Did You Know A Lot Of "Very Intelligent" JWs?

by minimus 64 Replies latest jw friends

  • leec
    leec

    Having a good memory is not my idea of "intelligent". To me intelligence implies reasoning and critical thinking, some of which requires "natural" ability, and some of which requires learning the finer points of the skill.

    I would describe "my" JW as being very intelligent, but having her otherwise natural curiosity about things stifled by the life of a "born-in" who was home-schooled for much of her childhood. She is exceptionally quick to learn new skills even when the teaching was less than adequate. For example, I personally "taught" her how to use Abode Dreamweaver although I had never used it before and struggled to figure out enough in real time to help her complete projects for a class she was taking; basically she taught herself, with very little real help from me, even though she knew next to nothing about computers other than how to use email, IMs, AOL, Facebook, and the like.

    On the other hand, I always found it strange how, in any number of random discussions, she never seemed very interested in getting very 'in-depth' about things she hadn't heard about before. Any kind of facts were typically received with an attitude of "that's nice" and then moving on to something completely different.

    It seems likely, from what I know now, that her natural sense of curiosity about the world was stifled by the deemphasis of paying attention to "wordly" things. It's really a hellish shame that university education is considered optional at best. It seems to me that teenagers who go on to college after high school develop much better critical thinking skills than others. This is probably why higher education is deemphasized by the WTS in the first place.

  • thetrueone
    thetrueone

    "Very Intelligent" JWs.......... a oxymoron

  • LongHairGal
    LongHairGal

    I was one of the 'intelligent' ones. But, my intelligence was frowned upon because I am a woman in the workforce and I did not pioneer. They are only interested in people (especially women) who utter JW-speak like a parrot.

    They are not interested in any academic facts unless it comes from them. So, if you have an intellectual tid-bit (even if it is dead-on accurate) that you can add during the book study, it might be frowned upon. Not only might the book study conductor not appreciate it, but the functionally literate, grade school educated robots resent the fact that you are smarter than they are.

  • snowbird
    snowbird

    Amen and amen to time indefinite, LHG.

    I experienced that a lot - way too much for comfort.

    Sylvia

  • minimus
    minimus

    u, snowbird???

  • snowbird
    snowbird
    u, snowbird???

    Yep.

    I.

    Sylvia

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    And I.

    Spartacus.

  • snowbird
    snowbird

    LOL.

    At a bookstudy, I once mentioned that Tolstoy is reported to have said the account in Genesis concerning Joseph and his brothers is "the most perfect narrative ever written."

    Silence.

    Dead silence.

    Sylvia

  • RubaDub
    RubaDub

    His name has been mentioned here before, but I remember when I was a kid we had a DO named Illingsworth (sp?) who stayed at our house when we were the "host" congregation for the Circuit Assembly.

    The guy came across as extremely professional in a business sort of way, very intelligent, spoke well, didn't appear to belittle people and seemed to be overall very positive. If in another situation, you could picture him as a CEO of a big company.

    Yes, I have known a few others here and there, but he left an impression on a lot of people.

    Rub a Dub

  • Quillsky
    Quillsky

    Minimus, I'd be very interested to know what your definition of "extremely intelligent" or "very intelligent" is.

    I certainly knew many well-educated, well-read and high-earning JW's who could hold a conversation anywhere with anyone. Beyond that, how do you know they are "extremely intelligent"? That said I must say the presence of the aforementioned well-educated blah-di-blah Jehovah's Witnesses kept me trapped for longer than I should have been.....

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