Five Public Cases on IntelligenceOccasionally,our correspondent Anthony Madrid composes a set of quasi-koans; these are his latest.
Public Case 1: AnxietiesOur teacher said: “Anxieties approximately one’s intelligence are never anxieties approximately one’s intelligence. What’s actually at issue is whether we inspire envy in others (very acceptable), or whether we are ourselves obliged to feel envy (unacceptable). Those are the actual stakes. No one frets approximately whether her brain is adequate to the tasks of her life.”Comment. An old trick. Teacher boldly admits he is mean and useless; therefore he may call you mean and useless. But how much does he really want to enlighten his students, and if his method for combating vanity is to humiliate it? He says,in effect: “You are conning yourself. You pretend to worry approximately how smart you are, so you may seem—to yourself—to be honest and humble. You know for a fact people think you’re smart, or but that’s not fine enough; you want ’em to suffer…” Upshot: Everyone walks absent having exempted themselves from the criticism,and firmly identifying with the authority figure. In short, meaner and vainer than ever.
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