Is Ben Carson Really A Very "Smart" Person ?

(This photo of Ben Carson is from CNN.com.)

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson is a successful neurosurgeon. That is a field that requires a significant level of education and skill -- and because of that, many people assume that he must be a very smart person. Is that really true? I don't think so.

Let me explain myself. First, we need to understand what it means to be "smart". It is a fairly complicated thing, and has several components. In my opinion, there are five components of intelligence (being smart). They are:

* The ability to take in facts and be able to regurgitate them on demand. We commonly call this MEMORY. Some people are born with an extraordinary gift for this, but it is also something that can be improved by most people through practice or the use of memory devices.

* The ability to perform a certain task extremely well (such as surgery). This is something that is learned through the repeated performing of the skill. We commonly call this EXPERIENCE. No one is born with this ability, but it can be learned by almost everyone.

* The ability to take facts and use them to come up with a logical conclusion. We commonly call this RATIONAL THINKING. This can be learned somewhat, but is beyond the capacity of those who cannot or will not question what they are told or taught.

* The ability to take facts and use to in a different way to find a solution -- to think outside the box. We commonly call this CREATIVITY. This may be the most difficult to teach, and in my opinion, the most indicative of true intelligence.

* The ability to put yourself in another person's place and understand how they are feeling and/or thinking. We commonly call this EMPATHY, and it reaches it true height when a person can use it to understand those of a different race, religion, or culture.

So, how does Carson stack up using these guidelines for being smart? I think we'll have to admit that he excels in the first two -- memory and experience. His ability to learn the facts of medicine through his schooling, and to acquire neurosurgical skills, show that his ability is high in both memory and experience.

It is in the other three where his intelligence quotient seems  to be sub-par. His rational thinking seems to be limited to his professional field (where he can take facts and reach a logical medical conclusion). In other areas, he is not at all logical (saying the pyramids were grain storage facilities, that prison makes people homosexual, Obamacare is slavery, a president can ignore the Constitution, protesting police violence helps ISIS and al-Queda, etc.). His ability to think rationally outside his professional field is severely deficient.

I also question his creative ability. He did come up with some innovative ways to perform neurosurgery (thanks in large part to his experience in that field), but he has not shown any ability to come up with innovative solutions to solve problems outside his professional field. He either has no solutions (which is true on most issues), or he has blindly accepted the failed policies of his party (and his religion). I think he is also severely deficient in creative ability.

Perhaps his worst failing is his inability to empathize with those who do not share his religious or cultural views. He made this very clear with his pronouncement that a muslim should not be president. He assumes that all muslims think alike, and could not be good citizens or capable leaders because of their religion -- and compounds that by believing his own religion makes him better or more capable than those who do not share his religious beliefs.

In short, Carson score high on only two of the intelligence criteria, while scoring low on the other three. Is he a very smart person. I would have to say NO. At best, he is of average intelligence, and at worst, he is sub-par in intelligence.

I think he would make a terrible president because of his deficiency in rational thinking, creativity, and empathy. Someone might say he does show an ability to learn from experience -- but do we really want a president who must learn almost everything through on-the-job experience? In this dangerous world, can we afford the mistakes he would make while gaining that experience? I think not.

All of the above is just my own opinion, but I believe it is true. What do you think? Is Ben Carson a really smart person?