Existential
Intelligence Test
Discover how deeply your mind grapples with the biggest questions of human existence — meaning, consciousness, life, death and the cosmos. Free, instant results. Based on Howard Gardner's research at Harvard University.
Start the Test — FreeThe core definition
Existential intelligence is the capacity to grapple with deep questions about human existence — the meaning of life, the nature of consciousness, why we are here, what happens after death, and humanity's place in the cosmos. People high in this intelligence are not satisfied with surface-level answers. They are driven by an innate need to understand existence itself. They think at the edges of what is knowable and feel most alive when wrestling with questions that have no easy answers.
Gardner first proposed existential intelligence as a possible ninth intelligence, describing it as the ability to locate oneself with respect to the furthest reaches of the cosmos — the infinite and the infinitesimal — and the related capacity to locate oneself with respect to the most existential features of the human condition — the significance of life, the meaning of death, the ultimate fate of the physical and psychological worlds. It is the intelligence of the philosopher, the theologian, the poet and the scientist who cannot stop asking why.
Gardner's note on existential intelligence: Gardner has described existential intelligence as the intelligence of "big questions." He has been careful to distinguish it from religious belief — a person can have very high existential intelligence while holding no religious views at all. What matters is the depth and persistence of the questioning, not the conclusions reached.
Deeply drawn to questions about the meaning of life
Thinks seriously about consciousness and what it means to exist
Contemplates death not with fear but with genuine curiosity
Feels a deep connection to the universe and the cosmos
Finds philosophy, theology or metaphysics genuinely compelling
Uncomfortable with easy answers to profound questions
Carl Sagan
The astronomer who devoted his life to locating humanity within the cosmos — his ability to translate the existential vastness of space into human meaning is a masterclass in this intelligence.
Simone de Beauvoir
Her existentialist philosophy — confronting questions of freedom, responsibility and the absurdity of human existence head-on — exemplifies existential intelligence applied to lived experience.
Albert Camus
His concept of the absurd — the tension between humans' desire for meaning and the universe's silence — shows existential intelligence wrestling with life's hardest questions and refusing simple answers.
Rate how much each statement describes you on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Answer from the heart — there are no wrong answers.