“People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” (Isaac Asimov). I’ve never thought of myself as particularly smart. Back in my primary school days, they used to divide students up based on how quickly they could learn: there was one accelerated class, three regular classes and one slower class. I was in the accelerated class, but I was definitely the slowest kid in the class. I would have much rather been the smartest kid in the regular class. Then I could have gotten all A’s and B’s instead of B’s, C’s and even one F. I failed one class in H.S. The class was Geometry. I didn’t find out until years later why. Someone once told me I must be “spatially challenged”. I had no idea what that meant so I looked it up. The first definition was like this: A phrase “to call someone fat. To be so large that you have trouble finding space to fit into.” They used this example: “Yo dawg, do you think Nicole can fit in that chair?” I was not physically large enough to be body-shamed, so I knew that wasn’t right. The second definition has to do more with social norms: Body space awareness or spatial awareness is the ability to know where your body is, compared to other people and objects. “Hey man, you’re in my space.” Again, I don’t see what that has to do with Geometry. Upon further research, I found this thing called “apperceptive agnosia”. “People with this condition can still detect the appearance of visually presented items, but they have difficulty perceiving their shape and cannot recognize or name them.” OK I can identify with that. One of my test-taking problems back then was when I was presented with several shapes and had to identify the two that matched. I couldn’t. It would be years before diagnosis of such learning problems as ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia, Autism and the dreaded “apperceptive agnosia” would be identified and diagnosed. It was a lot simpler back then. We were labeled as “discipline” problems and just relegated to the short bus. While I was not officially diagnosed with anything, it was clear that I was, for sure, the dumbest kid in the smart class. Forest Gump said it best: “I am not a smart man.” There’s just no other way to say it. As far as Isamov, I don’t pretend to know everything, but I too am annoyed by people who think they do. Thankfully I don’t need to know Geometry, so I can say with confidence, I know everything I NEED to know and as I sit here alone, I’m quite sure I am the smartest one in the room. 12/28/23
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