If you take the true measures of intelligence, things like ability to (a) apply knowledge to unfamiliar situations/problems, (b) research the knowledge of humanity toward specific ends, and (c) ability to convey knowledge coherently to others unfamiliar with the subject — in all of this, Amherst fails miserably. Go to a meeting of the Amherst Select Board or Amherst Regional School Committee, sure there may be some intelligent people there, but as to the collective IQ of the room, no way….

There are a lot of people in Amherst who think they are quite smart, a lot of them have pieces of paper that say they are, but there are really damn few who really are…