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Opinion

What is smart?

By John Gathright


「賢さ」に関する4つの質問

今、全世界が注目しているその事態は 「賢い」ことなのか?まずそれを考え、 結論が出たら、それに基づいて行動してほしい。

Last week, a friend sent me a "smartness Quiz," created by Anderson Consulting Worldwide. It included four questions that are supposed to tell you if you are smart enough to become a qualified "professional."

Question 1: How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator ? The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffeand close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

Question 2: How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator? Wrong Answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the refrigerator. Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your actions.

Question 3: The Lion King is hosting an animal conference; all the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend? Correct Answer: The elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. This question tests your memory.

Even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your abilities.

Question 4: There is a river you must cross. But it is inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it? Correct Answer: You swim across. All the crocodiles are attending the animal conference! This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

At the bottom of the test is the following note: According to Anderson Consulting Worldwide, around 90 percent of the professionals they tested managed to get all the questions wrong. But many preschoolers they tested answered the questions correctly. Anderson Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals have the brains of a four-year-old.

This facetious test is intended to make fun of professionals, but I think that while it pokes fun, it also illustrates that deciding who is smart and who is not is extremely arbitrary, and that there is no objective or rational way of assessing a person's smartness or dumbness.

That is to say, smartness is an empty label, and whether a person is smart or not smart is purely a matter of opinion, a judgment made from one's own perspective and experience. In short, smartness is in the eye of the beholder.

Unfortunately, we tend to consider and label people who have great authority and power as smart people. Many would say that a prerequisite for becoming a global leader of a country or a corporation is smartness. This may not always be true. Even if they are smart in some areas, they may be making some not so very smart decisions or choices in other areas.

I would like to ask ST readers to take a few minutes to consider the following: Is war with Iraq smart? Are President George W. Bush's present actions smart? Would peace be smart? What is the smartest thing to do in this situation?

As members of the global community, make your own judgment and act accordingly. Have you ever heard the saying "handsome is as handsome does"? Well, think "smart is as smart does." Judge first whether you think it is smart to go to war and then act accordingly.



Shukan ST: March 14, 2003

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