What makes a smart person smart? is it knowledge? knowing more things? I dont think so. I dont think Knowledge is the big thing here. I think the way of thinking, the way you look at things, can tell me more about whether a person is smart or not. If, for example, I take a random dude from the street, who knows the world map, but has no clue as to where planet Earth is located in the galaxy - is he uneducated? and then if I take him home and over the course of an hour I teach him about the Solar System, the Milky Way, the Local Group, the Observable Universe...teach him about the co-existence of Space, Time and Matter as opposed to the unknown knowledge of Black Holes and Worm Holes in space...teach him about Star Birth, Supernovas, Hypernovas, Quasars etc...Will you say, the at the end of my speech this person will be an educated or smart fella? I think not. If he's dumb to begin with, he'll just know more things, but knowlege alone is no sign of intelligence. I dont think that a person who finished university with Master's Degree and more than 90 in all his subjects is necessarily smart. I think I can tell more about his intelligence from reading his posts in this forum than from seeing his diplomas. Most degrees that rely on memorizing material, then taking exams or writing papers which are based on some books is by no means an indication of high intelligence, which is why when people tell me "oh this person is smart, finished uni with distinction", I dont get too impressed.
Take someone who's a brain surgeon. Is he by default a smart fella? educated fella? not dumb? think about it for a sec.
The father of a good friend of mine from Switzerland is a brain surgeon, and successful too. He's somewhat of a prodigy. Ever since childhood, he was known to have a brilliant brain. And yet, whenever I held a conversation with the guy I felt like pulling my hair and scream because I couldnt believe how simple-minded he can be. If he were to post in this forum, you would have never guessed him to be a brain surgeon, or a genius. But he is. He's got this brilliant brain, and he can solve math problems with no effort at all. But the way he conducts his brain for the rest of the non-hospital, non-math issues is just pathetic. Even his son is joking that "whenever my father put down the robe, his brain goes to sleep".
So is he smart? what being smart means? having the right brain? having more knowledge? or is it actually part of the personality, your way of thinking?
