I'm So Smart

The world's most intolerable bore is the individual who may or may not have the numbers to prove how "smart" he is but who works hard at bragging about it endlessly. As an educator, I have learned that IQ figures don't mean much in terms of real meaning. They are like sharp knives on the kitchen counter of someone who doesn't cook. Unless they are used, the bearer just can't cut it. In my working days, I came across both students and fellow workers who openly bragged about their intellects. Some spoke of their degrees and awards, others, of their pedigree in universities and yet others in terms of their illustrious friends, successful acquaintances and fraternity brethren or sisters. To me, that sort of snobbery is akin to lauding over how many pairs of shoes one owns or how many carats are in their diamonds. The folk whom I most respect are those who actually use their education, not that the formal kind means a lot, and brains to create something that has value for his or her fellow kind. Those who use their natural talents to form what has meaning and purpose as well as beauty of its kind, are those who are truly the "smartest". Take my plumber or mechanic, for example. If I were so darn smart, why can't I change a tire, fix a tranny or cure that interminable drip in bathroom tub. Do I know how to survive living on the sidewalk during the winter like street people? Can I solo sail a ship across the Atlantic? Could I survive a tsunami or an insurrection or a huge personal loss without falling apart? To me, that's what calls for admiration. These are the people who have to be smart. They survived. The sillies who are constantly sending each other catchy little puzzles on line or strutting down hallways with their degrees hanging out or ogre-ing scores of employees about, don't buy my respect. They are the ones so sadly insecure about their intelligence and have failed to produce any kind of evidence  to show what they have done with their imagined brilliance. Their claim to fame is to tell all and sundry that they achieved such and such a score on their IQ tests (whatever significance that might have) but fail to continue on to what they have done with that stunning fact. In the truly gifted, this information is given by others since the latter are too busy reeling out their contributions to society. In The Blue Book, the rich come up with the highest IQ rates. Go figure. When you can afford the best schools, the most educative life ( it costs money) and all the right connections available, of course you are going to be rated "most successful". I think back to valedictorians from high schools. How many among them became highly successful in their lives?  Few, in fact. It proves that being the most popular kid or the prettiest or the best sport's player doesn't necessarily add up to being the most productive to society just as the highest IQ doesn't mean the smartest kid on the block. It's a matter of show, not tell!