I believe most of us have some understanding of our place in the world, how we rank in relation to all others with regard to beauty, talent, strength, intellect, etcetera. Of course some of us have an inflated sense of self, and others see themselves as less than they are. Me? At seventy, I thought I had a pretty good idea of how I measure up.
Then I attended the British Society of Eighteenth Century Studies with Daughter. I have already mentioned how smart those people were. What I realize, now, is that listening to Daughter and other presenters has required an adjustment in my self-evaluation. I will just say that I haven't moved up.
I suppose I will get used to it.
I decided a long time ago that being "average" is ok. (It has to be, since I will never be one of those extremely smart or extremely talented people). :)
ReplyDeleteNow, now. Yes, they are smart, and some of them are brilliant. But some of them are just highly specialized. Put me in a room of math professors, and I'm an idiot. But I realized a while back that some people just have better operating systems than I do. Or more gigs, or more RAM. Whatever. As for talent, well, I realized the truth about that a while ago, too. But sometimes I still like to dream. As for me and my place at BSECS? Most of them are better read than me, and at least half of them (if not more) are smarter than me. My skill? I write clear arguments (usually).
ReplyDeleteI could probably teach them a thing or two about thread, fabric, or wax - or maybe even common sense. But geez! They were smart.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, yes, I agree. But average is a broad range, and I just moved down.