Smarter than they look (and sometimes dumber)

While watching a profile of professional skateboarder Tony Hawk on 60 Minutes II last night, it was mentioned in passing that in high school he measured with an IQ of 144. I did a double-take.

I think many would be surprised to hear that. Many would associate him with the world of punk music, chains, and spiked hair. There is no association of him with any of those things, yet there is a simple prejudice that lends itself to being involved with skateboards. The punk-skater image is already receding as skateboarding becomes more mainstream, but I think the "60 Minutes II" spot gave Hawk a positive plug with the audience who would likely lease know him: the "60 Minutes II" audience. I doubt anyone using anything more than common knowledge of Hawk would have guessed he was so bright.

Marilyn Manson is another who I suspect is smarter than he looks. I remember watching interviews with him shortly after the Columbine incident (his music was blamed as a bad influence on the killers), and to me he came across and very articulate and intelligent. He's doing something smart. The people he urinates on in concert are making him millions.

I also believe I may be smarter than I look (or, more accurately look dumber that I am). In high school during band concerts the director would name various sports teams, extracurricular activities, etc., to show we were a well-rounded group. Of course, I would stand when he named the National Honor Society or asked the students to stand that achieved high honors. My band-mates who didn't share classes (and thus didn't know my grades) always looks surprised and said "psh, yeah right, T.J.!...sit down!!!".

Conversely, there are people who are dumber than they look. I never thought Jessica Simpson had forgone Harvard for her music career, but before "The Newlyweds" would anyone have guessed she was that stupid? College professors always seem to have mastered the material. True they make a living of the material they present, but many will prepare lectures ahead of time, and so presenting the lectures they always come out looking like a wiz. Maybe it's not fair to say they are "stupider" than they look, but all I'm pointing out ist hat they're human and probably have to review the basics, too.

Lastly, I neglected to mention earlier another individual who has intelligence far beyond appearance. Though he appears bumbling, always falling off cliffs and getting squashed by boulders and exploded and falling off more cliffs some more and then falling off cliffs and having two boulders squash you in midair and then again at the bottom, Wile E. Coyote has an IQ of 207, super-genius.