Actually, I'm not sure how much intelligence our generation has. On some level, yes - it feels like we're higher than the generations that came before, but on another...there's always those groups of idiots who have to make you uncertain.
Most of these kids hate being intelligent, the several that are. Most of the time, they got that way through being pushed to the ultimate limit, almost with their lives at risk. For example, I know this one kid(I can't say his name, sorry) who is able to get straight 100's on every single one of his papers. He never does any homework at home, finishes all his work in class, and never studies for tests. The whole reason he adapted that way is because he HAD to, because of his abusive family. He wasn't able to study or do work at home, because of the conditions, distractions, interruptions, etc.
So thinking about that, I should say that they hate having to be, or have been created to be intelligent because of whatever reasons they've been dealt. Most of the kids my age at school that I talk to about my inner most thoughts usually end up telling me,"I hate you! You think you're better than everyone else, and you think you have to act that way to be eccentric and unique. It's b#!@$!t!" So, now, I have to tell them, "Before I tell you what I'm thinking, please know that YOU are the one who asked for it, and that this is truly what I'm thinking, okay?"
Still, me telling them that never really seems to work, and because of this - I temporarily say, "Well, forget those #!$@!!" Then I dive back into my books, and deep thoughts to escape it. I come back out of my hole every once and a while to tell them what progress I've made, and in the end - it has just become a vicious cycle where...the very thing that has lead me to the brink of insanity from not being accepted is the same exact thing that causes me to rise to the top of them, the entire time the their weapon they use to try to bring me down causes me to just get stronger.
In the end, though, I don't think it's quite like that. I think that if I can find a way to tell it to them without the technical mumbo jumbo they hate so much, they'd be really interested. The few I've managed to do this with, cling to me waiting for my next discovery, and to grow deeper in their connection with my thought, and I can't help but cling to them back.
"No, there's more that you can learn! I can teach you about ___________!!" I tell them.
"Then why aren't you so perfect?" they bitterly spit back at me. Well, does it sound like I'm perfect?
"Even the most amazing architects, philosophers, and mathematicians have brought us, at best, to the super-chimpanzee level. Why is it that so few of the human population reach their true potential? Well, that can be answered in another question, and that's this: what is the more dominant human trait...fear...or laziness?" I once heard a guy say. (Actually, it was this old dude from the movie Waking Life. 
)
I don't think laziness truly does exist. What we call laziness, or procrastination, most of the time turns out to be something more than just - "we'd rather be doing something else more fun." Well, what is fun? Isn't that what we decide? After all, the whole reason movies and video games fascinate us is because they're designed to. Why not design everything else to dazzle and enlighten us? If you ask me, things like PhotoReading, or my more recent interest: lucid dreaming are not subjects that you'd encounter doing homework...for me...the benefits extend millions of miles beyond our conscious imaginings.
When you truly consider the possibilities of the realm of the unlimited...what is ever unappealing, or a cause for laziness?
-youngprer
