According to New York Times’ columnist David Brooks … the work place is bombarded with “colossal Proustian memory bullies who get 1,800 pages of recollection out of a mere cookie bite.”
Have you seen it where you work or socialize?
If intelligence consisted of fact storage alone … then these memory bullies win hands down. So why do we question their brainpower?
It's actually quite simple. Research has changed what it means to be clever.
We live in a time when knowledge acceleration means more facts to race through more minds in less time. Memory bullies have intimidated others for a long time, though.
They’re the colossal extraverts … who ask questions about far-flung facts they’ve studied and … show others up … on details they’ve recently struck into memory. Have you seen it happen?
Memory bullies appear to gloat that they alone can spit out “correct” answers … in ways that shout victory for their gray matter. The problem?
It’s not intelligence by itself … in spite of the fact that some can intimidate others who believe that memory is the mind’s dynamite … and that they lack its light.
So what is intelligence … if memory is not? I’d like to hear your wisdom – before I share research about who’s really intelligent. I’m referring to ways that can prosper and grow the entire organization.
What do you think?
Until you asked that question (...what is intelligence?), I thought I knew the answer. After thinking about it a bit and seeing other definitions, now I don't think I could define it at all! I'll be fascinated to hear the answers you've uncovered, Ellen.
We might want to be careful, though - we might have to redefine SETI's charter... :-)
Posted by: Robert Hruzek | May 5, 2008 5:50 AM | Permalink to Comment