I think it's intresting how our perceptions of ourselves are often quite different than the way others perceive us. Since most people view themselves as being above average or smarter than the average person, it becomes very easy to have a skewed perspective when we see others performing at a higher level than our perceptions would suggest.
I once saw this hillbilly type walk into a poolhall with long scragley hair, denim overalls, grungy boots and a look on his face that reminded me a little of someone who might have a touch of downs syndrom. It was as if he'd just walked off the farm.
Much to my surprise; however, this guy could pocket balls like a semi-pro pool player. Needless to say, my perseptions were thrown for a loop. It's possible that this guy was a farming genius...at the very least, this guy could easly be considerd a genius relative to my knowledge of farming.
The mistake I made in my perception was to assume that intelligence was based on my assessment of scholarly virtues. Because I held a viewpoint that business, arts and science were notable intellectual attributes and it seemed that this guy lacked those interests.....the leading assumption was that he lacked intelligence.
Despite his appearance, this guy could have had a degree in agricultural science and might even have an aptitude for anylitical thinking. It was far too easy to judge the book by the cover.
What it really boils down to is the fact that we become what we think about most. We become highly proficient in those areas that dominate our thoughts. Whether this guy was a genius or an idiot was irrelivant.
He programmed his mind to acomplish something I had yet to achieve and on some level I questioned how this guy made progress while I was still struggling to achieve that level of performance. I made assumptions that had no bearing on the reality of the situation.
I allowed my ego to dictate my perceptions. I suspect that many of us occasionally fall into that trap.
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