The lottery of intelligence

Above is a Victorian picture of my first home. I was born in the house behind the horse and cart in 1961. Few changes had been made sinc it was built. It had no hot water or bathroom and an outside toilet. It was a four roomed house. The living room and Kitchen formed the ground floor and two bedrooms the upstairs. My father worked in the local paper mill and I remember little of him. He died in 1973. I do remember that this mill worker loved building electric motors using copper wire, knitting needles and a wooden base. They worked too! I never really knew him but I am sure he had other interests you wouldn't expect from a working class person. At that time the pools, the Pub and the Saturday football results were the main interests of the working classes. reading matter included the Daily Mirror, the News of the World and whatever books came your way.

So along I came, a child of a very working class, fairly poor family. I too had interests you wouldn't expect. Classical Greek and Roman mythology fascinate me. I love working out what makes people tick and I find myself comfortable with Latin and the words deriving from Latin. This in turn helps with another interest, Trivia. I have crammed my mind with all kinds of nonsense, none of which is genuinely useful in life. I never pass up a chance to learn something new and am a voracious reader. I try reading Shakespeare and enjoy history both ancient and modern. You know, dear reader, of my love of superstitions and the paranormal. Crime is another passion, the grislier the better. All this from a poor lad who never made it past 'O' Level. Then when the rise of the Computer and the Internet began I found I not only had an interest in it but the technology and techniques involved came naturally to me. I did not suffer from the Technofear common to most of my friends and family. Now I couldn't be without at least 1 internet connected device.

Oh yes, I hate football and most other sports, though the occasional Rugby match is enjoyable. I don't drink or do small talk so Pub visits are rare.

 

This Guy was not from a super intelligent family. His Father had a failed company behind him and Einstein was working in a Patent office when he began his Thought Experiments which eventually led to the physics breakthroughs that dominate the subject today.

 

 

So my question is Why? How is intelligence doled out in the great Lottery. We all know of the idea of the Throwback, the son of a rich and well educated family who turns out to be totally useless. Obviously intelligence runs in some families who have no real use for it, given that they are only expected to work, raise a family and die. Some are lucky and break out of the cycle, others don't.

 

 

I like to believe that I came from a family of great scholars who fell on hard times but my Genealogy research proves that, at least back to the 1700's the family are all from the lower echelons of society. So where does all this thirst for knowledge  come from?

 

I suppose that, if you have a predisposition to reading and open yourself up to all sources of knowledge, you will eventually find that you have interests in all kinds of things you never expected. Maybe if my Father had lived beyond 1973 and discovered the Internet he would have sucked up knowledge as I do.

 

Or maybe just having a receptive and fast brain with good information matching skills is enough to ensure that you will fill it.

 

 

One more thing though, I am intelligent but I am basically unable to use that to my advantage. When I try to do so it inevitably fails. Maybe you can have intelligence or Money making skills, but not both.