ONANI 6: A.I. (Assumption of Intelligence)

Intelligent. UPSR top scorer? PMR? SPM? Rocket scientist? The nerd with the humongous glasses who eats lunch alone at school or a pro scammer making a living out of ruining others? Whatever it is everyone has their own set definition or standard for a certain individual to be acknowledged as an intelligent person or not... which is fine by me unless you start imposing your own ideals as the universal standard to what an intelligent human being SHOULD be like!

I think i kinda believe that each and every person, no matter how ridiculous one might seem to the eyes of another, has their own unique attributes that can't simply be accomplished or replicated by most others. NOTE : SOUNDS CLICHE RITE? BUT THINK ABOUT IT, DEEP INSIDE, SOMEWHERE IN THE THINNEST FIBER OF OUR HEARTS, HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE THOUGHT OF THESE? =

1. Speaking English as a mark of undoubted intelligence.
2. Appreciative of art/music makes one sophisticated and unique.
3. Studying at the best places is a pinnacle of knowledge.
4. An abundance of tech knowledge is the epitome of a healthy 21st century brain.
5. etc.

See i don't reject these attributes mentioned at all, but what happens when one does not have a few, or all of the above? They are suddenly unintelligent? Mongrels? Stupid? Kampung? A lesser human than the great people that we are? Now some readers might find this farfetched, but trust me, this generalization is alive and well, especially in a developing country like ours when the race to materialistic satisfaction is at it's prime. OKAY OKAY, emotions aside, i just basically want those who do generalize (wether consciously or subconsciously), to read these arguments to the points above with hopes it would at least wither some ignorance.

1. English speaking = i get stick for having a girlfriend who can't speak fluent English and Malay. So this makes her an idiot? But then again she was born in Korea and has only spent a couple of years living in Malaysia, could we speak any better in a language we were not born to in cut time? But since we are at it, she could speak fluent Korean, Mandarin, Hokkien and some Latin. Her Malay and English is still understandable. Does the model joke still apply here? and she dances and play the piano too, a mentally and physically skillful feat not present in many. And people wanna discriminate about some broken english? Think again.

2. Music/ Art = Unbelievably, i have seen people gotten stick for this too. So the music u dig is rare, underground, cool, infamous, deep. While all u sheep hogging on mainstream music are tasteless and without a mind of your own! ... seriously? If this were the world's measure of intelligence, then we'd be living in a collapsing society where all our philosophers, scientists, educators and leaders are made of drug junking, sex addicting, angst ridden, vanity overload, indie bums. But jokes aside, what you listen to (not produced by you in the first place) can never be a measuring stick to how wonderful your mind is COMPARED to others. In fact, all the wannabes are just SIMILAR in their desperation to SEEM DIFFERENT. While the smart one's are obviously the one's who just chill and enjoy what their ears/eyes/fashion sense fancy. Think again.

3. Studies = Me and not surprisingly a lot more have been given stick for this particular topic too. and i quote "eh? study UiTM je!?" "laaa. UiTM je ke?" "serius kau nak settle study sini je?"... I, for one, am very confident that i get annoyed/ terasa by such comments being put forward constantly with either tones of sympathy and ridicule. I have my reasons why i took the path that i took, academically, socially and spiritually. A well calculated decision i must say, and here i am being convinced by others that i would become somewhat 'lesser' down this road. Then explain to me, why in the blazes do i see a couple of overseas architecture graduates from my office being sent to remote branch companies to design sub stations, garbage houses and waste plants while a number of local grads are filling the main office, making big bucks, huge projects, establishing networking with the big boys of the business? it's because IT DOESN'T FREAKIN MATTER WHERE U AT AS LONG AS U APPROACH IT WITH THE RITE ATTITUDE. WHERE U PLACE YOUR SORRY ASS ON THE GLOBE DOES NOT AFFECT YOUR BRAIN CELL COUNT(fact). think again.

4. Gadgets = Oh man, i know personally me and my equally primitive brother gets a lot of stick for this. It's okay that a bunch of peeps are cool, trendy, up to date and saint like with their latest purchase of a piece of flashy plastic. But the odd half of people who absolutely do not give a flying fuck about all that do not have to put up with jibes from your part. Not being interested, oblivious of, and even a lacking in financial muscle to embrace the rise of gizmos galore does not make us backward. I'm sorry i don't need a touchscreen for reasonable fears it would just rosak after months. I'm sorry i don't dig Macbooks due to the lack of right clicks and the unfamiliar interface. I'm sorry i don't need cameras, thermometers, microwaves and others stuffed into my phone then pay thousands for it. So you see, calculated decisions here too, NOT blissful ignorance as most would assume. Our tastes, priorities, wants and needs are different, tu je.

At the end of the day, am admittedly reminding myself too that just because the other dude is not like u, doesn't meant he is lesser than u. One of the many proofs on earth of God's greatness is the diversity in humanity itself, to generalize and disrespect that could probably count as dissing the Big Boss upstairs too. So let's just hope that one day mankind could instead find that universal standard of intelligence for all, the intelligence to respect and not assume.