Common Sense vs. Genius

I’ve been doing alot of thinking… maybe too much thinking. I really hope I don’t lose my keys. Or something even more important.

That may seem strange to some… but it makes perfect sense to the analytical mind that is self-aware.

Genius
For most people, “genius” is a term they use to describe people that are smarter than the average person. While this seems to be true, its actually deeper than that. “Smart” people appear to make fewer mistakes than others, or they are perceived to be correct more often than not. Really, being a “genius” is as simple as being able to properly analyze things, events, and situations. It has nothing to do with already knowing an answer, or having common sense.
Example: an analytical mind (”genius”) can determine if a peg can fit into a hole before attempting to actually place the peg in the hole. The analysis of size and shape of the peg versus the size and shape of the hole is carefully examined, and thousands of mental calculations are done. If the peg and hole don’t carefully align together mentally, the “genius” will abandon the thought process of putting the peg into the hole. It just won’t be possible, and alternatives are examined.
This is what is called analytical intelligence.

Common Sense
Everyone has common sense. It is basically the ability of your brain to remember the outcome of a test. People know that red means stop, and green means go. Why? Because if they thought red means go, bad things will happen and people will get hurt. You know not to touch a pot on the stove because it may be hot. Why? You tried touching a hot pot before, and you burned your fingers. It is common sense because the outcome was a bad traffic accident or pain in your fingers from the pot on the stove. This is what some psychologists call practical intelligence.

Analytical and Practical
Everyone approaches problems differently. The analytical mind (”genius”) begins by examining the situation, all the facts, and how all the information presented relates. There are no attempts to solve anything until all the options for a solution are carefully weighed for the most successful result. On the flip side, common sense is based solely on what has already happened in the past — there is no analysis at all except to try to match the current situation to a similar instance in history.
They said that even Einstein, the father of modern physics and general relativity, used to forget his own phone number. For most people, its common sense to remember your own phone number. How could one of the most brilliant minds in history forget his own phone number? Common sense. Maybe he never had a need to phone himself. If he had a need to phone himself, he would have discovered what his phone number is and gone through the mental process of touching a hot pot — he would remember instinctively. While it might not be true that even Einstein forgot his phone number, or even had a phone, it begins to form a theory…

Common Sense and Genius are inversely proportionate.
The more common sense someone has, the less genius (analytical intelligence) that person will have. Likewise, the more someone appears to be “smart”, the less common sense he/she will likely have. I believe this is because when the brain approaches something, it tends to lean to one way of thinking than the other. After a while, the brain gets used to thinking one way more than another. Or, it could be that most of the energy in the brain gets reserved to one way of thinking than another.

Some people put their keys in the exact same place each time they come home after a drive, because they’ve learned that if they place the set of keys as a routine, there is no need to analyze where keys might be when they are needed again.
Some people put their keys wherever they drop them when they get home. These people can remember where their keys are most of the time, and the rest of the time use a combination of analytical and practical intelligence — “where did I leave them last time?” “what was I doing, when I put them down?” “what are all the common places I leave the keys?”
Some people do not care to remember where they leave their keys, and go through the entire analytical process each time they need their keys. Every time keys are needed, the process begins — “Are the keys here?” “Are the keys near the door?” “Are the keys on the counter, near the door?” “Are the keys in the car?” “Are the keys still in my pocket?” and so on.

What’s the point of all this?
Some people are completely analytical, and appear to be “smart” while other people have good common sense but aren’t praised for their intelligence. This seems backward, or at least odd. However, it does seem to be true that any one person could be mostly analytical and have no common sense, or a person could have a tremendous amount of common sense but not know how to effectively solve problems.

So, really… when you think about it… if you find yourself losing your keys, you just might be a genius! And… if people call you a genius… use some of your brain power to remember where the hell your keys are. If these two kinds of people could merge into a cohesive unit, the world would be a better place, and we’d all be learning and remembering, and probably have fewer problems.