Is Intelligence Overrated?

Perhaps in business.  At least according to this article.

Apparently, the ability to think logically and technically takes a back seat to one's ability to act maturely, with integrity, and with care and concern for one's body.

In some ways, I wholeheartedly agree that intelligence can be overrated.

I absolutely love telling the following joke:

A congregation president went out to visit one of the older members of the congregation who happened to be a farmer.  The president caught the farmer out in the field, and as they stood in the cotton patch, the president said, "Bob, you really need to come back to church."

"Why?"

"Well, you need to come hear our new preacher.  He's fabulous."

"What makes him so special?"

"Well, he's got a BS an MS, and a PhD."

Bob spit in the dirt and says, "That settles it.  I ain't never coming to church as long as that feller is there."

"Why not?"

"Well, we all know what BS stands for.  MS is just more of the same, and PhD is piled high and deep!"

Indeed, intelligence is no certain judge of ensuring one's success in a given job or enviornment.  Yet, if intelligence leads to wisdom, then that is another matter. 

I would argue that wisdom incorporates all four of the things the article talks about: IQ, EQ, MQ, and BQ.  And wisdom is something that seems to be sorely lacking in our world today.  More and more folks gravitate to either their hearts or their heads and miss the balance between the two that leads to wisdom.

I could at this point delve into the biblical concept of wisdom, but instead, I'll close with a little story provided by one of my members one afternoon:

There are three types of people in this world.

1. Those who learn and come to understand by reading.

2. Those few who learn and understand by observation.

3.  And the rest of those that have to pee on the electric fence in order to learn.