You've got the GPA but where is the dirty love?

I did it! I get it! I think I can finally VISUALIZE the fourth dimension. Granted, I have to condense the spatial dimensions, but I can finally show you special relativity with a simple graph…sort of. I started to post it, but I think I better work on it a little more. Okay, so it’s not so easy to show, but soon, all shall understand…I don’t know if it’s the fact that Greene is a good author or that after reading about this kind of stuff since I was a freshman, it’s finally solidifying. Probably some of both.

I’ve decided that I’m the kind of person that makes up his mind quickly. It’s a blessing and a curse. I’m about to lay down a bunch of thoughts, so I don’t suggest you read on unless you’re really bored.

After eating lunch with her twice and talking on the phone for 5 minutes, I’ve unofficially decided I’m done with AJ. There’s nothing per se wrong with her. She’s just like the majority of the girls I’ve gotten to know/dated out here in Provo. Pretty, smart, and….well…nothing. I’m finding that as I get older, what I thought were the most stable parts of me are still changing. Maybe I’m finally hitting puberty.

Last night we had this ward banana split social. I’m talking to this girl my roommate went after for a few weeks past. She’s definitely what I’d call a smart girl. Sociology major, plans on going to law school, full tuition scholarship. Not bad I guess..

Now, I don’t believe in categorizing people, but I’ve inadvertently developed these tests (I rarely use them on purpose; they just come out) that allow me to gauge things like movie smarts, general intelligence, or “could you in some alternate universe date Mike.” The tests don’t characterize people in my mind, but if I were to look at all the people I’ve become friends with in over the past three years, I would say the tests read “very yes” 95% of the time.

The one of the general intelligence tests works a little like this:

I find out what you’re interested in and/or what you do professionally/academically. I ask you what you’ve been working on most recently and what kind of significance it holds to you. The response is one of two things.

1) “I’m writing reports on doing research about the trends in the book on the research about the subject focused on the research leading to writing reports on the observations of the surveys on the ideas about the notions leading to the research centered on the ideas…blah blah blah throwing in a four syllable word or two.” “So what have you learned?” The first meaningless chain of words gets repeated. “What kind of conclusion have you found?” “No conclusion? Where do you think all this is leading then.” Ten minutes and a few similar questions later, I get a real response if I’m lucky.

2) I’m studying/working on X. Y are the things it’s leading to. Z is why I think it’s cool. Productive, interesting conversation ensues.

I get 1 from “smart” people all the time. A person’s ability to give a 2 is my litmus test for intelligence. Intelligent people can perceive the world around them and adapt easisly. That’s why they have good senses of humor. They are good at getting to the point and don’t waste time on space-filling jabber. I think sometimes “smart” people still haven’t thought enough about what they’re doing to condense it into something meaningfull. Hence the flakey “book smart” people. Intelligent people seem to understand themselves enough to pay attention their surroundings without getting overloaded. It takes a smart person to understand and regurgitate, but it takes an even smarter one to reiterate, interpret, and condense.

As you can see, this post is proof that I’m not an intelligent person. Intelligence is, nevertheless, a goal.

As a side note, my intelligence test isn't always accurate. Sometimes the testee (Ha, I said "testee") simply wasn't ready to talk about said topic.