I Hate Intelligence
I don’t hate intelligence per-se, I hate the implications of the word.
To be honest, I’ve never done any psychometric analysis, I don’t know my IQ, and to be honest I don’t really care if I’m 110 or 150.
I don’t care because it’s an arbitrary threshlold that separates me and those above and those below. It doesn’t matter if they are 5
or 10 points below. They are still below, they will still consider being less.
It’s like when an IQ is shared, the recepient of that information doesn’t consider it a threshold, where everything and everyone below
is in their own part of the remainder of the bell curve. It often feels like the amount measured above 100 is automatically pushed below.
If there is a consideration of me being > 120, I feel that people don’t feel I’m talking about < 120, it’s like I’m talking about < 80.
Same for the term gifted. I hate it.
I feel that it is human nature to negate not split. If someone is highly intelligent, then others must be highly dumb. If someone is gifted, then the others must be ungifted. The “normal”, “average”, or even “above average” that may fit just below that arbitrary threshold is ignored.
Unfortunately, I believe my mind fits within the “intelligent” or “gifted” space. Although I despise the concept, I also have to accept that it is an accepted concept and that to find support and understanding I need to be comfortable with those labels and those labels being assigned potentially to me.
I see people as a glorious multidimensional mix of different facets. The interplay between each facet presents to give each person their amazing uniqueness. Most are their own rich tapestry, of coourse some are deeply flawed. Normal is a generalized cluster of these facets that allow us to operate together in a generally functional way. If some of the facets are outside the normal range, they are clear and visible. It’s only when they begin to affect function that they may become a disorder.
I find it unusual to think of intelligence as a facet that is considered purely one-dimensional, you hope for high intelligence, and want to avoid low intelligence. We don’t want “normal intelligence”. Being either side of the bell curve presents it’s own challenges.