Thursday, March 11, 2010

Smarting Smartness

There is always a smarter way of doing it.

We hear this statement from so many quarters nowadays. What this implies is that there are multiple ways of doing anything, and there is one way that is smarter than all other ways.

The smartest way of doing something is not necessarily the optimal way of doing it by any means.

The smartest way could not always be the way you like it to be done. A person could still choose to do it the way he wants and likes to do it, according to his own set of likes, dislikes, morals and principles, at the peril of being called a simpleton and slowy snively goose.

The optimal way of doing something is not always the smartest, and not always the most likeable way of doing it.

In today’s world , being street smart is being thought of as mandatory. Else there are a hundred people around to con you. But don’t you lose goodness as much as you are smarter? What is the future for people who talk the truth / tell what they feel ? For people who don’t understand pulling the strings ? For people who cant even bargain on the streets? What is fair? And where is faith? – Facebook wall of a friend.

Smartness = 4 x intellectual giftedness
Street Smartness = 4 x intellectual giftedness + personal social emotional factors

Smartness is intellectual giftedness. Intellectual ability to think through a given situation or problem and then find the best way of doing it. The best way to do it could be the most optimal way or the most selfish way of doing it. But the smartest way will be the way that is most beneficial to somebody.

This is what makes smartness differ from street smartness. PSE – personal social emotional factors.