gifted and averages

It is summer here in Chicago. You wouldn’t know it today, with the cool temperatures and rain, but it’s most definitely summer. Tomorrow it’s expected that the temps will hit the 90s for the first time in many months. It’s unusual to get that high that early in the season, and while I guess I should be concerned with climate change, I’m just so damned happy it’s not several feet of snow that I don’t care right now.

We’re all obsessed with the weather in one way or another, aren’t we? If the temperatures are below average we get all depressed, feeling like we’re being cheated out of the proper temperature for that time of year. If the temperatures are above average we’re thrilled with the warm boon, feeling like somehow we beat the system. If the temps are far below average we worry terribly, and and if temps are far above average we wonder just what the hell is going on.

Sounds a lot like IQ scores, doesn’t it?

BAM smack in the middle of that bell curve we feel safe; everyone is equal. A little tip to either side and we can cope but our emotions are much too involved in the result; some have been cheated and others are “lucky.” A huge tip to either side and we just don’t know what to do with ourselves; some will never live independently and others are uncomfortably quirky, strange, and weird.

Like in Lake Wobegon, we want all children to be above average. Same with temperatures. I know I’d live a long and happy life with temperatures always juuuust above average. Problem is, that skews the average and effectively nullifies it. Some temperatures are above average, some are below; some are so high as to make you seriously consider nudity as a lifestyle choice, and some are so low I could not possibly wear enough clothing to stay warm. It’s the same with IQ scores and intelligence. It’s a range. Some high, some low, some very high, some very low.

Just something I’ve been pondering, as I listen to the weather reports in the morning. It’s amused me for some time how the announcers will always comment on how much above or below average the temps are for that given day.

Enjoy your summer Friday.