So Rush is the smartest person on the ship?

[Encoder]

Rush is extremely intelligent - and has the ability to see the bigger picture all the time (well, his version of the bigger picture anyway) - unlike Eli who needs to pretty much be told what to work on in order to accomplish something.
Moreover, Rush is knee deep in Stargate and Ancient lore - with far more knowledge in the field then anyone on the Destiny.

Eli has more ingenuity and is more resourceful - and has mad math skills - but unlike Rush, he is not self motivated at all.

Yeah I think that Eli, if he applied himself, would be a formidable force indeed!

[Steelbox]

Eli acts too much like a little kid to make any decisions. He is like a calculator

Not true, the idea of using earth PoO contrariating Rush Knowledge about how the gate system work came from Eli. The Idea of using the Shuttles to try and power the Destiny came from him. He was one of the first to go and explore the ship and found the Kinos. It was his idea to build a hover sled with dozens of kinos, that was instrumental to bring back all the Ice to the destiny. Now you tell is he a person, or a kid that has no initiative, make no decisions and acts only as a personal calculator for Rush???

[koroush47]

Not true, the idea of using earth PoO contrariating Rush Knowledge about how the gate system work came from Eli. The Idea of using the Shuttles to try and power the Destiny came from him. He was one of the first to go and explore the ship and found the Kinos. It was his idea to build a hover sled with dozens of kinos, that was instrumental to bring back all the Ice to the destiny. Now you tell is he a person, or a kid that has no initiative, make no decisions and acts only as a personal calculator for Rush???

SO FAR the only useful things that eli has done is A. Kino B. Kino Sled.

Just because you find a kino... doesn't make you smart. Anybody can find a box with a kino in it.. push a button on a touchscreen and realize that it floats around as a camera. From what I can tell operating a kino is not difficult because even technology blind young can do it. Since we seen him record himself talking when nobody was around.

The idea to tape a bunch of kinos to a board isn't what I would call smart either. It is creative. Get any kid that plays with legos and give him something that floats and a board. What do you think they will do? They will tape them together and see if they can fly around.

"The Idea of using the Shuttles to try and power the Destiny came from him."

It was just some random idea, didn't work because the destiny is too big compared to a little shuttle to actually do anything. Ideas that don't work aren't considered smart either.

Rush knew the ship was going to fly into a sun and recharge. That is why he stayed behind and then ran around yelling "I knew it". He doesn't seem like the person who would brag about how he knows everything, he isn't a McKay. He doesn't care what the people think about him, all he cares about is himself and the destiny. A person like that wouldn't stay in a ship he knows that is going to be destroyed and he wouldn't run around yelling "I knew it" If he really didn't. Because again he isn't like mckay.


Eli is seeming more like Kino boy and not math boy. Because all he is doing is flying the Kinos around.

[Soledat]

I think Rush only suspected that the ship will recharge and wasn't sure. I don't say that he had no idea, but he wasn't 100% sure.

[koroush47]

I think Rush only suspected that the ship will recharge and wasn't sure. I don't say that he had no idea, but he wasn't 100% sure.

Of course, you can't be 100 percent sure of anything...

It is like when you believe something to be true... then you start to doubt it.

[akren]

Um, mega-spoiler or mega-speculation?

Methinks mega speculation (but it's a nice theory thou; would be interesting if it was true!).

[wargrafix]

Rush is brilliant but a bit twisted. Still one of the best characters.

[Soledat]

Rush is brilliant but a bit twisted. Still one of the best characters.

That's what I like in him - the twisted part

[EllieVee]

That's what I like in him - the twisted part

I think he's very sweet ...

And to keep it on topic: smart, too!

[Soledat]

I think he's very sweet ...

And to keep it on topic: smart, too!

Smart, sarcastic and sweet in his twisted way

[Captain Obvious]

Smart, sarcastic and sweet in his twisted way

I really see Rush as one of those people that to get respect from him, you need to give respect to him. He now treats Greer with respect because Greer does the same for him. Same with Young, TJ and to some extent, Eli.

[ZGoten]

The answer is pretty easy and obvious to be honest.
Eli is probably a little smarter than Rush is, but compared to him, his knowledge of science is close to nothing, yet. That is why Eli didn't understand a lot of what was in that record.

[jmoz]

There's different kinds of smart. Knowledge, wisdom, brain computing power, math oriented, literature oriented, etc. I'm sure psychology has is broken down better. Rush may be smart in terms of amount of scientific and Ancient knowledge he has in his memories, but is he wise? Does he have good consciousness? Just different kinds of smart out there.