June 30, 2021

The myth of Genius

 Lately, I have been missing writing quite a bit. I tried to compensate for it by sending long texts on whats app to my friends.  Honestly, I think I will rather write. And of course, by writing I mean complaining or ranting that I usually do. 

I have been watching a fair bit of movies, series etc. lately. I started watching the series Scorpion. It is about a self-proclaimed genius Walter O'Brien and his team of geniuses. I watched few episodes and decided to give it a rest. Their repeated reference of themselves as a genius and their contempt for others was just a bit too much. I am not sure why geniuses are portrayed that way on television? Is there any truth behind this portrayal? Why having a good IQ related to having a low EQ? Well, at least, that's what they have us believe. 

I mean, I get the patience that sometimes is required for the rest of the class to catch up to something you have already grasped but that doesn't necessarily mean that you have contempt for others. Being good at something (whether it's the study or sports or art), doesn't necessarily make you a better human. Neither do you earn the respect of others by showing contempt to them. So what's the point of this superiority complex? Doesn't it actually show how immature you are despite your intelligence? I would respect a wholesome intelligence like Leonardo da Vinci rather than someone whose accomplishment is restricted in realms of the brain only.  

And, I greatly detest the portrayal of geniuses on television. It's like giving people with higher IQ a free pass for being an awful human being or at least be socially awkward. And I am not talking about Autistic individuals. That's a very different issue. I am talking about people with high IQ with no underlying conditions. If they are so intelligent, they can easily learn the social cues. The reason they don't is that they think of themselves as superior to others. They have a contempt for people with less IQ than them. At least, that's how they portray geniuses in the series Scorpion. The reason I just couldn't continue watching the series. It was just so full of superiority complex. 

Anyway, that's the rant of the day for me...