It’s Time to Redefine “Smart”

Young people tend to make scientific discoveries, not because of energy or intelligence, but because most science is framed in terms of simplistic, game-like logic.

The simpler it is, the younger the person will be. Math and physics will see the youngest trailblazers. Undergraduate and young graduate finding the next piece of the puzzle.

This is wholly unsurprising.

It takes a largely naive, inexperienced and relatively (relative to experience) uncomplex mind to excel in simplistic game behavior.

This alone is not a problem. If hard sciences want to keep looking at things in simplistic reductionist terms that’s their choice. The problem is how society gets coaxed into believing the hard sciences are the “smart” ones. Gatekeeping for opportunity gets framed in terms of “harder” skills.

We end up with the false narrative that nerdy thinking leads to innovation. Spectrum-type individuals are given the higher positions, taking their simplistic minds into positions of power, and hiring like-minded individuals.

The cycle continues like a vicious feedback loop, holding society hostage to a fake story about how real-world progress occurs.

There are no young people solving negotiations, achieving equanimity, crafting holistic solutions, proposing models for societal improvement, etc.

Only for games.

We are artificially fashioning our world around games.

It’s time to redefine “smart.”