COTM | Metacognition

Oh sweet Monday, why do you love me so? Happy Monday Folks!

On my red-eye flight last night I had some time to think - sleeping was nearly impossible 'cause I was too worried about the potential Tuberculosis circulating through my air vents. And I'm pretty sure the guy next to me coughed up his left lung...but not positive because my head was burrowed under a blanket I brought. Anywho, while meditating in my self-made aviation fort, I thought about intelligence, common sense, and all those other "smart things." Common sense would tell Mr. Tuberculosis not to fly but intelligence (his doctors) allegedly gave him the go ahead. But then again, common sense & a little intelligence would probably tell Madonna not to do this - and she's considered to have a "Superior IQ." So what makes us "intelligent" and can we truly measure it?

Albert Camus said, "An intellectual is a person whose mind watches itself" and I couldn't agree more. If I could only take one thing away from 7th grade math (and I did), it would be metacognition: thinking about your thinking about your thinking....etc. That, I believe, is the foundation of intelligence/intellecutalism. We all know that standardized tests don't really measure intelligence - at least that's what I tell myself after I take one. But enough about my insecurities...

Let's make-up our own intelligence test to jog our brains. Forget your IQ, throw-out your SAT, GRE, LSAT, GMAT, & MCAT. This is the new measure of intelligence & aptitude. If you succeed at any of these tests, consider yourself smart. And yes, these tests are graded on a curve so you're all good. You don't even need a pencil...

• Radar Quiz - "So You Think You're Smart" - 10 quick questions

• O'Reilly Factor w/Steven Colbert - Pass = you laugh at Bill O'Reilly | Fail = you agree with Bill O'Reilly

• Tickle Pop Culture Test - if you're feeling extra smart, go ahead and take the IQ test

• Dictionary Test - You know at least one of the many new words just added to the Oxford English Dictionary . Whoa, whoa, whoa - you mean to tell me that toodles wasn't in the dictionary before this year? For shame.

With that, remember the random yet profound words of Arthur C. Clarke: "It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value."

Words of wisdom, words of wisdom.

Have a great week!

p.s: Voltaire said, "anything too stupid to be said is sung." With that, here's your MOS [Moment of Schadenfreude]. Remember Bizzy Bone from Bone Thugs -n- Harmony ? If so, you're gonna love this one.