Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Does Knowledge Have an Aura?

Now, I'm not saying I'm the smartest crayon in the box, but most of the time I do like to hang out in the Smart Crayon Box.

So once when I was in class (Psychology) we were going to play a game. (Can you say interactive?) And to play this game we had to divide into teams to play a version of jeopardy. I was sitting there thinking, by golly, I'm terrible at jeopardy. And this dude, whom I didn't even know knew my name, let alone knew enough to shout out to the whole class: "I want Naomi on my team. She's smart." Dude! A) Embarrassing 2) No matter how smart I am, I am terrible at jeopardy C) How do you know my name? 4) How do you know that I'm smart?? This is the second day of class!!! Suffice it to say I gave him my "you're obviously on drugs or meds, because you're crazy" look.

If I were a frog I would've given him this look

So then today I was sitting on a chair minding my own business. There was this girl next to me and I thought she was murmuring the words of her textbook to herself, because I've done that before (though, not when I'm sitting next to a complete stranger). But then I realize it's the same monotonous murmuring. Oh my werd. She is HUMMING. I didn't think it was possible to hum out of tune, but lo and behold, it is. So I'm trying to think of some polite way to ask her to stop (which is pretty much impossible. No matter how you say "by Santa Clause, that noise is annoying" you will sound like a rude pig-faced psycho-path) when Hallelujah! she stopped. She turned to me. She said, "Is Christian Educator a word?"

I stared at her. She stared back. She expected a response. "Um..." I tried not to tell her that she hummed like a somnolent bee. "Yes? I mean, if you're a Christian no matter where you teach you will be a Christian Educator."

"Oh, I just wanted to know if educator was a word. It sounds weird."

I laughed awkwardly. "I think it is. If it's not you can blame me." (Even though she doesn't know my name."

She nodded. She sat there. I tried to study Greek, but two girls over were talking about shoes or something. (Honestly, I don't know, I wasn't paying attention. Greek verb endings were a little bit higher on my priority list.) Then the girl stands and scurries away.

Okay, so nothing too weird, right? I mean, she just asks a simple question and then runs away. But it got me thinking, does knowledge have an aura, or something? Is there a certain smell around smarter people that one can pick up on? Like the smell of strawberries, or sugar cane.


Sugar cane smells smart

Or maybe it was because I was studying Greek while digging through my Akkadian homework.

Right. Because studying ancient languages makes me smart. Ha. Really, it just gives you a massive whallop of a headache while you ask yourself "why, why, why?"


6 comments:

Rebecca T. said...

bwa hahahaha! I think it is really funny that people do seem to think certain people are smart. (i.e. college professor who asked me to be a biology tutor when I was thinking there was no way I could pass)

And I think studying two ancient languages at the same time would give off an aura of intelligence.

Unknown said...

Ha! I cannot imagine you being a biology tutor. You would end up smashing the person's head with the book. At least, I know I would.

Wiststra: a card game involving straws

Blam said...

We smart crayons are happy to have you in the box with us.
...
I tried to study Greek, but two girls ... were talking about shoes or something.
Ha! I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard that. Actually, I did study Greek for a week or so my first semester of college, but it turned out to be a bit much right out of the gate. We had no specific course requirements (more general ones, yes) and I took advantage of that by filling up an eclectic schedule with Intro to Drawing, Astronomy, The Life & Teachings of Jesus, and Intro to Ancient Greek. I pretty quickly realized I was in a tad over my head, so I dropped Greek for Jewish Folklore.
...
Or maybe it was because I was studying Greek while digging through my Akkadian homework.
Sweet muffins! Akkadian? The same semester as Greek? Methinks your crayon box might be on a higher shelf than mine, labeled "crazy-smart and/or possibly just crazy".
...
VW: thsfized — What the drunk fella said about his very carbonated beer.

Rebecca T. said...

I definitely think her box is on the crazy shelf... you should have seen her last semester taking Greek, Sociology, Psychology, College Writing and somethin' else, which escapes me right now. Crazy with a dash of insanity! :)

VW: NuUsLost - people who tried to begin watching Lost this season

Unknown said...

Whoops... how did I miss those last two comments?

@Blam: Jewish folklore?? Dude! Those sound like some real fun classes.

@Sonshine: It was Culture and Communications, and they were only intro classes. You make it sound like I was taking mad hard classes.

Blam said...

Dude! Those sound like some real fun classes.
Yeah... I just wish they hadn't been so hard. 8^) No, I'm not against challenging myself, but college was a big change and I bit off a bit more than I could chew; I really could've used more help from my advisor. The Astronomy class was for Physics majors as opposed to the general survey course I thought it was, and I didn't find out until it was too late. The Greek was way too much on top of everything else, and Jewish Folklore, in addition to interesting me, helped allay my grandparents' concerns over the Life & Teachings of Jesus class, despite my assuring them that while Oberlin was founded by missionaries nobody was trying to convert me and the class took a textual/historical perspective.