You Don’t Have to Be Einstein

Why Intelligence Doesn’t Really Matter

Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. 

— A.A. Milne

Let’s jump to the time of cribs and cradles. When conversations between parents revolved around how little Suzy walked a month earlier than most babies and how little Tommy said her first word a full week late. Believe me - Tommy’s parents had a fun time around the sewing circles that week. 

Ask both of them what they want to be when they grow up and you’ll get the standard answers: doctor, fireman, policeman, president, astronaut. Ask what they can be and you’ll get the exact same answer.

Now, 20 years later, take one of them aside in college what they want to be when they grow up. Once you get past the slurred speech and bloodshot eyes, you get remarkably similar answers: doctors, lawyers, programmers, mathematicians, and the like.

Now ask what they can be. These answers are remarkably different. They want a job- a blue/white collar blah blah blah with a cubicle and a time clock. Why? They aren’t smart enough for med school. They can’t work hard enough for law school. Others still believe that they can become doctors and lawyers; businessmen and policewomen, but many don’t. The dichotomy is staggering. 

What happened to these two and others? When did they lose faith in themselves to reach their goals?

As a society, we’re obsessed with cognitive abilities and the idea that it can bring about instant success. Parents cling to the notion that smarts will lead their children to the American Dream; not hard work, perseverance, and good parenting. 

That’s an issue. Intelligence isn’t treated as a tool anymore- it’s an endgame. Nobody believes that you only have to be so smart to succeed. Now, it’s the only way to succeed. Tony Stark has replaced Michael Bluth as the ideal persona: an intelligent man who can easily do anything over the hard working anyman. 

So, why have those college students lost faith in themselves? They can’t picture themselves as Tony. They see others who are “smarter” and simaltaneously build those people up while tearing themselves down. When Suzy sees that Tony scored better in Chem, she realizes that he’ll be the doctor and she won’t. She can’t be the Tony Stark, so she’ll settle being the hard working “lesser” person.

It’s time to stop cheering others harder than ourselves. It’s time to stop letting perceptions drive the way that we feel about ourselves.