Friday, January 20, 2006

A little about a lot

So I'm smart. You aren't supposed to say you're smart, but I am and I will. I think that most people would be able to infer that. I'm in lawschool, you read my blog, you can tell I'm not a dumb person. That being said I am not crazy smart. I'm not a mensa candidate or a genius. I'm just regular person smart, hard work and good grades smart. Some people think I'm smarter than I really am. These people on some level are probably just as smart as me, but they have been fooled. Why? I know a little about a lot. Knowing a little about a lot makes people think you are really smart, people that is, that are not willing or interested enough to go beyond the surface. I can comment knowledgably on many subjects and that makes people think i know a lot, which isn't true, because all I really know is a little (about a lot).


Why do I know a little about a lot? I know because I ask. If I met you today and we had a conversation I would ask what you do for a living, I would ask you about your job in detail with interest and I would listen and ask more questions and when we were finished talking I would walk away with some of your knowledge. Every person you meet has some expertise and If you are interested they are more than willing to share a little of thier "smarts" with you. My friend is a waitress at a Japenese Steakhouse and I know how they divide the tips between the chefs and the servers, another friend works construction and I know what he builds, what products they sell, who does the estimates and who they outsource the jobs they don't take to, I know about haircolor because I ask my hairdresser, the list goes on...these seem like small things, but to me it's interesting. Don't you ever go through the McDonalds drive through and wonder what are the standard number of ketchups to give out or if they let this pimple faced sixteen-year-old count down his own drawer? Why not?


Do I have a point? Not really, only that I'm not so much smart as curious and that it really is a shame that more people don't care about learning something new each day, because it really isn't that hard.

2 comments:

GirlFriday said...

Well mom actually it wasn't past midnight becuase the time is wrong beecause i can't figure out what time zone I'm in. So no you didn't teach me anything, especially what time zone I live in (yes I know central but curiously that isn't an option). Anyway it's always nice to be nagged across the world wide web. Oh, what a wonder technology is!

Jason Stotts said...

I think you're definately onto one of the keys to becoming really intelligent - curiousity.

Curiousity is the start of true genius - to wonder about the most minute details is to desire to understand the nature of the reality you live in, the desire to have true knowledge about the very nature of existence.

Never lose your curiousity nor doubt your mind.