At a recent get-together with family and friends, we all had fun playing a trivia game. I embarrassed myself, however, when I couldn't answer a simple science question: How many chromosomes do humans have?
Fortunately, I kept quiet, because my answer would have been way off the mark. I would have said people have two chromosomes - an X and a Y. In fact, humans have 46 chromosomes.
Of course, I had to Google this fact and find out why my knowledge on this issue was so lacking. As it turns out, I was hung up on the 23rd pair of chromosomes, which differentiate men from women.
I'm ashamed to admit this gap in my knowledge. I even hesitated writing this blog post, lest some potential employer come across it and jump to the conclusion that I'm too stupid to do business with.
I consider myself a person of at least reasonable intelligence. After all, I'm college-educated, having graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English from a reputable, fully accredited university. I'm proud to say my alma mater is The Ohio State University - home of the Buckeyes, the 2015 National Champions in the inaugural College Football Playoff.
Yes, I'll brag on the Buckeyes. But I don't want to sound snobbish in saying that I'm part of only 28.8 percent of the U.S. population who holds a bachelor's degree or higher, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
So why am I not up to speed on such a basic fact as how many chromosomes I and my fellow human beings have?
After mulling over this dilemma, I think it boils down to knowledge vs. intelligence. These two qualities are, indeed, mutually exclusive.
In researching this topic, I came across an excellent blog post by Kevin Burke. In the post, he quotes from the book "Executive Intelligence" by Justin Menkes that sheds light on my dilemma:
"The distinction between knowledge and intelligence is frequently blurred. For example, [on] Jeopardy!, contestants are rewarded for the large amount of knowledge they possess on a wide variety of topics. Often, the winners are refered to as "exceptionally smart." But the truth is that they are exceptionally knowledgeable. Successful Jeopardy! contestants haven't really proven anything about their intelligence."
So, not knowing certain facts doesn't necessarily mean you lack intelligence (as I like to tell myself). I'll be the first to admit that, as an English major, I'm more of a wordsmith and math and science are not and have never been my strong suit.
Another online resource I stumbled across in my research confirms my belief that there are different types of intelligence, or "multiple intelligences," as an article on the Flatworld Knowledge site puts it.
I consider myself a creative person, and this article proposes that creative people tend to possess five components: imaginative thinking, risk taking, working in a creative environment, intrinsic interest and expertise.
These last two components - intrinsic interest and expertise - give me comfort that I'm not "dumb" because I didn't know how many chromosomes humans have. Like most people, I tend to concentrate my efforts in areas of intrinsic interest and try to develop expertise in these areas. The areas of intrinsic interest to me include creative writing, journalism, filmmaking and the history of publishing, film, music and other creative industries.
So I might fail a trivia contest on science topics, but win the grand prize in a trivia game about pop culture.
And, of course, it's possible that at some point in school, I was taught how many chromosomes humans have. But this factoid may have been pushed to the back of my memory - or pushed out altogether - by facts that are of more relevance to my day-to-day work as a writer and areas of intrinsic interest that I pursue.
In school, many of us are taught about the food pyramid and which foods are grouped in which categories. I had another embarrassing moment recently when, during a conversation with my sister, she was ragging on someone she thought was an idiot because they thought eggs are a dairy product. Once again, I kept silent and didn't admit that I had this mistaken thought in my head, as well.
But I'm not alone. According to About.com, thinking that eggs are dairy product is a "somewhat common misconception." Why? Because eggs are sold in the dairy section of most grocery stores.
And I thought I'd remembered seeing a food pyramid as a child that grouped eggs in the dairy category, but when I tried to Google this erroneous food pyramid from the '70s and '80s when I was in grade school, I couldn't track down this artifact that I had apparently concocted in my imagination.
When I posted this gap in knowledge on Facebook, a friend of mine replied, "I can't stop laughing right now" - meaning that my misinformation was just too funny for words.
Would people like me who go around mistaking eggs for dairy products and can't correctly name how many chromosomes humans have flunk out on the quiz show "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" Perhaps.
What is likely the case is that people like me are intelligent, but lacking knowledge in certain areas - or in need of a refresher in certain subjects. And furthermore, even though I have a college degree, I'm well-aware that, like the old saying, it's possible to be "book-smart and life-stupid." Knowledge and common sense don't always go hand in hand.
There are numerous examples of high school and college dropouts who went on to become millionaires many times over, and college graduates who struggle to make their student loan payments. There are many self-taught musicians who are much more successful and disciplined than the most knowledgeable Julliard grads.
The Hubpages forum recently hosted a discussion on the topic "What is the difference between knowledge and intelligence?" As one commenter succinctly put it, "The difference is knowing 'how to' think and [not] just remembering information. You are not your knowledge, you are the intelligence that learns how to assimilate, process and store your knowledge."
So, yes, I do consider myself intelligent. Even if I don't know how many chromosomes I have.
Fortunately, I kept quiet, because my answer would have been way off the mark. I would have said people have two chromosomes - an X and a Y. In fact, humans have 46 chromosomes.
Of course, I had to Google this fact and find out why my knowledge on this issue was so lacking. As it turns out, I was hung up on the 23rd pair of chromosomes, which differentiate men from women.
I'm ashamed to admit this gap in my knowledge. I even hesitated writing this blog post, lest some potential employer come across it and jump to the conclusion that I'm too stupid to do business with.
I consider myself a person of at least reasonable intelligence. After all, I'm college-educated, having graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English from a reputable, fully accredited university. I'm proud to say my alma mater is The Ohio State University - home of the Buckeyes, the 2015 National Champions in the inaugural College Football Playoff.
Yes, I'll brag on the Buckeyes. But I don't want to sound snobbish in saying that I'm part of only 28.8 percent of the U.S. population who holds a bachelor's degree or higher, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
So why am I not up to speed on such a basic fact as how many chromosomes I and my fellow human beings have?
After mulling over this dilemma, I think it boils down to knowledge vs. intelligence. These two qualities are, indeed, mutually exclusive.
In researching this topic, I came across an excellent blog post by Kevin Burke. In the post, he quotes from the book "Executive Intelligence" by Justin Menkes that sheds light on my dilemma:
"The distinction between knowledge and intelligence is frequently blurred. For example, [on] Jeopardy!, contestants are rewarded for the large amount of knowledge they possess on a wide variety of topics. Often, the winners are refered to as "exceptionally smart." But the truth is that they are exceptionally knowledgeable. Successful Jeopardy! contestants haven't really proven anything about their intelligence."
So, not knowing certain facts doesn't necessarily mean you lack intelligence (as I like to tell myself). I'll be the first to admit that, as an English major, I'm more of a wordsmith and math and science are not and have never been my strong suit.
Another online resource I stumbled across in my research confirms my belief that there are different types of intelligence, or "multiple intelligences," as an article on the Flatworld Knowledge site puts it.
I consider myself a creative person, and this article proposes that creative people tend to possess five components: imaginative thinking, risk taking, working in a creative environment, intrinsic interest and expertise.
These last two components - intrinsic interest and expertise - give me comfort that I'm not "dumb" because I didn't know how many chromosomes humans have. Like most people, I tend to concentrate my efforts in areas of intrinsic interest and try to develop expertise in these areas. The areas of intrinsic interest to me include creative writing, journalism, filmmaking and the history of publishing, film, music and other creative industries.
So I might fail a trivia contest on science topics, but win the grand prize in a trivia game about pop culture.
And, of course, it's possible that at some point in school, I was taught how many chromosomes humans have. But this factoid may have been pushed to the back of my memory - or pushed out altogether - by facts that are of more relevance to my day-to-day work as a writer and areas of intrinsic interest that I pursue.
In school, many of us are taught about the food pyramid and which foods are grouped in which categories. I had another embarrassing moment recently when, during a conversation with my sister, she was ragging on someone she thought was an idiot because they thought eggs are a dairy product. Once again, I kept silent and didn't admit that I had this mistaken thought in my head, as well.
But I'm not alone. According to About.com, thinking that eggs are dairy product is a "somewhat common misconception." Why? Because eggs are sold in the dairy section of most grocery stores.
And I thought I'd remembered seeing a food pyramid as a child that grouped eggs in the dairy category, but when I tried to Google this erroneous food pyramid from the '70s and '80s when I was in grade school, I couldn't track down this artifact that I had apparently concocted in my imagination.
When I posted this gap in knowledge on Facebook, a friend of mine replied, "I can't stop laughing right now" - meaning that my misinformation was just too funny for words.
Would people like me who go around mistaking eggs for dairy products and can't correctly name how many chromosomes humans have flunk out on the quiz show "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" Perhaps.
What is likely the case is that people like me are intelligent, but lacking knowledge in certain areas - or in need of a refresher in certain subjects. And furthermore, even though I have a college degree, I'm well-aware that, like the old saying, it's possible to be "book-smart and life-stupid." Knowledge and common sense don't always go hand in hand.
There are numerous examples of high school and college dropouts who went on to become millionaires many times over, and college graduates who struggle to make their student loan payments. There are many self-taught musicians who are much more successful and disciplined than the most knowledgeable Julliard grads.
The Hubpages forum recently hosted a discussion on the topic "What is the difference between knowledge and intelligence?" As one commenter succinctly put it, "The difference is knowing 'how to' think and [not] just remembering information. You are not your knowledge, you are the intelligence that learns how to assimilate, process and store your knowledge."
So, yes, I do consider myself intelligent. Even if I don't know how many chromosomes I have.
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