Finding things to do

Today a professor came up to me in Plato class and said, "Noah, do you think intelligence is genetic."

I said, "Not at all, intelligence doesn't really matter."

He walked away mad because I didn't respond properly.

I look at the word intelligence

then i look around the world to find it

i see one of my political science professors who is a constitutional law expert and fits the description of really smart. But at the same time he is a straussian and doesn't believe in sociology.

I remember a kid in high school who scored in the top 1 percentile on his ACTs in math and now works at a pizza shop.

I think of a writer who went from being a little college student to a semi famous writer in a few years who rarely ever speaks and barely ever lives his room.

I see one my history teachers who has memorized everything that happened between 1600 1800 in france but doesn't realize that teaching the industrial revolution is essential to post 1500 history.

I see Allen Greenspan who became the head of federal reserve, everyone loved him, was convinced of the theory of 'market correction' and now everyone hates him and thinks he's a moron.

I can think of twenty authors who wrote one great book and never wrote a book worth a shit for the rest of their lives.

Einstein thought of e = mc square and then basically doodled for the rest of his life.

So at the end of this journey to recognize that the word 'intelligence' represents in reality i find nothing.

I think you can say:

Joe is good at being an engineer.

Which means every time Joe has to design a new part he shows up to work on time, he is professional, and the part he designed works.

Lisa is a good teacher.

Lisa shows up to work on time. She is helpful and understanding to the students needs. She shows concern that none get left behind.

With writers it doesn't work that way though:

Richard Yates was a genius every time he sat down to write the lines contained in Revolutionary Road and Easter Parade. While writing A Special Providence he was okay but not a genius. When he went to the bathroom and wiped his ass during writing breaks he was a normal human being.