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Doodling and Intelligence
Did You Know that Doodles are a Sign of Intelligence? One of the brightest people that I have ever met was John Morrison. John was an architect and a professional engineer. He was a chain smoking Camel (non-filtered), down to earth, practical, Texan to the core, and brilliant man. He was my 2nd boss out of college. If you are also named “John”, on my LinkedIn list, an architect, and past partner of this truly unique person, then you know who I am writing about. I don’t know if John Morrison is still alive. I hope so. But, it is possible that the Camels finally stampeded over his ability to dodge the inevitable. Like John, I also have double who has my name and is a professional wrestler. But I digress... John was always doodling. He would doodle when he was listening intently to a conversation in person or on the phone. Sheets and sheets of paper were filled with his doodles. I only wish that I pocketed at least one to show you. Each on looked similar to the other. They all had thin lines drawn in curves that radiated out from themselves in various concentric fashion. I often wished to know what was going on in his mind while his hand was steadily etching out the next episode of his concurrent swivels. No surprise to me, there now has been proof that doodling is a sign of higher intelligence. Check out this video to learn more about how you might also be a genius like my early mentor and doodler was.
THE IMPORTANCE OF DOODLING “The art of drawing which is of more real importance to the human race than that of writing... should be taught to every child just as writing is,” declared John Ruskin, one of the most prolific writers of the 19th century. The Campaign For Drawing, a British charity established a decade ago on the centenary of Ruskin’s death, duly works to raise the profile of drawing for all ages. The idea is that drawing is an essential and woefully underestimated tool for thinking about and engaging with the world. Drawing is “making marks with meaning,” explains Sue Grayson Ford, director of the Campaign For Drawing. It is an art form but also a communication device, used by architects, archaeologists and mathematicians, as well as artists, cartoonists and regular people. From doodles to murals to blueprints, it is how humans communicated before the invention of language, and it continues to succeed where language often fails. Indeed, it is “the best tool we have for understanding and communicating,” says Ms Grayson Ford. October is “Big Draw” month, an annual programme of international events to get people to draw. In ten years the festival has grown and spread, with over 1,500 events in 20