I am a certified genius, no brag, just fact. I have nothing to brag about because I had nothing to do with it. It would be like bragging that I have blue eyes or that I am left-handed.
[warning mind numbing mathematics ahead skip this paragraph if you have a fear of numbers]
There is irony in this story so lookout for it. My I.Q. is in the top 1% of the world population. Wow, that sounds impressive. Let's break that down. The wold's population is roughly 6,800,000,000 (that's 6.8 Billion with a B). 1% of that is 68,000,000 (68 Million with an M). Now since my I.Q. score is within the .2% of the bottom of the percentile that means that I am grouped with 13,600,000 (13.6 Million with an M) at the bottom of the larger number. Quickly doing the math, there are somewhere between 54,400,000 and 68,000,000 people in the world who have a higher I.Q. than I do.
This genius doesn't appear to be that genius anymore, eh? No ivory tower for me. I must live among the peasants.
Let me clarify one misconception. Geniuses are not smart.
I sense confusion. The tern genius is a term used to describe people who have scored above a predetermined mark on a test designed to measure a nebulous attribute which psychologists have named Intelligence Quotient.
These so-called I.Q. tests do not test knowledge (that is what SAT and ACT tests are for). So I could have just enough intelligence to speak and not enough to come in out of the rain and still be considered a genius according to psychologists.
So (I hear you thinking, not really just kidding about that), what does an I.Q. test test?
Here goes. An I.Q. test measures one's speed and accuracy in performing certain tasks and it measures one's ability to determine obtuse spacial relationships within an allotted time period. There are a few other attributes it also tests but I think you get the idea.
All in all I.Q. tests somehow, with some degree of accuracy, measure the speed and completeness with which one learns new things.
Here is where I start getting shifty. Several factors determine how much of that I.Q. is actually used in learning something new. One factor is, how much one is interested in learning the new thing. If I'm not interested in learning cabinet construction many people with markedly lower I.Q.s will learn this ability much faster than I will.
Here is the biggie: If I don't realize that either I don't already know a subject or that a subject requires learning I'm an idiot.
How could this happen you ask? Book learning does not fall into this category. Social interaction in which there is no formal training is ripe for all the reasons to remain ignorant. Many items I thought I knew. Others I didn't even know existed and still others I wasn't interested in learning.
So there I was a socially inept genius, who thought that people appreciated someone who corrected their erroneous statements and enjoyed hearing obtuse factoids just as my teaches did in high school.
I'm sure you have heard of the four types of knowledge but I will repeat it here.
There are the things that you know you know, things you know that you don't know, things that you don't know that you know and things that you don't know that you don't know (i'll wait for those who need to re-read that).
The most dangerous of the four is not knowing what you don't know. One might look at this and think well if you don't know about it what's the problem? The problem is when you think you know about it and think you know it but you are completely ignorant on the subject.
Headlines:
Genius Divorces Wife of Four Years Two Daughters Involved
Madrid, Spain
Just released from the United States Air Force Information Bureau so called genius was unable to keep his nuclear family from splitting.
Genius Marries for a Second Time to a Demanding, Jealous, and Domineering Woman his Young Girls are also Involved
San Diego, CA
A local genius leaves his Christian faith behind and becomes a Jew in order to marry a shrew. His children follow in his wandering footsteps.Geniuses Second Marriage ends in Failure and Loss of Connection of Daughters
Hampton, VA
Transplanted genius not only loses his wife, but his children and grandchildren in a bitter divorce.Genius Studies Reasons for Bad Relationship and Becomes a New Man
San Diego, CAHe returns to his Christian roots and finally figures out that he has to learn to be in a relationship.
Smart? Yeah, right.
This post was Genius. Out of curiosity, did I have anything to do with sparking this topic :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michael. Yes in fact I modeled it after you. :-)
ReplyDelete