Dude, use your head!

Dolphins aside, human beings are the creatures on this planet with the greatest capacity for intellectual thought. Just how much credit do we give ourselves for this? Probably a bit too much. After all, people do relentlessly stupid things all the time. It's part of the human condition. The blessings of intelligence and brilliance are no proof against folly; even such gifted people commit idiotic acts with frightening regularity. Such things are the stuff of casebooks; you know someone's case is in trouble when the Supreme Court quotes the Plaintiff's own psych evaluation: "Moron, low grade." (Galloway v. United States)

And yet, clearly extraordinary things are possible. How else to explain lightning calculations, idiot savants, Mozart, Einstein, Hawking or Hugo? Even without resorting to tales of the paranormal, the clod of gray matter that sits in the skull is capable of contributing to truly marvelous things.

But of the billions of minds on the planet, how many venture into territory such as that? It's been estimated that, on average, only about 10% of a person's brain ever really gets used. Maybe the human brain evolved to be so relatively huge so that some of it would be utilized, even if only by accident.

Of course, we don't all end up using the same 10%. Some of us are better at some things than others; it's no call to be elitist, really; we're all dullards in at least one way. We have to make allowances for each other. But how much is too much?

The question smells elitist; it's an admission of inequality in a world where we pretend to be equal. The same truth which can set you free, can also be used to oppress. Yet, it's certainly possible to set the bar too low; there are some instances where even a little thought wouldn't be too much to ask.

For instance, this question was posed on the California Driver's Exam: "Four cars arrive at a four-way stop, at the same time. Who has the right of way? A) The car driving North B) The car driving East C) the one on the right D) no one."

The answer was C). Clearly, the message here is not to think; the letter of the law is always right, no matter how inappropriate, absurd, or inapplicable in the given situation. I was incensed.

To paraphrase the words of one Supreme Court Justice (though out of context): it is difficult to imagine a system more likely to inspire cynicism and contempt.