In much of the world, brute force and the ability to
deceive, rather than intellectual skills and decency, have taken over as the
characteristics that define (or should define) who emerge as leaders and how
societies should be structured and run. Therefore,
people are embraced as leaders, not because they have any leadership skills but
because they are either masters of deceit who have learned how to lie their way
into people’s hearts, or they have the brute power to attain submission to
themselves.
Time was when brilliance was celebrated and rewarded.
That was when, because of his brilliance, Albert Einstein was accepted,
heard, and is still celebrated with incredible references to his
accomplishments in academic and healthcare institutions - some named after him
in the United States and other countries. Mahatma Gandhi used his
brilliance to lead India to independence and to generate movements for civil
rights around the world; Dr. Martin Luther King and many other leaders before
and after him used their brilliance to advance the course of history, their occupations
and/or professions notwithstanding. Most of us can identify at least one such
person in the distant and recent history of our countries of origin and/or the
ones in which we live, or in the communities that we call home - individuals
who responded to the silent call of responsibility and used their brilliance to
positively impact the course of human events.
Although many, like me, would argue that we no longer embrace and celebrate brilliance as much as we used to, it is true that every now and again, we experience sparks of brilliance that remind us of what our engaged brains are capable of. We still have brilliant people making incredible discoveries in their daily lives - such as Dr. Bennett Omalu, the Nigerian-born US-based neuropathologist, who discovered what is now widely known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in the brains of dead American football players. That discovery has forever changed the perception and administration of American football
Despite the sparks of brilliance about which I speak, however, it is my contention that our world has regressed intellectually because, in most aspects of life, it now appears that we are engaged in a shameless race to the bottom. It has become very difficult to recall that time when children were not embarrassed to be called nerds because they were brilliant; or that time when teenagers were desperate to be friends with their very brilliant peers; or the time when parents wanted their children to date and marry only brilliant boys - and girls. Now, schools are filled with children who do not wish to be identified as brilliant for fear that they would not be accepted into the hip social groups, and society is replete with parents who want their children to only marry wealthy people, notwithstanding how the wealth was acquired and/or the credibility of the suitor.
So, look at the world in which we now live. Dunces are celebrated, even as their ascendancy to power and their display of authority either dumb down the intellectual abilities of others around them or make it difficult and/or dangerous for those others to speak truth to power. In some cases, otherwise brilliant people succumb to the lure of material because the exercise of brilliance has been relegated to the glow and acknowledgment of prestige based on wealth. No wonder our world is in so much trouble. It takes more than power and authority to create and maintain a just society. It also takes the ability to understand both the consequences of injustice and the advantages of having a socially just society. In other words, it takes brilliance as well. It takes brilliance to recognize, support and promote the values of a just society. It takes more than determination to develop an original idea in a world saturated by information that can be used effectively for good or bad. It takes brilliance to conceive of, and act on an idea that benefits others beyond the confines of one’s nepotistic system.
In political and religious circles in our world today,
people are ridiculed for their brilliance. In the United States, it is
now the norm for members of a certain political party to refer to their
opponents as “elitists”, implying that the brilliance of their opponents makes
them “different” - that is, different from the people that they aspire to lead.
But ...really...shouldn’t the electorate aspire and be proud to be led by
brilliant people? One would expect so, except that the politicians who pride
themselves in being dunces actually do win a lot of votes and, in many cases,
the election. In too many of today’s churches, pastors condemn the brilliant as
“worldly humanists” that their followers must shun, as if there is something
wrong with the very essence of humanism - which advocates human action and
critical thinking over dogma and superstition. But why?
Why should any people adopt a line that casts them as
having more in common with a dullard? Why don’t communities of thinking
human beings rise against people who want to dumb them down? To what
extent can (or should) people expect a dunce to lead them to glory? One does
not even need to go far back in history to see what can happen when a person is
placed in position who is not brilliant and does not seek knowledge to gain
intellectual strength. We know even from contemporary experience that
intellectually weak people can only bring down the nations, communities,
organizations or departments that they lead. In the absence of high
intellectual skills and an unwillingness to learn, they resort to tactics
intended to legitimize and empower them as bosses rather than as leaders.
Lying, bullying and arrogance at the top of any organization or nation
can only hold the respect of the led for so long before the incompetence of the
leadership is exposed, along with cracks in the system that they were supposed
to be guarding.
Brilliance is a good thing. The alternative is
dangerous for any society. Brilliance should neither be punished nor
discouraged. Nor should it be contained or ignored. We should all strive
to be brilliant and we must recognize that ideas that come out of a brilliant
mind do not sink ships but build edifices that stand the test of time. On
the contrary, the loose talk and uncultured actions of an unintelligent person,
especially one in a position of authority, may do even more than sink ships.
Our world needs nerds to stand up and be counted because the proven ability of
brilliance to shine strong, bright, guiding lights in all corners of a fading,
sleepy world is needed now more than ever. It is time once again to
embrace and celebrate brilliance if we intend for our current societies and we
to make a strong march into history.
