Here is something that has been a stone in my shoe for a few weeks. I posted a “memory” asking about the qualities of a “first-rate” mind. And got some very odd blowback.
It appears that some people think this is a taboo subject. The only other quality that comes close to this level of ire is beauty, and I will get to that.
I like reading John Grisham for relaxation. He is a damned good writer. But he is not great in the way that Charles Dickens or John Steinbeck are great. And I doubt he cares.
But something weird happens when it the quality under review is beauty in the formal classical sense. And the negative response when the quality is intellect is off the charts. The defensive hackles go up. And the knives come out.
I understand some of it. When we are children being called “stupid” or “ugly” is one of the cruelest things we can endure.
These two qualities become cemented in black and white. If we aren’t gorgeous and brilliant we must be the opposite. This is a reasonable but immature response that many never grow out of. It becomes a matter of morality.
Which is why some took offense to my post because “smart people can be evil” or because even the less endowed can have a “beautiful soul”. They told me I was “using the wrong words”. The tone police were out in force.
Nobody ever brings up “being a good person” when asked about a first rate athlete or cook. All that is required is a 100 mile fast ball or a dessert that has people fighting for the last slice. It is not a moral issue. And neither is intellectual prowess.
Most people are average. That is what average means. Average people make the world go round. Many more average people than exceptional people are needed in a healthy society.
But on an individual level, the childhood taunt still stings.
Classic beauty is a very particular concept. It has to do with physical proportions. And the people who have it are accorded unfair privilege. Yes, your granny is beautiful. To you and all those who love her. But she is likely not a “great beauty” in the classical sense.
Elizabeth Taylor was a great beauty in that sense. Jackie O was not. But she used what she had to such good advantage that most can’t see the difference.
A lack of that sort of beauty means very little in the real world. Average people make the world go round. Average people find love. They marry. They procreate. And the people that know them find them beautiful.
As thorny as beauty is as a quality, brains are more problematic. The topic is off limits.
When I was 14 I was forced to take an IQ test to get into a particular school. They did not tell me the score, just that it topped 145 by a bit.
This knowledge has meant almost nothing in how my life has unfolded. All it means is that I am about 4 standard deviations to the right of center. And some people are 5 standard deviations to the right. Or 6.
It is hard to be the “smartest kid” in the class. It is isolating. But in the end it is just one quality. There are great humans who are average in this metric. There are miserable people to the right of me on that bell curve.
If there is a quality that is important to you and you want to be better than average there are things you can do to improve almost anything.
If you want to be an athlete you can practice. You may never throw a 100 mile an hour fastball, but you can get good and gain great pleasure doing so.
And that goes for most things. Including intellectual pursuits. You can read, have conversations, go back to school.
We are no longer children and taunts can be ignored. Unless we taunt ourselves.
As for me, I know I am not quite “top drawer”intellectually. I am one drawer down. I am no longer always the smartest kid in class. This does not upset me. I am grateful for the opportunities to interact with truly great minds.
I enjoy my own intellectual pursuits. I try to use my abilities for good purposes. And in the end I value kindness and a good heart most of all. Two qualities not found on the IQ bell curve.
You have encountered Blank Slatism. It's an unacknowledged dogma of progressive politics.
Perfectly said!