Its is true, nobody can force you to become smart, a boy or girl have to like academics on their own. Honor Rolls did it for me, that motivated me to get them all the time, and I only slowed down when I hit puberty and started noticing girls. Aside from certain “genetic” factors, I also believe a student has the edge if he comes from a priviledged home and if he/she has been in private schools all their life. If a student in college has never had to do a hard day’s labor in their life thanks to their parents, then it is a shame NOT to be summa cum laude. Hell, if I was in that position, I would take advantage and excel, but I was dealt a different hand. Am I sour at that? No. It has actually helped mold me into the individual I am today, and the glory much more rewarding. In my case, I work my ass off, help my family, pay my school, and still keep up with many of the best students that have never had much hardship, and have all the time in the world to focus on school. I am proud of that. As you say, some people give in to the pursuit of pleasure, and that is sad. Lack of physically demanding labor doesn’t take away any merit of “true” smart people, however. Everybody looks up to Rishi, Humair, Jonathan, Sai, to the point that it must become annoying to you guys. I try not to annoy anybody, just have discussions. To have all those HBU people in your business, I mean. Me? I have only ever considered myself mildly intelligent. I am much more curious than “smart”. I do try to surround myself with people that are smarter than myself so I can learn off of them. Glenn Seaborg did something similar like this all his life, working with people much more talented than himself like- G.N. Lewis, Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, Arthur Compton, Ernest Lawrence, etc., and the man got very far. Not that I am implying that I am a Seaborg, of course. IQ tests and MCATS and GPAs are numbers that can hint at the level of intelligence some people have, but we shouldn’t put too much weigh into that. I firmly believe it is what you do out in the real world that counts. Did Einstein and Feynman get As in every school subject? No. They were just extremely, extremely good in very few areas, physics and maybe writing. Think about it from this angle: It is something akin to a college football player winning the Heisman Trophy. The best football player in college is not necessarily the best player coming in the NFL. Where is Reggie Bush or Vince Young? What I am trying to say is, smart people should never stop at the glory of undergraduate studies and shall continually prove themselves in the real world. That is my mission in life, and I KNOW that is yours too. Great post, Rishi. =)

Many people consider doctors to be one of the smartest people around this is because their knowledge in medicine serve as a benefit in society by saving lives. Poltician are also consider to be intelligence that is because their knowledge in politics and foregin policy keep us save. However let just said if the world was full of healthy people would our knowledge in medicne be consider to be intelligence or would we be consider on of those people with usless knowledge like people who had knowledge about movie stars lives since it does not serve purpose or benefit the society.