The World Is Full of Degree Holders — So Why Are the Problems Still Here?

My brain is a madhouse and it's about to burn down with me.

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Lately, I've been thinking of many things — my future, the world, our reality, you name it. Many times, I try to put a rein on my thoughts. But the more I suppress it, the more it consumes me.

I've thought of letting it all out. Yet, the only way I know how to do it is by brain dumping my thoughts here on Steemit.

I'm not sure if this is the right place to do this. Would appreciate it if you could tell me the best place to share this journal or how to go about it. Anyways, back to what brought me here.

Today, I thought of many things.
🔹 The child who is known for her magnetic memory. She can memorise a thousand facts and recall every bit of information accurately. You'd think she's some elephant's matriarch on two legs.
🔹 The teacher who uses sesquipedalian and esoteric words. He is either feeling supercalifragilisticexpialidocious or tired of listening to one ninnyhammer on a particular podcast show. He once asked a schoolboy playing football on the street without a shirt on why he was in a state of dishabille.
🔹 The co-founder of a top law firm who graduated with multiple First Class honours. Earned a red scroll in law school and has the sky as her starting point.

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These group of people are considered to be highly intelligent. But I've thought and wondered, "Is this the true test of intelligence?"

📌 Shouldn't the ability to solve complex human day-to-day problems come first?

We have many degree holders. In fact, our world is flooded with certificates. But look around you, are our everyday problems getting smaller? Is the rate of hunger reducing? How about the gap between the poor and the rich? Is it closing?

Is intelligence truly measured by what we memorised or the grandiloquent words stored in our heads.

📌 How about the ability to understand and interpret complex information?

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I know a woman who cooks Ekpang Nkukwo close to the market. She has never seen the four walls of a university. Yet she knows exactly how to scale her business from a small kiosk to average restaurant. She knows the profit she needs to send her two daughters to school, feed them, and still save something small for the rainy season that is always, always coming. She doesn't just adapt. She solves.

Is this not a test of intelligent?

I believe the true test of intelligence is not what we know. Rather, it's what we do with what we know. Do you agree?