i just had – or am having – a conversation (live on my blog wall actually) with a new friend (i think i can call you that?) called clinton…
i don’t really know clinton all that well, in fact we just got chatting back and forth on one of my blogs which was a pearls before swine cartoon talking about dumb people and clinton took offence that i had posted it, thinking i was making a statement against people with lower IQ’s or with mental disabilities… it wasn’t, and i’m not…
but just chatting to him a little made me realise how messed up we get it sometimes – we judge people as clever or stupid based on how they perform in academic tests we set for them at school, and those people who can’t jump through those specific hoops we label as stupid or dumb or slow…
it’s like the whole thing with IQ – i have a reasonably huge IQ – i wrote and passed the MENSA test (altho i’m largely convinced it’s a scam for annual subscription fees cos the majority of people i wrote with passed, hm) and realised after that, that sadly (well for me then) it didn’t mean i was one of the brainiest people on the planet, it just meant that i was good at taking those particular types of IQ tests…
some people are good with academics, others (like my dad) are good with fixing cars (for example) and the one time my dad was away and i had to have my car serviced/fixed at a regular garage for regular garage prices made me realise in that instant how glad i am that he is more skilled at mechanics than he is at academics…
the real question, and the finger is pointed straight at me, is will we get it right when faced with people who may be slightly slower or struggle mentally or with speech? clinton wrote that he feels he has to change who he is when around people in order to fit in, or that it is easier for him to relate to people online than face to face…
so how safe are we? how safe am i?
[the real stupid people being those who see one set of skills, talents or abilities as making them better than other people when the real question is what are you doing with the skills, talents and abilities that were entrusted to you? if you have a great academic ability and yet are wasting it, does that not make you more stupid than someone with lesser academics who is putting what they have to full use?]
thankx clinton for the wake-up call and don’t ever get comfortable with the label people have tried to put on you. you rock.
Your posts are really inspiring. My words do not come so easily like with you. You are very gifted and I am glad you use that gift to make a big difference. Keep up the great work my friend. I did try the Mensa test – haha I think I got my name right and that is all. I would probably get a higher score if I just roll a dice or guess. I sometimes suffer with memory lapses and mild dyslexia (yes I learnt to spell it by now haha). Anyway when I am walking in the woods or by the sea I think that I feel the same as others and think the same thoughts as there is nothing complicating to work out. Maybe God is simple and we make thinks to complicated – or not. haha But keep up your blog. Very nice to read and I enjoy your writings.