Beyond Intelligence

By Robert Farrow

Visitors of G.H. Hardy noted that one of the great English mathematicians of the 20th century kept portraits of Lenin and Einstein above his mantelpiece. His political views were decidedly left wing, so much so that he was made an honorary member of the academy of sciences in Leningrad in 1934. A few years later Stalin would start his purges that killed an estimated 20 million people. Hardy was unmoved, for the portrait of Lenin kept its place above the mantelpiece in his room until his death. Hardy was not alone, more often then not, some of the greatest minds of the 20th century tilted left and some were openly socialistic or sympathetic to communism. Even now, Edward Witten, a physicist famous for working with Superstring theory, and one of the smartest men in the world, is a liberal Democrat. That liberal policies repeatedly fail in real world scenarios matters little.

I consider myself only a little better then average intelligence, with perhaps a greater thirst for knowledge, and freely admit that mock theta functions and Reinmann metric tensors are quite beyond me, but it also begs the question why people with intelligence beyond our own believe in philosophies and systems that clearly do not work. My premise is that pure intelligence matters little in certain situations, and that other characteristics are just as important to be a success in the real world.

What makes a man great? George Washington, the father of our country, was a general that actually commanded little respect with some other generals in the continental army and diplomats in the continental congress, considering he lost more battles then he had won. (It is also amusing to imagine our defeatist media in that war. Obviously, we would be drinking more tea. ) He was neither the smartest man in the American Revolution, nor was he the best speaker, nor the cleverest. However, almost all historians think that without Washington, it would be difficult imaging America winning her independence. So how does the man who lost most of his battles, is neither the smartest of most eloquent, becomes the man most vital in our struggle for freedom? Washington became the father of this country because of his vision, his faith, his moral character and courage, and his steadfast determination, which was second to none. These are qualities shunned by the left, but seem far greater then pure intelligence.

If I had to pick who would be the smartest President of recent times, I have to admit I might pick Carter or Clinton. However, I also think Carter’s Presidency was also one of the worst in recent times, as he absolutely refused to confront any aggression, and even worse, seemed to have never met a dictator he did not like. I would also freely admit Kerry and Gore are probably smarter then Bush, but again that means little. (I do not judge this just on speaking skills, for I think this means little. My two inspirations, Einstein and Tolkein were both horrific speakers. Tolkein even demeaned himself by stating “I speak in shorthand and then smudge it.” However, those two remain respectively the greatest physicist and author in the last century.

I also think some of the brightest among us have a poor understanding of the nature of humanity and a very naive look at the nature of evil. Perhaps they see the world as it might be, instead of how it really is, as if the world was no better then a mathematical problem to be solved. Communism in some ways is a very good theory as it promises to do away with poverty by eliminating the need for greed. But like Taoism and it’s attack on attachments to the earth, it gets rid of the best qualities of humanity as it rids itself of the worst qualities of humanity. Communists and Socialists fail to understand that when people can no longer accumulate wealth, there is little motivation to really work. So in the end there is more poverty, not less. Pacifism also sounds rather dandy. If all of us stop fighting, there is no war. This is absolutely true. This also has absolutely nothing in common with the reality of the real world and the men in it. Trotsky said “You man not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.” Mao said, “Political power comes from the barrel of a gun.” Hitler did not care that the jews did not fight back as they awaited their fate at the edge of a dirt ditch, and I am sure the Vietnamese were delighted as hippies placed flowers in the guns of us troops and continues their invasion of the south. Bin Laden also feels no remorse from the example of Cindy Sheehan and Code Pink as he fights to destroy Democracy and individual freedom. What the most intelligent among us fail to realize seems obvious to us stupider homo sapiens, that blind pacifism in the face of naked aggression is little more then national suicide.

What is the measure of a man? To me intelligence is just one part of it. Intelligence without determination means little. But also, intelligence without values, without common sense, without a strong moral conviction and courage, and vision can sometimes mean absolutely nothing. So even if one possesses the minds of Ramanujan or Hilbert, it may come to naught in the end. Vision, values, determination and moral courage can make a man of average intelligence greater than a man of higher intelligence. Regardless of the low value liberals place on these characteristics, a man with high intelligence with no moral core (i.e. Clinton, Kerry, and others) could have a profoundly negative impact on the history of a country. Imaging these two men replacing Washington before Trenton sends shivers up my spine. There are things beyond pure intelligence that have a much more profound impact on the course of human history. This goes beyond intelligence. This is true measure of a man.