So You Want To Be Smart?

It’s the one quality that we prize the most. We are wired since we start our educational journey in school. We are tested and graded throughout our childhood and early adulthood. We are asked to memorize countless facts. We are praised for being smart, at the top of the class, even at the expense of other much more important virtues.

I remember having classmates who were the star kids of the classroom because they were really intelligent, in the sense that they could memorize the most facts and solve useless problems and equations. But some of them were also arrogant, condescending, not humble at all, even mean to other kids.

No wonder this system promoting intelligence as the most valued trait has produced countless examples throughout history of exceptionally intelligent individuals who, unfortunately, wielded their intellect to cause immeasurable suffering. And currently, the world is full of examples of incredibly smart people who continue to cause terrible suffering for many: politicians, judges, lawyers, CEOs, founders, drug lords, tyrants, etc.