Smarter than the Average Bear!

Some of the smartest people I have ever met became some of the dumbest people that I have ever known. 

Now if you think yourself to be smart you may think that this is directed to you.  You would be incorrect (unless you have met me and then stumbled upon this blog…not being a “friend”).  But in general if I have kept you as a friend it is likely not you that I am speaking of.

If a parent has enough sense to recognize that their child may have some genius tendencies than they owe it to that child to make sure that the gift is nurtured in a way that will bring about a sense of esteem; a feeling of worth; a desire to positively contribute.  That does not always happen.  Throughout history there are stories about children of high intellect that were not nurtured and were even taken down a dark path leading to an infamous end.  Most times it was not a deliberate thing.  That is if you can consider bad parenting inadvertent.

When we throw out the term Genius, we often think about people like Einstein, Edison, Hawking and a list of others.  We do this because we want to think of Geniuses as people of merit.  Positive contributors to society.  It is surprising though that there are many genius level thinkers and doers that used their intelligence for less than reputable endeavors.  I like to refer to them as Incorrect Genius.

In my mind genius is a word that is thrown around way too often and for people that truly do not deserve it.  I have been told by people before that I was a genius.  Oh how I wish it were true.  I fall a few points short of that in tests that I have taken (even if Mensa qualifications have loosened over the years).  But it’s not about how smart you are it’s about what you do with the smarts you have.  I personally think a person with an IQ just below genius level that has common sense is a much better contributor to society at large than the super smart that only affects a small group of other highly intelligent people.

Stephen Hawking thinks way beyond my ability to understand, but at the same time my general perception of his work is that scientific theories are just above science fiction of the believability meter.  It is great to postulate about things on a grand scale, but when we accept a theory without fact, we are as dangerous as one who uses genius for ill gotten gains.

I have nothing against Geniuses.  They are fun to get drunk and then ask them questions about things that are not in their wheel house.  Their responses can be very entertaining.

Here is my contention:  if you want to take an IQ test because you think you might be a genius…then you are probably not.  If you want to take an IQ test to see if you are smarter than Stephen Hawking, then you might be a genius!