Turns out... I'm not so smart! Why the difference?

by misspeaches 25 Replies latest jw friends

  • kristyann
    kristyann

    ballistic, I understood your point. I got it. :) You don't like what you're learning? Why are you doing it? You must like SOMETHING about it.

    by the way, peaches, I really like that new picture of yours.

    I always seem to get way off topic, don't I?

  • ballistic
    ballistic

    no - it is quite interesting really - it depends on your point of view.

  • SickofLies
    SickofLies

    This may sound silly, but your as smart as you think you are. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Remember the brain is like a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it gets. Perhaps you felt smarter as an active JW because you use to read more and study hard. These are not things you have to give up once you leave, in fact you should do the oppisite. Take up a new hobby, check out the local library, watch the discovery channel. Whatever, just always be trying to expand your mind and learn new things.

    Live life to the fullest and don't look back.

  • Jourles
    Jourles

    During the opening show of The Apprentice this week, the first PM was a guy who claimed he was a member of Mensa. His team lost, so when they ended up in the boardroom, even Trump commented that it seemed he didn't have any COMMON sense. Sure, he may know how to unscramble letters into words quickly and tell you the next series of numbers of an equation, but this guy really didn't have any common sense and made it a point to let everyone know that he was IN MENSA.

    Anyone who brags to me that they are in Mensa or feel they are Mensa qualified, go immediately to the bottom of my 'smarts' book. Everyone I have known in the past who have made such claims usually tend to be severe idiots trying to tackle everyday life.

    I would much rather have a balance of common sense and IQ. But even then, measuring IQ is laughable anyways. I wouldn't stress about it too much peaches. You know how smart you are. You do not need someone else to tell you what you already know.

  • misspeaches
    misspeaches

    Hmmm all of this is very interesting. I particularly like the thought that its because the world has become so much more expanded to me so there is so much more to learn. A pretty humbling feeling.

    I don't feel stupid or anything. I just knew that something had changed.

    I agree with you too Jourles - common sense is such a big thing. I have a hard time tolerating people who lack any of it.

    (And thanx KristyAnn! Your a sweetheart.)

    I guess this reinforces how many opportunties we have to learn. And to take full advantage of them....

  • AuldSoul
    AuldSoul

    I don't think I lack intelligence, misspeaches, but I am ignorant of a lot that other people know.

    I frequently feel like I am in kindergarten since leaving.

    So many thoughts and feelings and realizations other people take for granted I am just now experiencing for the first time.

    I feel like I'm kicking my legs in the deep end with my arms hugging a blow-up float for dear life,

    wishing to the winds of time and fortune that I knew how to swim well enough to trust myself to let go out here where the big kids play.

  • John Doe
    John Doe

    I don't think you're speaking of actual intelligence--your level of intelligence doesn't change. The content of your knowledge changes, but your ability to learn does not. With the restrictions JW'ism places on learning, it will most definitely seem that you have a more daunting task now than you formerly did, as you've alluded, yet you've always possessed the same intelligence--it was merely underutilized. Now that you're in a world with no restrictions on your learning, you necessarily will feel different. You can no longer dismiss entire arguments or groups of people without grasping the sometimes challenging aspect of logically and legitimately dismissing such arguments. In effect, you've gained new respect for humanity that you didn't have before. But most of all, you've found that being intelligent is not important; rather, surrounding yourself with intelligent people is important. Ok, I'm projecting now. ;-)

  • IMustBreakAway
    IMustBreakAway

    I still think i'm smart. Though i don't believe that i'm the smartest person i know as i did when i was more.... "faithful". I have begun developing interests in science and other things that i had put aside for "more important" things. I like to think that i am competent. I can fix my car, bake bread, and program a computer. I also have recently decided to measure intelligence by what you accomplish. Something i read in a blog somewhere convinced me that wasted intelligence betrays a lack of intelligence. Someone that might be slow to grasp things but once grasped can take those concepts and accomplish something with them. That person is smart. No matter how much someone tries to convince me that they "get it" and yet still fails in the execution.. well they need more help.

    Also i believe that accomplishment can be measured in many different ways. Not just who cures cancer or who develops a unified theory, but who is able to raise well adjusted children, or who is good at their job or makes positive changes in their community. Stop worrying about what numbers on a paper say and do something with the little time we all have.

    Just my 2 cents.

  • LDH
    LDH

    Perspective.

    You were surrounded for years by idiots who attended the University of Awake!

    No you're surrounded by real people who most likely have real educations.

    It's all relative.

  • unclebruce
    unclebruce

    Yes LDH is right - so if you want to feel super intelligent and very alone go back to the meetings.

    If you want to feel above average but have more friends than you can poke a stick at, just be yourself

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