So, What is "Intelligence," Really?
I spoke with a client recently whose horoscope struck me as displaying a streak of genius, but that her intelligence probably wouldn’t have been appreciated when she was younger. Indeed, quite the contrary, she might have felt highly criticized instead.
On hearing me say that, she told me a simultaneously amusing/sad anecdote from her childhood. In light of her obvious intelligence, her teachers had someone from Mensa come and give her a test, and one of the questions was something like “What do the following two things have in common—a yard and a pound?”
Her answer? “You can put a dog into both.”
Brilliant answer, I thought. But the Mensa woman didn’t like it, apparently—the so-called “correct” answer, of course, being that those were both units of measurement—and gently chastised her mistake.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, but it certainly goes to show what can happen if you think a little too far outside of the box (by conventional standards, that is).
Ray Grasse is a writer, photographer, and astrologer based in the American Midwest. His websites are www.raygrasse.com and www.raygrassephotography.com.
Intelligence served me well in school and some jobs. But in terms of men, at first fascinated and then they needed to object or demean. When I was in my early 30s my father and I had dinner and after a few drinks he said that he and his colleagues felt bad that they hadn't spent more time with their children when they were small. Then he said, 'you know I used to tell you you were an idiot because I thought you were a genius and if you knew that you wouldn't bother with me." I only had one very embarassing memory of him saying that but apparently there were more. And I was shocked and hurt and asked if that was how he saw me...as someone who wouldn't bother with anyone who wasn't a genius? Still...I know that if I had my father's approval of my intelligence I would have had more confidence and drive to achieve. So what is it? For a woman of my generation, a blessing and a curse. I have Moon conjunct Uranus in Gemini in the 10th and it's a full moon, opposing Sagittarius Sun and Mercury in my 4th,. I think it's an intuitive download...I don't 'think about' what I know or feel to be true or right. Anyway...interesting topic yet again.
I was a teacher of Gifted and Talented for many years in the school systems and found that 'out of the box thinking' was the only way to get into the program from ages 5-10.