Would you tell me about four of the ten smartest people you've ever known?
Asked by
Jeruba (
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April 1st, 2017
Never mind figuring out if they’re the four smartest. How would you know that, anyway? Just as long as they’re up there near the top. How would you describe them?
For instance:
How do you know them?
What sort of people are (or were) they?
What are their personalities like, and what do they do?
How much do you think their braininess defines them?
Would you call them successful by ordinary standards?
Do you like them?
Have you ever envied them? or pitied them?
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4 Answers
This is a great question, but I think I’ll have to just give you the cliff notes version because there would be too much to write. In no particular order.
1. My son’s paternal grandfather. World renown scientist. Very much admired and missed.
2. My son’s father. Dysfunctional misfit and self-medicated. Very pitiable creature.
3. My last boyfriend. A respected research scientist. Very much admired and respected.
4. Michele, A woman accountant I worked with in New Zealand. Sharpest legal and accounting mind I ever met. I think I could go as far as saying I sort of envied her. I taught myself how to use the adding machine by touch because I admired how she could do it. (these are the days before computing on spreadsheets. We used actual paper spreadsheets.)
I will have to think about this question for a bit before I can answer reasonably. A few people immediately come to mind and I’m noticing a trend. I’ll answer later when I collect my thoughts.
In general, I liked and respected them.
Let me tell you about one of them.
Sally is the daughter of a minor science fiction legend who fought the fascists while in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
Sally sings light opera, tutors poor kids in math and english, and is a very active wiccan.
When we would do crosswords at work, she could endlessly talk about mistakes the puzzlemakers made (“22 across says ‘Martian Goddess’, but she is actually a Martian fairy princess”). While we didn’t agree on many things, I was very impressed about the depth of her knowledge regarding religion, world politics, and a great many other topics.
And as I have said before, the seven smartest people I know are all women.
The smartest person I know I my husband, by far. He has a genius I.Q.
I would definitely have to put Bjo Trimble who I met at the Science Fiction Conventions I volunteered at, and as a fellow member of the SCA
David Filo, Co-Founder of Yahoo through my work on Yahoo Answers and my volunteer crafts.
There are many other people I could add.
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