In response to Matt’s recent “Salt & Pepper” about people being either smarter or dumber than they first appear, a reader asks whether Matt believes I.Q. is an inborn trait or something that can be enhanced by experience.

Matt responds:

For me, I.Q. and other measurements of the spirit have always been very suspect.I think we can count fingers and toes...  Most of us have one tongue and two eyes...

But beyond those kinds of measurements, it’s just too simplistic to sit somebody down at a table, give them a computer, let them fool with a test for two hours, and then proclaim them either an idiot or a genius.

I don’t think it has much to do with the gene structure or the multiple levels of genius or stupidity of the human species.  It’s not that simple.

I do believe that because of our gene structure, we are all different.

I also believe that because we are products of the Big Bang, we come from an unlimited intelligence.

We have hidden knowledge within us that is a challenge to find, magnify, and present back to the universe.

That’s how the spiritual part of ourselves manifests the greatness of intelligence, spirit, goodness, and love.

But we’d rather just slap a number on ourselves—75 or 152 or 165 or whatever.  We seem to be predisposed to simplistic answers.

It probably comes from our beginnings, before we realized we were different from the animals and the plants.  They never changed; they are predictable.  The human species is the most unpredictable thing in the universe.

Therefore, for us to make up some type of test so that we can segregate ourselves, seems somewhat bizarre.

But I suppose it gives people work and makes other people feel good about themselves.

I do feel that we can look at the statistical possibilities of what’s going to happen within a million people.

The underwriters in insurance companies do that all the time, and their companies make millions by making the right bets.

But they have a big pool of people.  Probably if you’re going to have a million people run across a busy highway, you can probagbly predict how many people will be killed if you know who was blind, who was walking with a cane, and who was crawling across as an infant.

Every day I read my horoscope as it’s presented by two different astrology columns in the paper.  Does it change anything I do or what happens?

No, but I find it fun, and life is supposed to be fun.  If it ain’t fun, the hell with it!

So there’s a long answer to a short question.  If you believe in I.Q., fine.  If you don’t, that’s fine, too.  Either way the world isn’t going to end.

But if worrying about it is something that stimulates you, that’s great for you.  Personally, I’d rather go and have a piece of chocolate cake.

Matt