I have always appreciated intellectual discussion. It is truly enjoyable to see what our minds can conceive when we bounce ideas, suggestions, and questions off of one another. The great minds throughout history always had contemporaries who helped formulate and create their ideas; they didn't exist in a vaccuum.
But intelligence can, in the wrong context, be a liability.
It's not just the age old argument about the fine line between genius and insanity at play here; intelligence can be a liability if it is applied improperly. Any point made by someone of lesser intellect, for example, may be perceived as wrong, even if the person has hit on a truth you did not perceive. Intelligence, in my opinion, is always a liability when one uses it to direct hate and anger at their adversaries. This lesson was taught me early on when I used to spew vulgarities at my contemporaries. A wise adult friend reminded me that I had the intellectual capacity to come up with much better retorts, and that those vulgarities tended to show a lack of intelligence, rather than the possession of the same.
One of the chief factors in intelligence being applied properly or improperly, is the possession and utilization of wisdom. Wisdom and intelligence do not always go hand in hand; one may have a genius IQ and be an utter fool, or one may be learning disabled and yet inordinately wise. We never can tell these things on the surface.
It's my hope that I may learn to use my intelligence less as a liability and more as an asset; as I learn to do so, perhaps I can inspire others to do the same.
signing off,
Gideon MacLeish