, suggestive materials, clothing or items
[[The Magician]] : Imitating other people's, character's, or animal's mannerisms or appearance (masks, costumes, postures), body modification (tattoos, piercings, etc), body transformation (bodybuilding, plastic surgery, huge weight-loss, drastic hair styling / cut or color), taking body-altering substances (stimulants, depressants, performance enhancers)
[[The Outlaw]] : Encountering, seeking, or otherwise intentional physical danger, walking - or physically behaving - against a crowd, seeking physical thrills (skydiving, racing cars, extreme sports), physical restlessness, being alone physically, being in dangerous or remote locations, drastically changing a space
[[The Warrior]] : Competitive athletics, physical fights, working out, pushing through physical difficultly or pain (a hike, a rainstorm, extreme heat, mountain climbing), kinetic warfare, shooting guns, using swords, superheroes who physically defeat enemies, mythical heroes slaying monsters
# BONUS : i1 Specific : On Substances
Due to the attention giving higher priority to physical sensation, immediate surroundings, and tangible things, I have seen people with higher i1s able to stay physically coherent and sometimes even more emotionally and mentally coherent **for a bit longer** (than low stacked i1 people) under the influence of alcohol or other substances.
I believe this is especially true in the case of hallucinogens like Cannabis and psychedelics, as the visions are seen more as a show that is going on than reality itself, as more body awareness this maintained. This is helpful for reducing the negative effects of a harrowing experience, but also cuts the transformative power of full immersion and makes it more difficult for the [[Self|The Witness]] to reach higher dimensions as it is more heavily attached to the body.
The emotional and mental coherence seems to stem from the reduction of the tendency to run away with the emotions or thoughts as they are changed by the substances, in favor of savoring the physical sensations onset. Often people with i1 stacked low, especially those with high i4, i6, and i7, will tend to follow the changes in these domains and treat them as the primary experience occurring on the substance, the bodily effects being an afterthought.