Re: Jumping in

Face Inthecrowd (facethecrowd@hotmail.com)
Fri, 29 Oct 1999 02:54:35 -0400 (EDT) 

>So greater intelligence brings about greater adaptability?
>Doubt it.  The more I grow intellectually, and the more intelligent I 
>become,
>the less adaptable I become.  I fit in less and less the more I 
>know...maybe
>it's just because I'm young.
>Who knows.
>-Lauren-


Lauren, I was the guy who sent paper airplanes flying during Calculus class, 
and in auto mechanics I was a monkey wrench, but I was always the chatter 
box when it came to lunchtime or spares.  Some people shyed away from me 
because I talk so much and I usually say what I mean to say.  Some figure 
that just because they can't do it, you shouldn't be able to do it either.  
It's unfair, and during high school, I faced it all the time, people trying 
to prove to me how smart they were with math or automechanics, while I'm 
just trying to enjoy myself by talking with other human beings.  If I could 
remember I quote I heard by Nelson Mandella, word for word, I'd reproduce it 
here, but I can only paraphrase:

Some people think they are scared of what they cannot do, they worry about 
freezing up in the moment, becoming a fool in front of their peers, as if 
they would not have known they were a fool sooner.  Is it not a similar fear 
though, to be scared of what you are capable of?  What if you can do what 
people tell you that you can't?  Why should you be forced to hide your light 
around insecure people?  Maybe it's not because you're scared of downstaging 
others, perhaps you are scared of proving wrong what you thought were your 
limits, for who likes to be wrong?  It is my advice to never light your 
light dim within you, to sparkle in the presence of your peers, to dazzle 
those who challenge you with your light, your heart and mind joined as one, 
forever lifting what you thought was a ceiling.

His quote is much better.  I can give you my affirmation of experience 
though, coming from a guy who loves to talk, who has worked in a woodshop 
for four years now amongst colleagues who are quite bright in their field, 
and who knows men that cannot say what they mean no matter how red their 
faces get, amd find it feminine to remark on the smell of the Locust trees, 
and find it highbrow to listen to the CBC, and still look down at their feet 
whenever they learn from their mistakes, and can't face someone and be 
engorged in the experience but who must think of their own self-image at all 
times, I give you an affirmation that there is a difference between 
intelligent people and dumbies: the smart ones know the game is about 
laughing inside all day, Lauren, laughing all day; and the dumb ones are 
kicking themselves for losing a game they could have mastered.  Trust me, no 
one in the heavens is marking you on IQ scores, but IQ scores do help in 
getting ahead in the world.  The more you got, the more people will wonder 
how you win so much.  Don't tell them your secrets, just laugh.

Japhe

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