Am I Really That Stupid?

Tonight I was asked what I viewed to be the most astonishing question that made me rethink some things I have thought or even felt myself. My coworker asked me very blatantly "Am I stupid?".  My jaw dropped out of surprise as my mind quickly raced realizing I have uttered those same exact words.

First of all, the sentence itself it completely vague and subjective, yet society understands all too well.  To answer properly, what does stupid  mean?  What does smart mean?  What is? and then, Is intelligence universal or is it specified?  

Second, I have asked this question to a friend of mine who I once thought was intelligent, which I defined by "a person who has a lot of knowledge in diverse areas and a lot of experience."  This person brought to my attention the vagueness in the sentence also, giving me some perspective.  A person may be intelligent in an area or on a specific topic, but actually being smart is knowing how to apply that knowledge you have accumulated.  In this case, the friend, whom I put on this intelligent/smart pedestal, has since fallen.  The friend is intelligent in that this person can probably read a book and remember the content with ease or remember events with a "date stamp," but applying this information to what could be identified as "common sense" reflects the defined term of stupidity.  Yes, I said it and I have said this to the friend before.  This friend is the dumbest smart person I know.  Confused yet? Let me explain.  No matter how much information this person obtains in the brain, the person does not seem to know how to apply this knowledge to life and, in my humble opinion, screws up.  It is like the person got the wiring mixed up with all that knowledge and it short circuited.  Some of you may think I am mean or heartless for saying this, but I have told the friend this stuff directly and it is actually constructive criticism.  Now whether any lesson is learned is an understatement.

So now we have the information to analyze the concept of "Am I stupid?".  The term stupid and "smart" are truly antonyms defining the speed at which a person can process information and apply it whether quickly or, well, not so quickly.  Intelligence involves the information you have learned or have been taught.  Generally, stupid is thought to be the opposite of our defined term of intelligence, but the opposite of intelligence is closer related to being "inept" or even ignorant.  So stupid is a lack of keenness of the mind while smart is the presence of keenness of the mind.  Whereas intelligence is obtaining knowledge, ignorance is lacking the knowledge, inept is without the skill set for that knowledge, and yet commonly the opposite of intelligence is referred to as stupidity, which is the condition of stupid and not the true opposite of intelligence.

So now we see where our confusion lies through all this misinterpretation or misunderstanding based on the limited knowledge of our personal experiences, but my friend was correct in that intelligence itself depends on the topic.  For example, I may have decent, if not significant amount of knowledge on English (because I freakin’ over analyze what everyone around me is ACTUALLY saying), but I do not know a lot of information about the detailed workings of computers.  Now, am I stupid?  No, because I utilize other concepts that transfer from one topic to the next and can apply them to my limited knowledge in such cases and the details of computers.  This is true for any and EVERY topic in the world.  You cannot be a genius about everything and if you ask me, you cannot be a genius or expert on anything because there is always more to learn.  Information does not just die or end, so how can a genius or expert exist?  That is a whole different topic, but still!

For fun, and because I am in a bit of an inspired mood, let’s do some intricate word play:

Ignorantly smart: (conundrum?) A person who lacks knowledge, but has a keen mind- Question: Can a keen mind exist without knowledge? 

           Question: Can concepts and logic be applied without knowledge? (knowledge is probably too general in this instance)

Stupidly smart: (I have actually heard this used and it is funny because how can a person reflect both the existence and lack of a keen mind?)

Intelligently ignorant: (Again, I have heard it used, but we are talking about acquiring knowledge while we yet lack knowledge?-Lack the ability to acquire knowledge?- Acquire the lack of knowledge?)

Stupidly inept: a person who lacks a keen mind and any skill (Ouch! Double whammy on that one.)

Intelligently smart: a person who can acquire knowledge and apply it (Um, hello? Yeah, I’m right here. Look at me…. Just kidding)

Ok, so I had some fun of how I view words while yet probably annoying anyone who just read this. : P  So the question remained, “Am I stupid?”.  Taking in consideration all of the above:

-vague defined terms

-personal experience

-personal knowledge

-maybe a bit of empathy

-mixing pot with some salt and pepper. Do not forget the mixing spoon because this gets messy mixing with your hands and Voila!

Answer: Are you nuts?  You are just having a bad day :D

I should soooo be Sherlock Holmes through that deduction and KEEN wit of an answer.  (I crack myself up sometimes).  None of that matters though.  The thing that matters most is my interpretation and how I utilized it to show the coworker that the person’s conception of the sentence was complete in the analyzation of the question itself.  In short: My coworker smiled and continued on with her work with a bit more confidence.<---That’s all that ever counted anyway.

Accumulating Intelligence--whatever that is....

Intelligence, a term used for a measurement done by standardized tests to allow for a comparison to be made from one person to another, but is this not a subjective thought on the ability to acquire if not apply our knowledge?  How is it that we may take a specific test at any one particular moment with the intentions of recalling information that we currently know or will know?  What about all the variables that affect how this test is taken like sleep, hunger, or age? Am I more of a genius in my younger years because my mind has yet to be programmed by society or is it more intelligent from this experience as an adult?

I understand this is a bit deep thinking, but my minorly competitive side produced this questions as I reviewed the text for one of my college classes wondering what makes Tom, Dick, and Harry more intellectual in comparison to me.

I did a small bit of research, as I am intelligent enough to know where to find information that I may not know yet, and found that the first IQ test (Intelligence Quotient Test) was developed by Alfred Binet, a psychologist who was asked by the French government to produce a way to identify which children needed more assistance in the classroom.  The test was soon evolved in the United States in 1916 by Lewis Terman, a psychologist at Stanford University, who progressed into an actual calculation for IQ, the quotient, taking into consideration mental age and chronological age.  Now keep in mind that this test or tests has been revised multiple times, which still conveys the question 'What makes someone else more intelligent than me?' (Cherry).

My curiosity took me to different lists on the Internet to see who thought who was intelligent and why.  What troubles me about these lists is that with the evolution of the IQ test, what is one IQ score compared to another? Take for instance Michelangelo who is listed to have an IQ score of 177 compared to Terrence Tao's 230 score.  Terrence Tao is 39 years old and Michelangelo is, well deceased, but they did not take the same test so are these scores truly comparable? No, as from one era to another have different tests, which still defeats any resolution to a proper comparison.

To see what initially pops up in a search for  intellectual people or who society deems 'the most intellectual,' I randomly chose some websites for comparison as who society feels inferior towards.  A couple lists I checked with historical names listed Michelangelo, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Isaac Newton, Leonardo da Vinci, but oddly only one listed Albert Einstein.  Now many people know the name Albert Einstein, so it was a bit of a surprise that he was only listed once.  I also pulled up a couple more current lists showing common intellects such as Garry Kasparov, Rick Rosner, Kim ung-Yong, Christopher Hirata, and Marilyn vos Savant.  Another analyzed concept was that Paul Gardner Allen was on one of the list, but his co-founder for Microsoft, Bill Gates, was not listed.  In my opinion, I would consider Bill Gates worthy of the listing as I feel he is a very intellectual man even though it appears a majority vote from society begs to differ.

With all this 'cute' information, I do notice that many of these people had distinct focal points on their education.  It made me think of Olympic athletes who spend hours a day working to perfect one physical talent whereas these others are doing it with their minds, yet which one is more intellectual? Both have specific things they focus on.

I could sit here and dwell on the concept that could take a 'train of thought' into common sense and an inferiority complex, but I do not think I will ever find a substantial concrete answer that will not amount to the fact that IQ is just a measurement and intellect is subjective.  So then why the insecurity?  Big words?  Long  sentences?  A stupid number of measurement for bragging rights?  I may not be a 'genius' or even a prodigy of sort, but I will admit to being an open-minded intellectual towards education with the willingness of progression.  [LoL- Did ya catch all that?] I guess with my own insecurity on intelligence, I can only take it as a compliment when someone feels inferior to me as should another person whom I feel inferior towards.  Whether you consider yourself 'smart' or 'dumb' the knowledge you have may not necessarily be the same as the person next to you with the same experience, but it does mean that you both have the opportunity to learn from one another and obtain more information.  Intellect--the ability and knowledge to find more...




Sources:

13 Most Intelligent People In The History Of The World. (n.d.). Retrieved January 5, 2015, from Financesonline.com: http://financesonline.com/13-most-intelligent-people-in-the-history-of-the-world/

Cherry, D. (n.d.). History of Intelligence Testing: The History and Development of Modern IQ Testing. Retrieved January 4, 2015, from About Education: http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologicaltesting/a/int-history.htm

DNA. (2014, January 21). 10 Most Intelligent Humans To Ever Exist. Retrieved January 4, 2015, from TIP News: Digital News Aggregate: http://topinfopost.com/2014/01/21/10-most-intelligent-humans-to-ever-exist

Said, S. (2013, February 6). The Top 10 Most Intelligent People in the World. Retrieved January 5, 2015, from TheRichest: http://www.therichest.com/business/the-top-10-most-intelligent-people-in-the-world/

Salman, S. (n.d.). Top 10 Most Intelligent People Of The World. Retrieved January 5, 2015, from Wonderslist: http://www.wonderslist.com/10-most-intelligent-people/