Smartest Person

Smartest Person in the Room

A friend and I were discussing a story about someone’s declaration that a particular person was the smartest guy in the room.  No we weren’t talking about criticizing someone who thinks he or she is the smartest person in the room.  We were talking about someone’s assessment that a particular person was the smartest man in the room.  We decided that assessment may well have been correct, after all, the fellow seems to truly be very smart.

I recalled our conversation and thought about it a little.

It occurred to me that same observer stated that a certain woman was the smartest person he had ever known.  That too was quite a claim as the observer has associated with many people over a more than seventy year lifetime with a career in public service.

The two “smartest” people then must rate as remarkable people to be sure.

However, I wonder how much that observation matters to the individual observed smart person.

Each individual lives with mental capacity as a part of her or his state of being, probably not exactly part of her or his consciousness.  Do these two smart people, while thinking about something - solving a problem, making an observation, recalling a memory - consciously apply the knowledge of her of his own self-measure of smartness in everyday activities?

Maybe.

However, in my own case and admittedly not being one of these two people, I am only aware of my level of smartness when I miss stuff in making an observation or struggle to solve some problem.  It seems to me that one’s level of smartness is typically not consciously self-observed, but is simply part of one’s state of being.

I’m guessing it’s the same with these two smart people.

I conclude then that their level of smartness is, perhaps ironically, outside of their self-awareness.   They then do not consciously observe or consider their level of smartness in their personal day-to-day experience.  I then further conclude that being judged the smartest person in the room has no real everyday significance to each of these people.

That is unless this “smartest” person is attempting to be dismissive of others’ observations and problem-solving in which case being the smartest person in the room carries a significant social disadvantage.  This might also not be all that smart as choosing to deliberately ignore others’ wisdom relevant to a given situation is a form of calculated, deliberate ignorance.  Might be best, smartest, to self-assess one to be the smartest person in the room when alone in the room.

How valuable is that observation of being the smartest person in the room to each of us making it, or indeed to the “smartest person”?  Possibly no value at all. 

Review: The Full Catastrophe - a memoir, Karen Elizabeth Lee

This is a courageous journey of exploration from an enclosed world to a world almost without horizons.   The enclosure is built by powerful forces defining Karen as a person, what her expectations need to be, in other words, understanding of herself and her place in the world.   Even love is defined by others and their expectations.

Karen at least subconsciously knows she needs to find herself in order to find peace in her life. None of this journey is easy.

Even though parts of her world were extremely uncomfortable for her, there is a sort of comfort in knowing these  foundation stones can be reliable limits she can rely on.  She steadily learns to replace these stones prescribed by others with stones of her own making by learning her own foundation stones are more reliable because, being of her making, they hold value intrinsic to herself, to her own self-awareness.

Add to this a highly successful career in a very demanding profession, one that requires constant reflection and introspection, constant analysis of her clients, her partners, herself and the dynamics of these often large and diverse people in a given group, and it’s a wonder she finds the time and energy to grow herself.

Yet grow to independence she does.

This is an astonishing story of courage, growth, coping and discovery with total honesty and candour that makes understanding accessible to her readers.

I highly recommend all read this deeply personal and moving autobiographical, dare I say, highly educational story.  I look forward to Karen’s next work.