I Didn't Mensa My Words...

How do you measure intelligence?  I am sure that if I "googled" this question, I would find thousands of articles written by various academic experts.  They would probably produce arguments about IQ tests and various other academic studies that measures a person's ability.  They would quote famous people and include a lot of words that us country boys can't understand. There would be talk of  medians, means, standard deviations, margin of error and other stuff. 

Having spent a career in the chemical industry, I had the opportunity to work with some very talented engineers.  Some had BS degrees and some had PhDs.  During the early 2000s I went to the plant medical section to see my friend, Doc Webb, the company physician.  As I walked into the medical section, Rick Stimek one of the above mentioned engineers was leaving his office.  When he left, Doc, a pretty smart guy himself,  asked, "Who do you think is the smartest person on the plant?".  Without hesitation, I responded, "I am".  He said, "What? Do you think you are  smarter than Rick, to which I replied, Yes"  "What about Dubnansky"  "Yep", I said.  Then he said, "What makes you think you are smarter than they are?"  My response was, "It depends upon whether you measure intelligence horizontally or vertically"  For example,  I know about Boyle's law, and other chemical engineering standards, but do I know enough to design a chemical plant?  No?  On the other hand, do either Rick or Rich know who won the American League batting title in 1954?  I do!  So, who is the smartest?  The person that knows a whole lot about something or someone that knows a little about a whole lot?   Was Albert Einstein smarter than Ken Jennings?

I remember asking my Mother one time what was my IQ and she wouldn't tell me. She gave me some philosophy about "Potential only meant that person hadn't done nothing yet" And, that only effort and attitude mattered.  To this day I don't know if it was low and she didn't want to hurt my feelings or it was high and she didn't want me to rest on my laurels. 

I have known people that I thought were smart and were not successful in life and some highly successful people that were not all that bright.  I remember a college professor with a PhD in Chemistry that couldn't figure out how to keep his dog in the back yard.  He kept checking the fence and  gates and each time when he put him out back, the dog would beat him to the front door.  His neighbor who was a high school graduate that worked at one of the local refineries solved his problem.  It appeared that the professor's house was built on piers and the dog would just run under the house.

By the way, it was Bobby Avila, Cleveland Indians 2B and he hit .341.