" My intelligence, then, is not absolute but is a function of the society I live in and of the fact that a small subsection of that society has managed to foist itself on the rest as an arbiter of such matters." ( Asimov,1)
"Understanding doesn't mean that you can suddenly speak the language. ( Sedaris, 295)
In my opinion, Asimov realized that even though his academic intelligence is high, when presented with a simple joke he could not untangle it. When one person is taken out of their element of "academic training" and introduced to common intelligence, or street smarts, they will sometimes perform poorly.(Asimov,1)
My conclusion of Asimov piece is this: Do educated people forget about the human element?
On the other hand, Sedaris's approach to the same issue is through a foreign language. Being taken out of someones world of words is an important part of his short story. But in Sedaris's case the embarrassment and associate feelings are much bigger part of the issue. Though the inability to express yourself has nothing to do with your intelligence, your limitation "in terms of vocabulary" make you "appear less then sophisticated".( Sedaris, 292)
I agree that the frustration and constant search for right words to express your thoughts and feelings can make us question that intelligence is not absolute.
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I was struck by this: "Do educated people forget about the human element?" Help me understand what you mean by "educated" people here.
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