Kim Kardashian is the right genius for the right time.
This occurred to me recently when I saw a picture of a large group of socialites partying, a selfie from a camera held so far aloft most faces were blurry. Off to the side was Kardashian, the only head perfectly in focus. I thought, of course with her luck she gets to be the only one clear in a blurry photo.
But of course it wasn’t luck. She made herself visible by identifying where the camera was, recognized the shakiness of the hand, and consciously -- or maybe unconsciously -- crunched the angles and put her body in motion so that she would pop in the photo.
A useful analog is Devin Hester, the genius kick returner. Review a Hester play and you can see him feint right for no reason, but then disappear past a line of defenders through a breach which hadn’t even existed when he started moving.
Even knowing how his plays turn out, what Hester does makes no sense -- until you realize he’s calculating angles and momentums of the bodies rushing toward him, seeing open spaces before they appear. Hester’s genius would have not been evident 200 years ago, just as Kardashian’s wouldn’t have even 20 years ago.
This is heartening for people like me. Maybe I’m a genius, too, in some realm that just hasn’t been identified. Someday there may be a place for my talent for being clingy or for getting on people’s nerves or for wearing the same pants weeks on end.
I’m not talentless; society just hasn’t caught up with me yet.
I’m Dan Libman; you’re lucky to have me now, and that’s my perspective.
