I really wanted to write something pithy about an upcoming anniversary we'd all rather never happened. But due to my palpable fear of flying and the fact I'm taking a rather long flight in just a few short days, I'm working really hard to avoid thinking about it.
Wish me luck with that...
So--in an all-out honest effort at distraction--here's my trivia question of the day:
Would you rather be a genius or be beautiful? (I don't mean the we're-all-beautiful-people kind of beautiful--I mean the drop-dead gorgeous-stoppin'-traffic kind of beautiful.) Lorien can't play because she's both already all right.
Not that they have to be mutually exclusive.
Well, only sometimes.
But, you know, if you could pick between one or the other which would you choose?
And why?
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28 comments:
I presume you mean we can only choose one...genius. Why? Well, sometimes the genius contributes to the beauty that can follow naturally, right? But it doesn't work the other way around, that I'm aware.
Is this some in-depth quiz, and now that I've answered in this way you know all my deepest and darkest secrets?
Don't worry about flying...except I recommend you watch out for, you know, the snakes.
This is an in-depth quiz and after I evaluate all your answers I will be Miss 152 insights into each of your souls. And of course I will divulge my deepest and darkest secrets only after I learn all of yours.
I'm going to start a new mantra every night before I fall asleep. "The worst thing that could happen would be snakes. The worst thing that could happen would be snakes. The worst thing that could happen would be snakes..."
This is a very thought-provoking question. But, before I answer, I have one for you: Does choosing beautiful mean that you will also be stupid? Because I could live without being a genius if I had just a normal level of intelligence. Like, I could be beautiful and still graduate from college but maybe I didn't find for the cure for cancer or something. Just wondering.
I really want to say beautiful but honestly, my answer is genius. Hawkins genius is beautiful.
P.S. I have taken the flight to Helsinki (I think that is where you are going?) and landing in the biggest conglomeration of fir trees was something I will never forget. Made the whole billion hour flight worth it.
Well my genius hasn't gotten me very far, so I'll choose beautiful.
Is this a Pet Shop Boys retro? Afterwards you'll pair us all up, we'll all make lots of money...and travel the world, blogging from all sorts of exotic places.
As a little kid, one reason I wasnted to serve a mission was to be able to fly. Then I flew to Brazil, had three transfers that were by plane and then there was the 27 hour trip home. I was sick of flying. It took me almost 10 years to get back on a plane.
I'm thinking genius....it'll take a lot longer to fade than beauty.
this is me: I'd like to keep the dilemma more complex by not answering or by leaving it open to your interpretation.
But I will tell you when I first heard the question posed a couple of years ago I chose to think in terms of normal intelligence, (Interesting is it not that no one asks if it means we have to be ugly but automatically worries about not being stupid?) which is all relative, I guess. I was thinking in terms of having my current level of intelligence...or beauty...and choosing from there.
Either way the thoughts are provocative. Even more so the reasons why...
lyle: Making lots of money and blogging from exotic places sounds so extremely interesting to me right now.
cabesh: More questions...
Does true beauty ever fade? Have you ever seen a much older person who was still strikingly beautiful?
okay, what do you want? Because while flattery does get you everywhere, you're the one who makes the yummy pies.
Genius. Because then I could have lots of brainy yet witty things to say about the beautiful stupid people.
I did want to point out that I think Miss Paris is neither. She's skanky (not in the good way), spoiled, rich (but only because of daddy) and anorexic-looking, but neither intelligent nor beautiful. I love to watch her on interviews and stuff, but only because I can't wait for the next idiotic thing to cross her puffy lips.
Oh, and the only time I ever stop traffic is when I step in front of it.
At the risk of sounding TOTALLY shallow, and if I'm allowed to keep my current level of intelligence, I would choose beauty. I think if you are blessed with genius, then you have a huge responsibility to do something with that gift. I just can't handle that kind of pressure.
Genius. I think genius is more rare than beauty.
duh.....the only thing I could think of when I read this was: When I was young and my friends and I would play Charlie's Angels, I was always Bri (the not as pretty, yet smart one of the bunch!)
And, Helsinki? Who the hel goes to sinki?
I would choose genius if it wasn't CRAZY genius... What is it about extreme genius that also creates mental instability?
Although - I'd never take genius over normal intelligence if it makes me look like a troll with a moustache and moles that even Austin Powers wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut about.
Here's another thing to think about - average intelligence with gorgeous beauty... 20/20 always does stuff on how it's powerful... hmmmm
Lot's to think about. But...I'd like my girls to be smart. Personality usually matters more...at least to me... you can't get that without brains... otherwise you're just meat with eyes.
Answers (maybe):
Does true beauty ever fade? Most definitely not! By that I mean "the we're all beautiful people" kind of beauty. But the drop-dead gorgeous beauty? Somtimes. In today's society I think we see too many women who try to hold on to that gorgeous beauty because that's who they are/were....botox, tummy tucks, permanent make-up, dying gray hair, etc....
Have I ever seen a much older person who was sill strikingly beautiful? Again, yes. But, in my experience, these women (or men) tend to keep their beauty because of a certain dignity or grace, not by their looks alone.
Now, as for the fading....For me, it seems that there's no guarantee that your looks are going to last. You can do all that you can....keep going...but if they're going to fade, they're going to--it's genetics.
Now intelligence is something can work on for a lifetime. You improve it, polish it, exercise it, use it to bless others. Personally, that's what I would choose--it's the more secure option.
i think i would choose genius like a lot of people have, but i would use my genius to make myself drop dead gorgeous! thats right, i would work the system to get both! of course, i would use the genius i would have to help other peope too.
i think i would choose genius like a lot of people have, but i would use my genius to make myself drop dead gorgeous! thats right, i would work the system to get both! of course, i would use the genius i would have to help other peope too.
okay, so i'm not a genius yet because apparently i can't leave a comment correctly. i tried to delete the extra ones, but it would only let me delete one of them. oops!
I'll admit it: there are days I feel downright beautiful. And then there are days when I look in the mirror and see a wrinkled, haggard troll. However, I won't waste my wish on beauty.
I'm always wishing I could think of things faster, and remember things more accurately (and for longer than five seconds). I wish I could find lasting, working solutions to my persistent problems. And yet, will being a genius provide these things for me? Or will I just be one of those frustrated intelligent people who ends up being socially awkward? Genius at what?
I vacillate between feeling like a genius and a complete moron, and often at the same pursuit. :) I think I'll pass on my one chance for beauty-or-genius to someone else. I prefer the journey.
Beautiful, but as in "the feet of him . . . that publisheth peace".
Great thoughts all.
So now it's my turn.
I'm going long for shallow here.
Truth is, while I admire a great mind as much as anyone, everyone I know who could be considered "a freakin' genius" (I'm quoting someone I know) is also a bit disturbed, (two points for Queen Scarlett). It's like the mortal body can't hold that much intelligence or something.
Relationships tend to be a bit rocky and tenuous with the emotionally or mentally disturbed and I would just wilt and die without my family and friends.
So I'd go for my standard intelligence, because (also quoting here) "I'm not stupid," and love a full serving of beautiful.
That was my thinking the first time I was posed the question. And I fully thought it was all I was going to have to say on the matter this time.
But this morning this little thought crept into my mind to mix it up a little:
"The glory of God is intelligence..."
Genius, every single time.
I've been known to say that I can handle ugly kids, I just couldn't have stupid kids. An inherent lack of intelligence (you know, the absence of a toolbox) in my kids is my version of a nightmare.
Genius because I'd like to understand what Azucar is always talking about (SO over my head). Besides, if I were genius I could be rich then pay for me to be beautiful ;o)
Choices, choices, choices. I think I'd take the intelligence.
I would choose to be beautiful, because then I could just have the posse do things for me--make smart decisions, buy me things, give me Chinchillas, let me make Rap albums. Because, let's face it, Math is Hard.
I just finished reading Judge Judy's tome, "Beauty Fades But Dumb Is Forever." That pretty much solidified my choice.
I want to be smoking hot, make a lot of money, and then use it for advanced education for when I turn wrinkled and fugly! HA, Judge Judy, didn't think of that alternative, did you?
I'm thinking genius, but both have their pitfalls, either one can go to your head. Maybe if I'm genius, I will be smart enough to figure that part out.
As I read on and on and on (lots of interesting responses) I kept thinking: okay, I'm shallow, so be it.
I'll keep my current IQ and go for drop dead gorgeous any freakin' day. Because I would be drop-dead gorgeous and I would also be nice. Those are my favorite kind of people. Nice to look at, nice to be with.
Also, I have several acquaintances who are actual geniuses. They are incredibly lonely people, because even when they have adequate social skills (which isn't always the case) they don't have company in their genius world. They often feel like people don't really understand them ... because, well, we average intelligence people often don't.
Thank you, sistah, for also choosing beauty over brains. We can sit at the beautiful people's table together.
By the way, I vote Geo's as best answer. Wish I would have thought of it.
P.S. There's more power in beauty.
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