Sixties Chick

I swear to you; there it was right in front of me, right there on the monitor screen. You are related to Albert Einstein, it read. That’s right; according to the genealogical website Geni, I am related to the greatest mind of our time, the man whose very name is synonymous with genius.

It seems that my Aunt Ruth’s great great grandfather, Lazarus Einstein, was a second cousin to Albert’s great grandfather, Rupert Einstein, making my Aunt Ruth and Albert fifth cousins once removed. Never mind that Ruth was my Aunt purely by dint of having married my Uncle. It’s close enough for me.

Damn, I think, where was this information when I needed it, when I could’ve used it most? It sure would have been helpful growing up to know that Albert and his brains were part of the family, no matter how tenuous the bond.  It might have made me feel smart. It might have saved me a lot of heartache.

A late bloomer my mother called me. But long past the blooming, I spent years convinced I wasn’t smart enough. After all, wasn’t I passed over for safety duty in 6^th grade? Anyone with half a brain could figure out that the coveted job of student crossing guard with its early dismissal from school had gone to the brightest in the class: Jeanie  Lifter, David Soden, Judy Stein. Of course, they were all tall, too, I deduced as they marched to the front of the class as their names were called. But in the end, Elayn Rockower was among them, and she was shorter than I was.

This notable family connection might have helped ease my shredded self-image the following year as well, when in that first year of Junior High, a class of gawky preteens were divided into six sections according to (guess what?) intellectual aptitude. When the class genius landed in #17 and the “most challenged” in #67, it didn’t take an “A” student to understand where you fell on the continuum. Thanks to a group of very practical childhood educators, the fate of this  self-doubting 12-year-old was sealed for years to come. Did they think us dummies were too dumb to notice?

Einstein and me? Hmmm. If I’d known back then, I might have found the stamina to conquer quadratic equations or the confidence to face the dreaded SATs with optimism and resolve. I might have believed that a high score could be mine, or forgiven myself when it wasn’t.

Today, although I’m delighted to claim Albert as kin, it no longer matters. Somewhere, way past my school days, I decided I was smart enough. I also decided that smart is overrated. Not that I don’t love a razor sharp mind. It’s only that over the years I’ve gotten to see some of the “brightest” in action. It left me wary and wiser.

Take any one of those oily Enron guys, the “smartest in the room,” or those high-ranking, militant masterminds with plenty of  good reasons why other people’s kids should  go to war. Kissinger, McNamara, Rumsfeld, Cheney to name just a few.

Pick any of those slick Wall Street wizards who in their paneled board rooms pulled off a heist that have brought an entire country to its knees. Obscene profits, other people’s risk. You can’t get more brilliant than that. (To be a smart citizen of the world, the documentary Inside Job by Charles Ferguson is a must see, www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2DRm5ES-uA .)

Whether it’s for power or good old greed, the world is full of people who are way too smart, not for their own good, but for everyone else’s.

So after careful analysis, culled not from years of exhaustive, double-blind studies paid for by fellowships from Ivy League institutions, but from my own powers of observation over five decades; I have determined that intelligence is not what it’s cracked up to be.

Since I’m smarter than I’ve ever been, I’ve got a whole new take on it. Smart, for me, is an awareness of the planet, of other people, of how we’re connected and interdependent.  Smart is  examining my truths, being conscious of my actions. Smart is knowing who I am. With all due respect to Cousin Albert, what more do I need to know?

P.S. Here’s a treat from a really smart guy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUfS8LyeUyM

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