Today's post is brought to you by J.R.R Tolkien, beloved writer, Philologist, and soldier of the First World War and it is in regards to some views that I share about the power of storytelling. For years I've maintained that stories are one of the strongest aspect of the human condition..... We've used them for centuries to pass down knowledge, draw allegory, promote morals and values as well as create them to create them. Think of the most impactful stories of your life and think about why you enjoy them so much, was it fore the characters? The themes? The pacing? The world building? The plot? All of the above or none? It's crazy how powerful the art of storytelling is--CONTINUE READING for an interesting perspective on the subject matter  

Daily Words of Wisdom: Maybe....

So it's easy to confuse education with intelligence.
Education is the certification of the basic understandings of social etiquette and facts as far as a society or species go.
And Intelligence is defined as (well according to wikipedia, I couldn't think of a personal definition):

A very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings—"catching on," "making sense" of things, or "figuring out" what to do.

Words of wisdom: Don't confuse one with the other. ANYBODY (provided the time, money and discipline exists) can be educated, its easy to essentially memorize facts about subjects and jump though hoops it is hard to think about the why, what, who, where and when. INTELLIGENCE is rare, EDUCATION isn't.

 So next time you want to criticize somebody for being 'stupid' take a step back and realize this.

DISCLAIMER: THERE ARE MANY MANY MANY EXCEPTIONS TO THIS OBSERVATION, but in a general sense it is very true. After all: How often do we show our ignorance when calling other people stupid (we all do stupid things at times).