About Intelligence, success, survival and then finally, me

..intelligence in itself isn't much as far as survival values are concerned. the elephant does very poorly indeed when compared to the sparrow even though he is much more intelligent.....Or take the primates as a group...... the baboons do the best and that is because of their canines, not brains. .....Sure, we (humans) are intelligent, but what's intelligence? We think it is important because we have it.

-'Dr Elwood Ralson' in 'Breeds there a man....?' by Isaac Asimov

I remember our Professor of Surgery, a highly respected, brilliant surgeon and teacher telling us this story. He met an old school friend after a long time. This friend belonged to a family of businessmen and had dropped out of school. Initial pleasantries were exchanged and the conversation went on like this after that

Friend: Fancy meeting you, A.... those were the days!
Prof: Indeed, those were the days.
Friend: How are you getting on?
Prof: Fine, I guess.
Friend: What have you done so far in your life and career?
Prof: Well, I did medicine, trained to be a surgeon, passed with distinction all the way, and now I am a Professor.
Friend:....hmmmm......
Prof: Er... I was made President of the Association of the Surgeons of India. I have trained innumerable medical students and guided many doctors in their efforts to become surgeons... but that's enough about me. What about you?
Friend: I made a crore.

The conversation flagged a bit after that.

It is a sad fact, but, intelligence does not mean better survival skills. In his blog, recently, my cousin bemoaned the fact that people mistake street smartness and a lack of morals for intelligence.

What's the difference between intelligence and street smartness?

If you take Professor's story as an example, our Professor was the intelligent one. What he did not do was to convert his intelligence into hard cash. Now, this could be because he chose not to, or because he did not have the skills or inclination to do it. Our Professor was a great surgeon, and one of the best teachers I have had the privilege of learning from, in my medical career.

What did his friend - the crorepathi have that he did not?

Business acumen? Shrewdness? Ruthlessness? A tendency to ignore rules, and cheat if necessary to earn money? Maybe a combination of all these. I remember a programme on TV which pitted highly successful businessmen against 'ordinary' men. They were all given a task requiring innovation. One difference that was obvious even to me was how quick the businessmen were to think out of box, and cheat if they were not getting ahead. Needless to say, they won more times than the others.

I suppose if one was cynical, they would conclude the main difference between an intelligent person who has earned a lot of money and one who has not is lax morals and a criminal tendency in the former. At the other end, you could say that merely being intelligent does not ensure success. The truth is probably somewhere in between.

As for me, I am unable to incriminate, an unfortunate victim of my high ethical and moral standards. And I could have been a serious threat to Bill Gates if only I were intelligent.

I have been trying very hard to think out of box (is it thinking-out-of-the-box or thinking-out-of-box?), ever since I realised it could make me rich. Sadly, all my efforts have failed at the first hurdle - viz. getting into the box and trying to think in the first place. I would be grateful for any tips, including the location of the said box.