I am and have been disputing your statement in the original story "the fact that it is impossible to recognise a greater intelligence to one’s own if one doesn’t have the same level of intelligence." I don't believe this is true.

No, I never said "recognizing smart people is a learnt skill" it might be inherent not learned I have not really thought about it. I did not say "the only person I ever met that is smarter than me was my wife" I said the only person I knew that I was sure was smarter than me was my wife. I am sure I met other people who were smarter than me but I did not have enough discourse with them to make a positive assessment.

Well, regarding how smart I am, I have scored high on SAT, ACT, PSAT tests. I was a National Merit Scholar. NASA and my previous employer gave me many awards. My research was published by the AIAA. I have solved many problems and puzzles. I am pretty good a cards. I can solve Sudoku that others can't.

At work, when we have technical problems, they are brought to me to be resolved. I am the Chief Engineer.

I don't have enough fingers and toes to count all the times that someone has told me that I was pretty smart :-P

TEK