Neuroqueer Nidoqueen: “The concept of intelligence hurts ‘smart’ people too. If you’re good at one thing, you’re expected to be good at everything.”

Aside from the fundamental problem of ranking people based on an imaginary attribute, intelligence creates a binary: You are either smart or stupid. All of your skills and talents are reduced to one label. Uneven skill levels are somehow made out to be an anomaly, when really they are the norm.

If you’re witnessed being bad at something, you are labeled stupid. “Stupid” people are supposedly bad at everything, so the expectations of you hit rock bottom, and if you do something well, it’s considered a fluke. If it’s obviously consistent, you’re an idiot savant.



If you’re witnessed being good at something, you are labeled smart. “Smart” people are supposedly good at everything, so the expectations of you are unrealistically high, and if you fail to do something well, you must be lazy. If you’re consistently unskilled, you must just be consistently lazy.

–Nidoqueen

