People have always commended me for being really "smart" or whatever and I always did really well on standardized tests and the SAT and such, but I don't believe that test-taking and fact-knowledge or even the ability to "comprehend" (abstracts, maths, philosophy, music) is the measure of intelligence.

The reason I think this way is that throughout my life I have never been striving to be "smarter" or "better" in any way. I've only ever tried to be happy. Interestingly, the only result of reasonable thought and rationalization of my world is depression, hopelessness and a bleak world view. In other words, when I utilize my powers of (god I hate this phrase) IQ to attempt to form a schema of my existence, the inevitable result is unhappiness.

With my rational mind and emotions so closely knit together, I wonder why my constant second-guessing and analysis of the world around me leads me to such disquieting ends. My peers never seemed wracked with fear or depression at the prospect of the ultimately unknowable or sinister enormity and eldritch squamous nature of that which is.

This evident negative correlation of intelligence and happiness leads me to wonder about the nature of smart and stupid. What separates the intelligent from the gormless? What is intelligence?

My personal belief? He who is "stupid" and happy is the one who has truly transcended this mortal coil. The final result of the search for wisdom will be the abandonment of intellectual pursuit in favor of emotional leads. He who is "smart" is the real stupid one.
TurnyBright Reviewed by TurnyBright on . Smart/Stupid/Happy/Sad People have always commended me for being really "smart" or whatever and I always did really well on standardized tests and the SAT and such, but I don't believe that test-taking and fact-knowledge or even the ability to "comprehend" (abstracts, maths, philosophy, music) is the measure of intelligence. The reason I think this way is that throughout my life I have never been striving to be "smarter" or "better" in any way. I've only ever tried to be happy. Interestingly, the only result of Rating: 5