That Thing We Don't Talk About (Part I)

No...Not the s-thing. Because sometimes we do talk about that.

The i-thing.

Earlier, I riffed on the topic of physical appearance & author photos.

We hardly ever talk about that in writing circles, yet social psychology is clear that appearance matters...that people draw initial conclusions about others (usually false ones) based on the Hottie Scale.

But there's another taboo topic....maybe even worse:


Intelligence.


Intelligence is a trait that lurks behind everything we do...everything we are...silently running in the background. If our unique set of personality dimensions represents the "software" of life, intelligence is the "operating system."


And like personality, intelligence plays a pivotal role in our choices, our preferences, our actions and behaviors.


We just never acknowledge it. When was the last time you participated in a discussion about writing or reading where intelligence was invoked to help explain our individual differences?

I thought so.  Why is that? Here's my list of three reasons, for starters:


1) The average person takes intelligence for granted.  One reason we don't talk about it is that we don't think about it. Like personality, unless you consciously decide to study its meaning in your life, you don't realize how widespread the implications are.


2) Intelligence gets a bad rap.  Stereotypes...warranted or not...attach to notions of intelligence. When you think of highly intelligent people, do you think of "arrogant?"  "Argumentative?"  "Cold?"  Intelligence brings with it some baggage that can make it an unwelcome visitor.


3) We can't readily change what we're gifted with.  And that contributes mightily to the "awkwardness" factor.


Modern American society ranks the value of people according to four standards:  Power (status/accomplishment); Beauty; Wealth; Intelligence.


Of these four, Intelligence is the least susceptible to change (with perhaps Beauty taking second place).

If we had a proven way to create significant gains in personal intelligence, it would spark an industry to rival our current obsession with physical appearance (books, videos, cosmetics, fitness equipment & programs, surgery, etc).

But we don't.

You can change you wealth. You can change your power/status. And, to a lesser extent, you can change your physical appearance.  Intelligence, not so much.


Here's the recipe for a taboo:


1) Place a societal value on high intelligence.


2) Recognize the hard truth that some have more of this trait than others.


3) Tell those in the "have not" category that there's nothing they can do to alter that fact.


Sound like a volatile situation?  In our egalitarian, "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" culture, it's not something we like to hear.


Over the coming weeks, we'll talk about this thing we don't talk about....how it relates to reading, and writing, and life.

What's your take? Are there other reasons why Intelligence is such a hot-button topic?




 

Can Bacteria Help You Get a Book Deal?

I love weird research.


Despite the chorus of ridicule that greets each news blurb highlighting the money squandered on studying the obvious (The Journal "Current Anthropology" ran a report proving that people put on more clothes when it's cold)......or the bizarre (Neuroscientists in Barcelona found that rats cannot understand Dutch or Japanese when it is played to them backwards).......... I'm still fascinated.


Take, for instance, the June 2011 issue of Outside magazine. In it, nature writer Richard Louv tackles the question of what our digitalized, electronic-laden lives are doing to our brains and our creative intelligence.


In his article, Louv touches on the work of Dorothy Matthews and Susan Jenks at the Sage Colleges in Troy, New York.


Matthews and Jenks examined the lowly Mycobacterium vaccae, a bacteria readily found in ordinary soil. In fact, this microbe is so abundant in nature that people routinely ingest or inhale it whenever they spend time in the great outdoors.


According to Matthews and Jenks, lab mice supplied with this naturally-occurring bacteria learned to navigate complicated mazes twice as fast as those without, and the positive, brain-stimulating effects lasted for weeks before wearing off.


Einstein, Mozart, and many others famous for exercising creative intelligence were fond of getting outside, where they often reported encountering their best ideas.


So if you're stuck on that latest plot point, consider shutting off your computer. Pick up a notebook and pen, and hike off into the woods. Breathe deep.


Sit under a tree beside a babbling brook and write.


Maybe the "little guys" will help you...


What's your experience?  Does getting out in nature help spark your creative juices?

Version 2.0

About a year ago, I surrendered.

After a long and valiant resistance, I succumbed to the tidal wave of well-meaning advice both specific (from friends) and general (from writing/publishing experts): You must have a blog. If you want to be a writer in today's world, you must have a blog.

I caved....  I started a blog.

Not without angst, you understand...for I am a) a technological cretin...and b) reluctant to clutter up the e-waves with yet another blog when I doubted that I had anything to say that hadn't been said 50,000 times over by writers both published and unpublished.

As evidence of "A"...you must understand that I am one of the approximately 5 people in the United States who do not choose to own a cellular phone.

As evidence of "B"...well, I waited. And waited. And waited.

Waiting for an idea. A concept that hadn't been "done" to excess...where I felt I could actually contribute something that, at least in my eyes, seemed fresh.

Eventually, I settled on the theme of how psychology intersects with Writing, Writers, and Readers. As an analytical type, with a Master's in Psychology and a 20+ year career in human services, I was (and am) fascinated with the insights that psychological research has to offer writers.

And as I scanned the blogosphere, the few "psychology for writers" sites I located were almost exlusively focused on the Dark Side...psychopathology, mental illness, violent disorders. I was interested in exploring what psychology had to say about the creative process. How to have ideas. What personality traits are associated with talent/success.

This kind of research is what I do anyway, for my own personal education, so why not blog on it?

So I did.  For several months.  It was not an encouraging experiment.

Oh, I loved what I was learning. And I learned about things I loved. Overall, it was a worthwhile learning experience. But in several months of posting I racked up the astonishing total of zero comments. And as so many bloggers before me have commented, it felt like I was writing to myself.

Ultimately, I opted to mothball that effort. If you're interested, you can view the body here.  Heck, you can probably still be the first to comment.



Though some disagree with the philosophy, I chose to wait for a publishing contract before actively blogging, and to spend that time improving my fiction-writing skills. So I'm happy to say that my first published novel is planned for release later this year, courtesy of Kristine Pratt's Written World Communications.

Version 2.0 of my blogging efforts will include some of the psychologically-themed material. That's in my life-blood and can't be helped. It will also cover the adventure of publishing, and explorations into writing, reading, and general life stuff along the way.

Glad you're here!  And for goodness sake, make a comment!!  :)