Need help Re: common sense/common knowledge

[iversonian]

I need some help with my brother. He's 23, graduated from college, and attending pharmacy school this fall. He had 13XX SAT scores, went to a top 25 national university (B.S. Biology) -- basically, he's not stupid. He can hack it with the book larnin'. Problem is, he fails with just about everything else in life. He has gaping holes in knowledge of some very basic aspects of everyday life.

To give you an idea of what I mean, these are some things he knows nothing about: credit rating, Newt Gingrich, (insurance) deductible, ampere, shutter speed. Now, if you're thinking, damn, I couldn't define ampere either, that's not what I mean. If there was a multiple choice question and these choices, he couldn't pick out the correct answer, is what I mean.

He's going across the country for school in a few months, and since my parents left the country, it's basically my responsibility to make sure he's all right, and I'm scared as hell. Like, how's he going to figure out how a (rental) lease contract works? Auto insurance? That reminds me of this one: He got hit by another car a few years ago and all he took down was her name and number. Not even the license plate number. He got an earful from me about that. He got rear ended a month ago, and all he took down was name, phone number, and insurance policy number. Again, not even the license plate no. Fortunately, I didn't have any problems with the info.

I'm the smart one in the family and take an interest in topics like art, philosophy, public policy, along with my professional interests. With my brother, I can't have a conversation about ANYTHING, save perhaps family things or the sitcom we might be watching.

I thought about making this post before for some advice/leads, and here was the final straw that did it. Today, he came back from the Army recruiter to see what they might offer regarding tuition help and whatnot. I asked him if he would get an (officer) commission. He didn't know what the difference between enlisted and officer ranks was, nevermind appreciate what a monumental difference there was between the two. Are you guys getting the picture here?

He's always kind of been like this, and I'm fairly resigned to it. There's only so much you can change. He's just not very curious about this world and not very driven to do anything, really. He pretty much fails at life in most respects, and I'm surprised he even got accepted to pharmacy school. The idea that he's no good at anything else so he should become a "doctor" is absurd to me. Btw, the reason he's going to pharm is because my parents pushed him real hard and basically babysat him through the process. My sister also went to pharm school. My (Asian) mom kind of chose the path for them because she recognizes that both of them are kind of clueless and that this sort of thing (not very taxing on the intellect, it's really just a lot of following the directions stuff) would fit them well, and it pays well, too.

What could I do try to avoid/delay/minimize the inevitable trainwreck which is the rest of his life? He'll probably end up living as a prole, regardless of what degree he ends up with (that BS hasn't done [censored] for him in the last year that he's been living with me). Got any suggestions for books that teach you this basic [censored], or maybe some Tony Robbins type stuff? Anyone have personal experiences with people they know? Can people really change? I'd appreciate any feedback. Thanks.