I actually do think John is very, very bright - perhaps even brighter than Rodney, because I think Rodney has some real deficits - but being able to figure out how many ways six symbols can be arranged != mathematic genius. OTOH, I'd totally be (and was, when I first watched the show) thinking "1x2x3 is six, times 4 is 12, times five is 60, times six is 360... wait, that's not right..." I had to do it about five times to get the right answer (starting with the big numbers and going down helped) whereas John just did the math quickly and correctly. I don't think Rodney was ever less precise than he had to be after that!
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I actually do think John is very, very bright - perhaps even brighter than Rodney, because I think Rodney has some real deficits - but being able to figure out how many ways six symbols can be arranged != mathematic genius. OTOH, I'd totally be (and was, when I first watched the show) thinking "1x2x3 is six, times 4 is 12, times five is 60, times six is 360... wait, that's not right..." I had to do it about five times to get the right answer (starting with the big numbers and going down helped) whereas John just did the math quickly and correctly. I don't think Rodney was ever less precise than he had to be after that!
(Oh, I see we share an alma mater.)