I recently asked an acquaintance who had got straight-As on her latest set of exams how she did. The reply was “oh, alright”. “Well”, I replied, “surely by "alright" you mean "excellent", or at least "good"?” Just a smile in return. My point is, as a species we have a habit of making light of or glossing over our achievements. A good example of this is the British Empire. First the British are the conquerors, then suddenly they're “freeing” the natives from the “oppression” that... er... they inflicted upon them. But I digress. The fact is, no-one wants to stand out from the crowd,to seem “above average”.
A case in point- a friend of mine recently joined Mensa, the society for, and I quote from their website, “bright people”. Of course the news got around, and now people occasionally look at him oddly, and seem to avoid asking him questions. There is a bizarre taboo associated with having knowledge that others don't- something which I am sure everyone good with computers can sympathise with.
This is perhaps something to do with the media coverage that clever people get. Often they are presented as geeky and socially inept, and yet despite this one of the aims of MENSA is to meet other people. This does little to reduce the image that we all have of the typical basement-dwelling star-trek worshipper, but is, I feel, as step in the right direction for the clever ones among us. On the other hand, those of the star-trek-film-box-set-buying persuasion are possibly doing the least to promote their kind- they stay secluded, never coming out to socialise, which may or may not be why they are there in the first place.
How are people who look down on these nerds going to accept them as the timid folk they really are if the two cultures never meet? But away from such speculations. Of course, through the medium of the internet we can now realise that the most intelligent person in the world is in fact a 14 year-old Korean schoolchild. Luckily for those who would consider themselves better, such people are often too busy playing online video games until they collapse from exhaustion, something the rest of us avoid, thanks to the saying “you can have too much of a good thing.” Furthermore, they hide away, restricting themselves to online forums for social contact, and since 99% of this is abuse, it is not much of an existence.
The clever people certainly support society however, doing various jobs as philosophers, scientists and engineers: they work hard to build your cars, chemicals and ethical outlook. Yet oddly enough, these people seem to be in the media a lot less than their less brainy, better looking counterparts in the film and TV industries. This may be because of the book release of the latest starlets completely-written-by-me-honest “auto”biography, or a new film. All that the intelligent people have to contend with this is a new kind of material they have discovered which is 23.4 times stronger than steel. This usually fails to capture the general public however, and it is definitely a social faux pas to say at a party “ah yes, I was reading Professional Engineering the other day, and...” Clever people have their work cut out being noticed.
My point, however roundabout all this might seem, is that although strongly intelligent people support society they are simultaneously exiled from much of it, like the untouchables. Would you want to spend time in the pub with Steven Hawking? I didn't think so. Consciously clever people exude an aura of intelligence, which although often manifests itself as wit and charm, can all too easily go the other way and plummet to the sordid depths of banality and arrogance. There is almost a fear of being too intelligent- it makes you stand out from the crowd, and people expect more of you. What's the point? I'm happy with just being average.
