Malcolm Gladwel is NOT a genius. (This is a compliment.)

I heard of the brick vs. blanket Divergence test for the first time today. It's meant to be an intelligence test, only instead of converging on one right answer out of, say, ten, as you do in a Convergence test, you have to think of as many ways to use a brick and a blanket (separately) as you can in ten minutes. It not only measures intelligence; much more importantly, it measures creativity.

Now, I have always been not the best performer on IQ tests. I am absolutely crap at maths, and while I am interested in and enjoy reading about theoretical physics, actual physics is haaaard. I was rather good at Chemistry in school, but never absolutely brilliant in it or anything, even though I did do an A-level in it. So, while I consider myself fairly smart, I have never been at 'genius' level, or anywhere near it.

Malcolm Gladwell, who is one of my personal heroes, begs to differ. I have been reading 'Outliers' in my spare few minutes here and there, when I'm not writing That Story that has taken over my life of late. He argues that creativity and imagination are, much more than IQ after a certain level (say 120), the deciding factors to watch to see whether someone is likely to make a success of their life and career. A lot of certified geniuses go through their lives working in jobs that could simply be considered 'good'. Whereas people with a lower IQ, but plenty of said creativity and imagination, go on to become Nobel prize laureates. (Sorry, Arthur, darling.)

Anyway, back on-topic -- I totally pwned the brick-and-blanket test. I allocated myself ten minutes, and in that time I came up with well over ten uses for each. So! I think I've worked out the part that makes me a good writer. I have imagination, and I'm creative! Well, I already knew this, but now I have evidence.

Try it, flisters! I reckon that the satisfaction that doing well on this gave me is going to last for quite some time. /preens

I don't understand how you could be so bloody stupid, Sirona. >:/

It is rare in the extreme that I post to my LJ twice in one day, but I wanted to share something with you all.

hubris or hybris [ˈhjuːbrɪs]

— n
1. pride or arrogance
2. (in Greek tragedy) an excess of ambition, pride, etc, ultimately causing the transgressor's ruin

Example: when Sirona thinks she has sufficiently recovered from her back surgery to regain full use of her legs and feet, and thus thinks she is perfectly justified in wearing heels again. So she climbs up a chair, pulls down the shoes with a one inch heel she wore all Summer last year, and puts them on for work. Then she walks into the elevator -- and promptly sprains her ankle. Cue X-rays, Orthopaedic examinations, an ankle bandage and ice. Lots of ice.

Fun times.

At least that means plenty of time to finish That Story for my deadline tomorrow. I just hope my ankle's well enough to go to my best friend's wedding this Saturday without a bandage. D: