Cerebral Snobbery?

During a recent Facebook note-to-note discussion with a cousin I wish I'd had a chance to know better while growing up (we are decades apart in years), she referred to someone we both know as an "cerebral snob" - and I remember thinking how appropriate that was in this instance. Then I got to thinking about that phrase, a little off-the-wall free association type thinking. What in the world IS a cerebral snob? In the reference my cousin made, it seemed to fit perfectly, as the object of our discussion has proven intellect, and he appears to know at least a little something about everything. In most cases where he freely enters a discussion, he actually knows quite a bit, though much of his "knowledge" is culled from information he accumulates (like a sponge) from everywhere, but not necessarily information he has reasoned upon, not fact-checked or processed against known fact; therefore not all his associations regarding every subject are accurate or even reasonable.

Snob? - well, according to Wikipedia "some people are inherently inferior to him or her for any one of a variety of reasons, including real or supposed intellect, wealth, education, ancestry, taste, beauty, nationality, et cetera..."

According to Urban Dictionary there are three definitions, the first two (as far as we know) apply here.

But what makes one a cerebral snob? We are all better at some things than others, and easily others surpass us in other things, be these baking a cake, figuring out HTML, or writing a poem.

Yes, I purposely included writing a poem because it is something I am good at. And it it one of those things that, once people hear that you are good at, that, perhaps, you are VERY good at, causes them to bring whatever they have that resembles a poem to you for your opinion. Frankly -- most of these are awful. You know it. You feel it in your gut. It offends your ears, if heard aloud, and your eyes, if you are pressed to read it. But there are these eager eyes before you, waiting for your opinion - which MUST be good, after all, because his/her mom loved it, his/her friends made up music to go with it, and it got a B+ in Poetry Class. How do I keep from telling the truth to this person who has such expectant eyes: that the thing is trite, is drivel, does not scan and breaks at least 5 rules of grammar - in other words, I can write a poem and you ... can't? How can I do this and not appear to be a cerebral snob?

Diplomacy. I insert a fable of mine. I tell them, "everyone has at least ONE great poem inside him/her." (It could be true. I don't know that it is or isn't, but we're talking diplomacy here, not Truth or Dare.) Then I look at what I have been given and say, "This isn't yours." Meaning, in the hope of not offending, that perhaps you have something better inside than this. If it is encouragement that person is seeking, perhaps that will suffice. If it is applause that person is seeking, he/she may be disappointed, but that person will not get a false positive from me. The point is, in no way do I bring attention to myself and my awards and successes. That would be cerebral snobbery - because a cerebral snob must always bring attention to him/herself and his/her superiority. That's what snobs do.

I had a long discussion about being aware of one's intellect with a wise and learned woman not too long ago. I was telling her how that, from a fresh young age I was aware of being apart from many others; different; some would say smarter than they. I had black and white test scores to prove it, and it made me walk carefully through my life, not wanting to jostle even a single leaf on my tree of family and friends, even casual acquaintances. I learned early on that no one likes a smart-ass who has all the answers and/or who is right most of the time. That I was aware of it wore at me, like a trickle of water against stone, and I kept my awareness mostly to myself. There have been some who have come to know me that are aware of this cerebral superiority (for it is a superiority, according to the black and white test scores) and either respected it or did as I tried to do most of the time and ignored it. We are still friends, over the years, and yet have never spoken of it.

I told the wise and learned woman that I didn't know what to do with "it" - this part of my personality that I keep from most people, although I use it all the time and I imagine it shows up now and then to unsuspecting others. I told her that while I have a great pride in this characteristic, at the same time I have a feeling of guilt that I actually feel superior to some people some of the time. This wise and learned woman told me it was okay to feel that way - it was true, after all - and that I didn't make a big issue of it or bury people in it or bulldoze my way through life with it - also true - so I shouldn't feel guilty about possessing this quality. Going a step further, I surmised, it emphasizes the truth that I own this particular quality in that I understand its power and the care which it requires to continue to be an asset.

It may be a large leap, then, for me to feel that cerebral superiority (with the black and white proof I have, and have probably needed to keep my self-esteem intact when those who would abuse me called me 'stupid' or said that I 'would never amount to nuthin' in my early years) requires diplomacy. Without diplomacy and comprehension, without compassion and understanding of the human character, I would certainly be a cerebral snob.

I know one of those. He is not a happy man.