Is that one of those correspondence on-line colleges? I guess that puts Martin in the elite of reporters who consider themselves much smarter then the average person and therefore qualified to judge other people's intelligence.
I think you may have hit upon a pretty good response, which is to say to these people “Who are you to judge?” And, if it fits, throw the old “too judgmental” charge back at them. Also they are fans of “multiple intelligences” and getting rid of rating, judging, scoring, and of grades. So let’s put those things on the table. I think this would be a different approach.