Idiots and Geniuses….Nature’s Delicate Balance

Dude, I’m tellin’ ya………

I caught up with a show recently on the dummy box profiling geniuses among us. Quite the dichotomy, I know. It was pretty impressive on what some kids can do. Adults too. But I’ve always marveled at profiles of child prodigies. I mean, three-quarters of the adults you come across every day are rather disappointing intellectually. They’re poor at their jobs, they don’t learn lessons from their mistakes, they stumble around completely ignorant of the mess they leave in their wake, etc.

Jay Leno and some others (like the cheap gameshow Street Smarts) have shown us that most people don’t even know who the Vice President is……or they can’t find their home state on a map!  

My brother and I have always had fun with the “learn lessons from your mistakes” concept—-especially when it comes to playing video games. Bro will decide on a pass pattern in Madden football or the path of a putt in Tiger Woods golf and that is all there is to it. The pass will fall woefully incomplete….or worse yet, intercepted……or the golf putt will miss by a mile.

But bro won’t give up on those plays/alignments. He will run that same pass play in the same situation the next ten times. He’ll line that golf putt up exactly the same way every time. And every time, it will rim off the cup. Or end up the exact same three inches away every time. Often, he’ll say, “It should be working based on the defense” or “It should be working based on the slant of the green”. But quite obviously it doesn’t. And I try to tell him that it is a computer and if that putt is not programmed to go in based on his settings—–then the damn thing ain’t going in !!!

My brother isn’t an idiot, though. When pride finally takes a step back, he’ll eventually accept a suggestion on a different approach. At least until the next time we play. Then it’s back to the same wrong alignment. Oh, and he’s also very, very good at his job.

But let’s face it, folks. For the most part, a lot of people are idiots.

Take the Chicago Bears, for example. And head coach Lovie Smith and quarterback Jay Cutler, specifically. Here’s a huge organization that deals in hundreds of millions of dollars with dozens of employees. And the two most prominent members of the outfit are friggin’ idiots.

Lovie Smith couldn’t inspire a hungry man to eat a cheeseburger. His lack of motivational skills, his sleepy, monotone demeanor, and his repeated statements that everything is fine and there’s “lots of good things going on out on that football field to build on” are the qualities of an idiot. Or at least a man on the brink of his last season as Bears head coach.

His constant claims that all is well indicate to me a man who is stumbling around ignorant and/or oblivious to the mess he leaves in his wake. All is not well, Lovie. Yet another game where the team entered the third quarter with 12 points or less. This time, they never cracked 10 points for the entire contest. But apparently Lovie is quite satisfied with these results. Not once this season have I heard him make any comments such as ” We need to be more creative in our playcalling “.  

And his quarterback Jay Cutler isn’t much higher on the “learn a lesson” ladder. Every time the team is in the red zone and on the brink of scoring, this guy throws a forced pass into multiple coverage and gets an interception. But does he learn from his follies? Nope……next drive, same thing.

There’s a couple of funny quotes that get thrown around in my Sunday football group. Whenever Lovie Smith challenges a play, or the refs are explaining a ruling to him, one of the boys will say (in a referee’s voice): “There’s going to be a short delay in the game while we explain the basic rules to Lovie. Please be patient.”

And whenever the Bears find themselves at first-and ten in the red zone, someone inevitably says, “Robbie Gould (Bears field goal kicker)……..you’re on in 2 minutes.” Like he’s being called from his dressing room for a talk show appearance.

Then you see that not all of the world is as dumb as the Chicago Bears or the cashier at my local White Castle (See recent post: Pretty please….stop trying to rip me off}.

They profiled a young lady named Akiane Kramarik. She is a painter and author of books of poetry. Her paintings go for over $10,000 per piece and they take her anywhere from 15-60 hours to complete. Now 15, she has been painting incredible works of art since she was six. Her first book of poetry was written at seven. By age 10, she was on the Oprah Winfrey show.

She is homeschooled by her mother. Her mom admits that she refuses to study subjects that do not interest her. Like mathematics. Most of the money Akiane makes from her art and poetry she donates to charity. While her family is not religious, Akiane claims her art is inspired by her visions of heaven, and her personal connection with the Christian God. Her art usually depicts life, landscape and people. Pretty heady stuff for an adolescent, huh?

This is the type of kid that helps me to keep some faith in mankind. There are actually intelligent life forms still out there.

Take Gregory Smith, for example. Born in 1990, he could read by age 2 and was enrolled in university by age 10. He is the founder of International Youth Advocates, an organization that promotes principles of peace and understanding among young people throughout the world. He’s met world leaders and spoken in front of the UN. Oh by the way, he’s been nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

No shit.

Fabiano Caruana is a 16 year old chess Grandmaster. I don’t mean to slight him, however. He became a Grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months.

Maybe one of these geniuses can start doing the playcalling for my beloved Bears. Anything is better than the wide receiver screen pass followed by a futile run “up the gut”. By third down, Cutler is usually ready to turn the ball over with one of his jaw-dropping interceptions.

Maybe one of these kids can figure out the X’s and O’s in football that Lovie and Cutler can’t?

To see some of Akiane Kramarik’s artwork, go to:         http://www.artakiane.com/