To me it is chess. I know how the piece move but that is it.
I’m smart enough to know that everyone is both smart and stupid.
I’m stupid enough to believe that doesn’t apply to me.
I know somebody who is great at chess, but thinks covid was a hoax, vaccines are fake, Musk is a genius and Russia has a right to Ukraine.
We’re all capable of being a dumb-ass while having something else we’re good at.
If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it’ll spend its life believing it’s a failure.
Being bad at chess doesn’t mean you aren’t smart.
Chill man. There’s loads of types of smart. Some people are great at chess, others have an intuitive feel of how a ball moves in the air, or how musical notes harmonize, or how equations collapse into simple forms, or how color or smell evokes emotion, or how ingredients work together to create pleasant texture and flavors, or how materials fold under the strike of a hammer, …
Point is, while you may not be smart in one area, there’s always areas to explore. Who knows, you may be a savant in your field. Enjoy the journey and appreciate the diversity.
I hate that people don’t recognize the depth of what intelligence can be. You alluded to athletic intelligence, but there’s so many more. Emotional intelligence is a big buzzword, but just being a kind person is a reflection of that type.
Some of the most insufferable people I’ve ever met are “smart” but holy shit would I prefer to spend my time with someone else.
I don’t think there is a great way to quantify intelligence, but IQ and MENSA ain’t it. And chess is just boring. I’m not good at it because I don’t want to be.
I don’t think I’ve ever met a genuinely smart person that wasn’t kind. Most insufferable people I’ve met weren’t outstandingly smart. But maybe that’s just the bubble I live in and a little bit of luck.
Or I’m just very tolerant and have a high ceiling for what I’d describe as insufferable.
I think intelligence brings with an awareness of the scale of all knowledge, and that imbues a sense of humility. It’s the people who let it get to their head, maybe because they solved one problem within their locus, or managed to monetize one thing that puts them at an economic advantage, and it ruins their character.
