Too Smart To Be So Dumb

Weekly Standard ^ | 05/27/2003 | Joel Engel

[knuthom]

Good article. I am amazed at how many university professors think they have cornered the market on intelligence. I was talking to one recently who was appalled that I could question his judgement. He had an advanced degree and spent years studying the subject. How dare I think that my opinion was as valid as his.

[ClearCase_guy]

America is the land of the Practical Man, not the Intellectual. It really doesn't matter if you're smarter than everyone else -- it matters what you can do.

Bush has a great track record of success. (I also happen to think he's smarter than Clinton. His educational achievements alone bear that out.)

[grimalkin]

Excellent!

[Restorer]

There's an enormous difference between technical expertise and general wisdom. One of my favorite saying is from Will Rogers, "We are all ignorant, just about different things."

I have worked for 30 years in a field where I have to make recommendations to homeowners about the repairs their property needs. It is astonishing how many "smart" people think their medical or law degree makes them expert in my field.

That said, if you were arguing with the professor about technicalities of his field, maybe he was right.

[Mr. Bird]

I have yet to see any evidence of Clinton's so-called superior intellect. Regurgitating arcane policy facts or speaking at length (and I mean at length) on trivial matters does not constitute intelligence, let alone wisdom.

I challenge anyone to name an original idea that sprouted from Clinton's head, or an instance in which he used a novel approach to solve a problem. His methods and instincts are base. He is the anti-genius.

[Young Werther]

I grew up in New Jersey and didn't travel outside of the New England area until I entered the service after graduation from college. I was schooled at Keesler AFB Biloxi Miss and was stationed in Texas for 4 years.

At the time I was a young, arrogant know-it-all from Nu Joisey but soon learned an interesting affirmation from good ole southern boy....

"I may be dumn but I'm not stupid!"

It took alittle while but I finally got it. I don't think the Dimbulbs ever will!!!

[js1138]

Steven Spielberg denies the Castro quote. I suppose, having slept with the dog, he is surprised to have fleas.

[Congressman Billybob]

This is not just a good article. It is an excellent article. I've spent half my life in the "arrogant camp," the Yalies and others who think they're better than everyone else because they're smarter than everyone else. The other half of my life I've spent in the real world, where smart is measured by getting things done and doing them right.

I know three definitions of "genius." There's the standard one, of people who ace the standardized tests. There's Einstein's defnition, "Someone who becomes an adult without losing a child's sense of wonder." And there's the practical one, "Someone who doesn't make the smae mistake once." I am sick to death of people who merely meet the standard definition, including myself at an earlier age. I've met entirely too many tenured PhDs who "coouldn't pour p*ss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel."

Instead of that I value, and choose to associate with, people who seek to live by the second two definitions of genius. I try to do that, and often fail. But I know that the real work in the real world is accomplished by people like that. And every day I appreciate the fact that finally a majority of our government consists of that kind of people. We have already seen the disasters that result, when our "leaders" have (alleged) intelligence that is divorced from either morality or common sense.

Thank you for posting this. The thinking behind this article is one of the reasons for the column I wrote this week, which is up on FR and UPI.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column, now up on UPI and FR (the title is not a misprint), "Memorial Day 2033."

[Conspiracy Guy]

If GWB is dumb, I'm even dumber. I'm so dumb that it makes me proud that he's our President.

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

Most excellent article, although I believe that Spileberg has vehemently denied ever making the "8 hours" comment about Castro.

[ClearCase_guy]

I challenge anyone to name an original idea that sprouted from Clinton's head

Indeed. Or even a pithy quote. Was the guy a wordsmith? The only quotes he is notable for are "I did not sleep with that woman" and "Depends on the meaning of is"

He had no ideas and he never expressed himself in an admirable way. He's a nothing.

[opticoax]

Actor David Clellon

Surprisingly, not a pillow-biter

[big_Rob]

The purported listing of the IQ's of the presidents is fake. Yes, made-up, phoney, false. Try a google search for "president IQ" and see for yourself.

[mtbopfuyn]

Indeed. Or even a pithy quote. Was the guy a wordsmith? The only quotes he is notable for are "I did not sleep with that woman" and "Depends on the meaning of is" He had no ideas and he never expressed himself in an admirable way. He's a nothing.

Ditto.

[fporretto]

Agreed. The assertion about Clinton's IQ defies credulity. No one that bright could "leave the tool in the box" as often as he's done it.

After all, intelligence is a tool, not a goal, and not some sort of state of grace. Its applications are two:

1. Making accurate use of what you know;
2. Figuring out when you don't know enough and have to learn more before you can proceed.

If we go by his public record, Clinton fails both these standards. By contrast, the young Thomas Edison was reportedly so backward that his schoolteachers gave up on him, and look at the legacy he left.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason:
http://palaceofreason.com

[whereasandsoforth]

I loathe Clinton right down to the lint in his bellybutton, but there was ONE brief moment when he showed some class and wisdom. It was after Newt's mom told Connie Chugg about the "bitch" remark (Hilary). When asked about the situation, Clinton grinned his toothy grin and said, "I can only imagine what she (Connie) could've gotten my mother to say".

[MattAMiller]

One of my best professors in college had a sign in his office that read "I'd rather be educated than sophisticated." If only the rest of them could see it that way.

[Prodigal Son]

I met a very intelligent woman once at a bar. A few hours later she made a remark that I find funny to this very day.

She said:

Oh sh!t! I forgot to take my pill!

True story...

[newgeezer]

I think you'll like this article, for no particular reason. ;O)