I was just thinking of the importance of actual intelligence and wit in our lives, and when I got a multitude of ideas, I thought the best way to analyse it is by putting it down.
Intelligence, in my opinion isn't just a photographic memory, but the ability to sort out, process and apply knowledge and information acquired from various sources appropriately, exactly when it is needed. Not just the presence of mind, but the ability to think out of the box, and survive any circumstance, eventually.
Wit, on the other hand, is the ability to come up with cleaver lines, comebacks or innuendos at just the right moment. It is the ability to be amazingly funny, but in a cleaver, not-so-geeky way. Most witty people just come up with things instantly, in response to some situation or just something said, and it cracks up the whole crowd.
I particularly appreciate those who manage to be witty and non-offensive, because that's an art too, to be funny and still nice, caz most jokes tend to be about someone or something someone does, and can seriously hurt someone's feelings.
The reason why the other forms of comedy don't usually appeal to me is because they're either offensive, dirty, disgusting or just plain dumb. A person tripping, slipping or falling seriously doesn't make me laugh out loud.
So, although I feel that intelligence and wit don't necessarily go hand in hand, it definitely is a treat to see intelligence meet wit in some people. Not only is the world a brighter place when I meet such people, but I also feel calmer, much more relaxed and happier than I ever was. There's a renewed sense of freedom, and mobility, like when you wear that nice and airy dress on a hot summer's day.
Apart from having so much to discuss with such people, my brain feels like finally, it's had a good, refreshing workout, as opposed to the usual caged, sedentary lifestyle it leads, making small talk with small minded people, discussing insignificant ideas and obsessing over trifles. It is the same refreshing rush of energy I get when I write, like now - the happiness this gives me is just undescribable. It is essential that I do this when I get a head full of ideas, for when I don't, I feel dull, exhausted and useless.
Whatever the reason may be, the brain needs a full work out a few times a week too. Monotonous jobs, living the same old life, adhering to a set routine is most annoying because it gets so boring, and your life and brain becomes so stagnant that it definitely begins to reek in a while. When you notice the stench, and still continue to ignore it, it becomes terribly overwhelming and you lose hope that the situation can be reversed.
It's a little like the whole idea of becoming morbidly obese. You take to eating more and more, for whatever reason, and ignore your expanding waistline. In a while, you will need new clothes every now and then, which can be exciting at first, but then, you run out of choices and sizes caz all you can fit into now are huge, shapeless costumes. Nothing makes you look nice, and you feel that all is lost. You lose not only your shape, but with it, your self esteem, your freedom, your joy and your comfort. People around you don't help much either, making snide remarks, and constantly advising you - badgering you with what you've already heard from the first million people. You stop going out, stop meeting people, stop looking in the mirror, and you become a bitter, miserable person, and stagnate all the more - and then, once your body starts giving up on you, you are just too far gone.
This is how your brain gets too, out of sheer disuse. It gets morbidly obese, then rusty and ultimately unhealthy. It no longer has the vitality and vigour it once had. All you can think about is how miserable your life is, at present and utterly insignificant things like that, and then you wallow in self pity that eventually transforms into self loathing. It is at this point that people give up on life, and stop living. Peace and joy become misery, and life becomes a mere dull, insignificant existence.
However, true intelligence that lacks a sense of humour will lead to utter neglect too, because with a head full of ideas, no outlet, and no comedy, one becomes like one possessed, no longer a member of common society, no way of gelling in, no way of sharing any kind of life or idea, and end up in a state of much more neglect. That's the reason why some scientists go mad.
So, where intelligence meets wit, wisdom, compassion, consideration, humility and recreation, it has spawned the ultimate individual, who lives a beautiful, happy, and wholesome life, with the hope and belief that tomorrow is gonna be still better. When they face problems, the add a little humor to it, softening the blow.
Like Scarlet O'Hara so rightly said, "After all, tomorrow is another day."
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