AM I STUPID? by Asha Deevon

          “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it’s stupid”, said Albert Einstein once. So, I came across this picture on facebook a few days back which correlates to this.

This just got me thinking like throughout the day. I just zoned out and my mum kept yelling at me to get the house chores done. And even when I’m sweeping the floor, I can’t get this picture out of my head! Trust me, I don’t know why either. Maybe my boyfriend is right. He keeps telling me too, saying girls overthink about the wrong things sometimes. But this ain’t the same thing, lover boy. Besides, it’s not we who overthink. It’s guys who underthink things, making us angry and then claim that they have no idea whatsoever, WHICH makes us even angrier. But no worries, you’re kindda sweet too all the other times where you really do make smart choices.  J

Anyway, back to the topic. “Am I stupid?”  Well, to be honest, I have been asking this question to myself way too often that I’ve lost count. If I could get a dollar to every time this happened, I would have been rich by now. I’ll just get myself a house, a car, a baby panda and I’m done for in life. But I have a feeling that I’m not alone on this. Some of you who are reading this would probably be like “Dudeee, that is so freaking me! Hey, guess what? You’re not alone!

Previously, I would have had a different response towards what I’m about to say. I mean in high school I always thought that kids who fail in their exams are complete failures in life. In short, stupid. But I treat them all the same though. No disrespect or anything that sort. I’ve just always wondered how they’re going to make it in life if not for their education because that was how I was brought up to believe in. A little concerned was how I would put it. However, as I grew up and got to learn much more about life, I found a whole new perspective about all of this. To start with, we’re all familiar with our education system in Malaysia, right? They focus mainly on the academics, the student’s grades. Yes, grades are indeed very significant. But to be fair, we students didn’t really had a choice in the education line that we wanted to learn. At least not up until we entered university or upper secondary, which I think is a bit too late. All throughout primary and lower secondary, we have learnt what the government wants us to learn. There is no variation, for us to choose. Everybody learnt the same subjects, regardless of our interests. Those who excel in this criteria are looked upon by others and those who don’t? The total opposite.

It’s sad to think that the society lives by this principle in their head. Are you one of these people? Well I hope not.  Because let me tell you this. Intelligence is so much more diverse than what appears on an IQ test. In fact, there is not one but EIGHT types of intelligence that we should all know. (Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Musical, Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Naturalistic) I just went a zoomzoom to Thinking skills lecture. My point is, you just have to figure out who you really are and where you fit in. For that, we need a proper education system and of course, time. Once you have found what you’re interested in, without doubt, you are bound to get good results. Damn, I should be running a campaign about this. Hahahahah!

 Do you think everyone can sing? How about dancing? Drawing portraits? Sports? Modelling? Are you all in one? If no, why not? Are you considered stupid then? Of course you don’t want to. Then why is it that when someone who is not academically inclined, are quick to be labelled as stupid by the society? We can’t see the potential or talent that is yet to blossom in someone at first glance. These kids are just not exposed yet to the things that they are meant to be doing. Like musicians. Music classes aren’t provided to all schools. If you want to pursue in that, you need to find it elsewhere which adds to extra expenses. However, not all students are blessed enough to afford that. People that you think aren’t going to get anywhere might end up surprising you on where their talent brings them. Where their intelligence brings them.

There is also another reason why people have this self-doubt that they’re “stupid”. They compare themselves to themselves. Does that makes sense? Well, continue reading anyway. I believe this happens to everyone. This sense of insecurity within us. People tend to think that intelligence is a universal thing. If you are good at something, you are undeniably good at all areas. This is also called the “Smart Person Fallacy”. I know, I’ve never heard of it before as well. You can google it up though. Anyway, when we find ourselves unable to process something, or if we make a normal, careless mistake, we tend to compare it to the things that we do with ease. That is in fact human’s nature to do so. But we fail to realise that the things that we complete with ease now, were once things that we struggled with. Like math for instance. When I moved from kindergarten to primary 1, I fought with my dad with all the strength in me saying “1 + 2=  NO CAN DO” “Why” he asked. “Because 1 is smaller than 2, daddy”, said little Asha, thinking she’s smart, not knowing that she is in for a big whacking session from her dad in a little while. Now however, I love anything related to math and calculations because it challenges my brain.

I don’t know what’s your definition of stupidity. It differs, depending on the individual and that’s very understandable. If you ask me, I would say feeling stupid is feeling disappointed in yourself for failing to live up to an unrealistic ideal about your knowledge on things or how to do things. In reality, smart people do dumb stuff, and people who are less intelligent do smart things too. The ultimate point is everyone does stupid things sometimes. But that isn’t a reflection on our actual intelligence. It’s simply a matter of being ignorant of something or yet to being experienced, and it can’t be compared to the things we do well. Instead, we should considerate a moment to learn something new or do something better next time. Find our inner intelligence. Revel in the opportunity to expand ourselves and become a better person than we were before. Now, ask yourself. Are you stupid? I don’t think so ;)