Some Small Things

People have always told me that I’m smart. As much as I would love to agree with them, I can’t help but want to vomit every time I hear it.

In the traditional sense, I guess they are on to something. I mean, I’m no genius, but I feel comfortable saying that I’m in the upper percentile of whatever metric people typically use to gauge intelligence. I score well on tests, I have a decent vocabulary, I get good grades without much effort (as long as I turn things in, and… go to class), and I’m good at reading about and comprehending unfamiliar ideas. I can memorize numbers, syntactic details in computer code, and words fairly easily. I’m able to understand complex systems and structures. I know what and where Azerbaijan is.

Now here’s the bad news: I get lost in the town I’ve lived in since I was nine. I lose my wallet, cell phone, keys, school books, papers, and car (don’t ask) constantly. I have random existential crises in the middle of the night. I can’t dance. I can’t do a back flip. I fall when I try to jump on a trampoline. Sometimes I forget to eat and sleep. Other times, I forget to wake up. I have no idea who Jon and Kate are, or why they are on every single magazine at work. If my car broke down, I wouldn’t have the slightest clue what to do to it. I can’t speak in full English sentences when I have something on my mind. I suck at basketball. I can’t cook. I get bored easily.

Some of the most interesting, dynamic, gifted, and good-hearted people I know struggle with the things I find easy, and excel at the things I don’t even know where to start with. I’m sure most people can see that, and would agree with me, but would still call me smart, and them stupid.

There’s a problem with that. Being labeled “stupid” is damning in our society. People call me clumsy, crazy, and absent minded, but they do it mostly in jest, and it doesn’t really affect me one way or another. I laugh at myself, they laugh at me, and then we move on. I’m still smart, I still have social skills, so it really doesn’t matter. If I were “stupid”, I would have a problem. People would assume I’m not going anywhere in life. I might even start to believe this, and make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. I might forget about all talents and skills I bring to the table, and just give up.

The inescapable fact is this: our standard definition of intelligence is almost completely arbitrary. We could just as well admire the kinesthetic intelligence of a pro basketball player, or the auditory intelligence of a talented musician. I would venture to say that I could justify calling anyone I have ever met extremely intelligent.

I think the worst thing that happens to people when they’re labeled stupid is that they become absorbed in completely useless activities (e.g., watching football all day, playing video games, reading People Magazine), and completely apathetic to anything of importance in the world. I actually don’t think this is an accident. The kind of people in power in our society want to stay in power. They want to encourage those who don’t mesh with the ideals of the establishment to stay out of the way. Rabble-rousers are dangerous and undesirable. Those who buck the status quo are filtered out and marginalized by mechanisms such as college admissions, propaganda, indoctrination, and distraction. Ironically, this often showcases the amazing intelligence of your average human being. People memorize the most obscure facts about their favorite sports teams, for example. They have nuanced opinions on who should be drafted to what team, who the best players are, and how teams should be chosen for the college football championship. I can’t help but think that we’re wasting a precious resource by not expecting more out of people who we don’t consider to be intelligent.

I don’t value having irrational beliefs, and if I had any reason to think otherwise, I would quickly discard this one. But I truly believe that there isn’t a person on this earth that isn’t intelligent enough, good enough, or attractive enough to deserve a fair shot at life. An interdependent society demands that we operate on that premise, cultivate empathy and solidarity, and reject elitism and authoritarianism.

We can’t afford to have babies born into poverty. We can’t afford to have anyone unable to get a job and contribute to the world. We can’t afford to have entire countries discounted as unworthy, or worse, as collateral damage. We can’t afford to ignore and dehumanize those with untraditional sexual orientations. We can’t afford to lose young people to treatable and preventable diseases because they can’t pay for proper health care or proper nutrition. Imagine all the opportunities we have forgone by discounting people we find stupid, different, intolerable, or inept. It’s a tragic, inexcusable waste. We can’t keep doing it. It’s not just a matter of morality — it’s a matter of survival.

I think I’m finally getting a taste of what it’s like to have a “grown up” job. Here’s a conversation I had with one of the Principal Investigators, Brian*, on the phone today.

*Note: Brian is from Ireland, so read this with the voice of lucky the leprechaun in mind.

…

…

…

Scene setting: Kate is sitting in the shippo archive for the eigth straight hour. The building is windowless, painted industrial white, and illuminated with flickering florescent lights.

***Ring Ring***

Kate-Hello?

Brian- Hey, Kate! How’s it going?

Kate- Fine. I just got done with one of the file searches you gave me, and I’m starting the other one now.

Brian- That’s great. By the way, whenever you get a chance can you stop by the office. I’ve got another quick search I need you to do.

(On her lunch break Kate stops by the office, drops off a completed project and picks up the new one. She get’s back from lunch and the security gaurd jokes “It’s a beautiful day outside. Aren’t you glad your in here. Hahaha!” as he hands over a visitor’s badge. Very funny Mr. Security Man. You’re a friggin’ riot.)

(About two hours pass.)

***Ring Ring***

Kate- What’s up?

Brian- Hey, Kate! How’s it going?

Kate- Pretty good. I’m done with the second project, and I’m now starting the last one you gave me.

Brian- That’s great. By the way, whenever you get done with those two, I actually have two more that need to be done.

Kate- Okay, that’s cool (*internal sigh*). I’ll pick them up next time I’m in the office, which will probably be tomorrow morning.

***Ring Ring***

Kate- (Oh WTF!) Hey.

Brian- Hey, Kate! How’s it going?

Kate- Fine.

Brian- That’s great. I just called to say that I was looking over the project you finished and it’s very well done.

Kate- Oh, cool. Thanks.

Brian- Yeah. Oh, by the way, we just got a huge new project that we’re trying to get up and running as fast as possible, so we need the Class I (the file search) done ASAP. Can you do me a huge favor?

Kate- (Is there a choice?) Yeah, sure.

Brian- Can you go ahead and cut your weekend a little short so we can start this project sooner?

Kate- (feels like she’s in the movie Office Space) Yeah, sure.

Brian- Oh that’s great. See you later. Oh, and I think John has some more file searches for you too, so I’ll tell him to get those ready for you whenever you stop by. Bye.**

**This conversation is not exactly verbatim.

-End Scene-

…

…

…

That’s about how my day went. To be perfectly honest, I don’t actually care about cutting my weekend short. I pretty much saw everything Bismarck had to offer the first day I had off, and so last weekend I just sat around in my hotel all day kinda wishing I was at work so that I’d at least have something to do. It means I get overtime this week. And really, I don’t mind doing file searches so much either. I just wish it was something I was assigned to do when it was 100 and humid outside, not when it’s 70 and fantastic… esspecially since I’m the only field tech lucky enough to be working inside this week.

I understand, though, that the only reason they keep me around the office is because I’m just way too awesome to send off on some project. I know if I were anyone else I would want to hang around me everyday too. So, it’s cool.

I haven’t updated my blog in a while. I’m sure your thinking this is because I’m out trecking through the wild untamed plains of North Dakota encountering natives and battling with buffalo (which apparently are quite dangerous) while on the hunt for relics of the ancient past. I’d like to think that’s what people believe. It makes me seem way more cool. Unfortunately no. I’ve learned North Dakota does things a little differently.

The first week I was here I spent the first three days out in the field doing what is known as a class III survey. This is the first time I’ve ever heard that term. Class I, II, and III are aparently what is used most commonly here. They are different than a Phase I, II, and III, which is what is most common everywhere else. Here’s some brief descriptions so anyone reading this can follow along:

Class I- peliminary research, such as doing a file search to see if there are any previously recorded archaeological sites in a project area.

Class II- I call this “drive-by surverying”. Basically you take a truck and drive around a project area. You take a bunch of pictures, and if there are any areas that seem like a promissing archaeology site (like a suspicious looking mound or ridge), you get out and look around.

Class III- Basically walking a portion (or all of, I’m not really sure) of a project area. There is no shovel testing. It’s all surface collection.

Phase I- Walking a survey area and shovel testing when nessisary.

Phase II- Further investigating a likely archaeology site by opening a few test pits or doing more shovel testing. I’m never too sure on this one because it seems like it’s just an intermediate phase, so it could mean a lot of things.

Phase III- This is a full excavation that you picture when you think of archaeology with big trenches, shovels and trowels, tents, screens, and egyptian slaves.

So, since there is almost no square inch of North Dakota which is not heavily farmed (which means “disturbed context” in archaeology terms), I’ve mostly been doing Class I, II, and III.

Anyway, back to what I was saying before. So the first three days I was doing a class III survery in Hickinson (or something like that), which was pretty cool. That’s where I took the previous picture. It was absolutely beautiful the entire time I was out there. I think it was a high of 75 on the hottest day.

When I got back to Bismarck, I got to experience the other side of Archaeology. The Class I, or “sit in a dark building all day and look at maps” side. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past week and a half. File searches. Maps, maps, and then some more maps. It wasn’t all bad though. I got to work all day at the State Capitol’s SHIPO (state historic preservation office) building. There are a lot of really interesting people who are in and out of there all day, so that was kind of cool. I got to meet a lot of other archaeologists from different companies, as well as historians, and even a palentologist (who was working on some kind of swimming dinosaur they had just recovered and where preparing for a trip to a Japanese museum). I took no pictures, however, because I didn’t think the inside of a windowless 1970’s “functionalist” style building would interest too many people. However, they still have a card catalogue in there! Remember those?

Friday was sort of interesting. I went to do a drive by survery in a town near Grafton. We had to leave from Bismarck at 5am since this place was in there very North Eastern part of the state… as in take a wrong turn and you’ll be in Canada. So, we drove six hours there and back, just to drive about a mile and take a few pictures. Yeah, that was awesome. At least I got to drive the rental truck!

So, tomorrow awaits another day of surprises. Will I get to sit in the SHIPO office for another week? Or will I get to drive all over the state, occassionally getting out of the car on occassion. Apparently the western part of the state (the “badlands”) are really a place that you have to visit at some point, so hopefully I get sent there.