Am I Smart? Are You Smart? How Do We Really Know?!

Do you remember when you were back in grade school and you’d take a test, get a 100, and instantly feel “smart?” You might have been in honors classes, you might have scored well on your SATs and gotten yourself into a top college, maybe even an Ivy league.

But now that I really think about it, now that we’re in our careers of choice, what actually makes us smart? There’s no real test to prove our level of brilliance at this point in our lives. And as long as we’re excelling in our job, be it as the best bus boy in town or the most skilled receptionist, then that’s all that really matters, right?

So what really makes us smart? Is it the ability to know and talk about what’s in the New York Times (and complete those challenging crossword puzzles)? Is it knowing how to invest your money? Or is it knowing how to throw in a witty comment in a conversation? (I definitely qualify for this one…) There are all different levels of "smarts" out there. Heck look at the picture above to see.

But I love when people describe me as smart. Really? Because I don’t feel smart when you ask me why I’m a Democrat and not a Republican and the best answer I can give you is that the red donkey looks so much cuter than the blue elephant (Just kidding…I’m not THAT bad…and yes, I DO KNOW it’s the other way around).

If you know the answer to Jeopardy questions like this, then you're smart, right?

The truth it, it doesn’t really matter what is considered “smart” at this point. If you can answer every question on Jeopardy, that’s awesome. If you can find a career that allows you to use your useless Jeopardy trivia, than that’s even MORE awesome. If you were the biggest idiot in high school and college, but somehow know how to turn your $1,200 paycheck into $5,500 after investments and stocks, then maybe you have the last laugh.

The point is I have no idea what constitutes “smart” anymore. Heck, the fact that I’m even writing a post like this—does THAT make me smart?

WHO EVEN KNOWS!