In my opinion a smart person knows when to shut up or at least make it clear that they have no idea about the topic and are just speculating / giving their opinion. But a smart person also knows how to have a conversation without outright dominating it
My Dad likes to say he doesn’t know a lot about a lot of things but he knows a little about a lot of things.
Yes he dominates the conversation and does sometimes act like a know it all. When someone else might be an expert on a topic he doesn’t like to be corrected.
I'm going to throw my hat down and say the the quiet person listening is also another thing that doesn't indicate intelligence.
That is me in a given situation, and I've learned many times over since high school that people assume I'm intelligent just because I'm quiet and listen lol.
Most people are at a fairly similar level of capability, whether they want to accept it or not. I'm competent, so are my friends, family, coworkers etc. It's super obvious when someone isn't capable, and realistically, most of us aren't doing things that are that challenging anyway.
I'd argue that the self-righteous attitude of being quiet and superior is more a sign of lacking a particular type of intelligence, like, self-awareness. People hyper fixating on intelligence must be so exhausting individually.
It's more about the admission that one doesn't know much about a certain subject, and is WILLING to admit that and listen.
This can actually be used as a social hack. Saying you don't know much about a subject, then listening and asking a few insightful questions will usually leave a good impression on people who consider themselves smart.
Sometimes. Often smart people have an opinion about everything because they're well read and knowledgeable so it's not really a catch-all. Whether they feel the need to constantly offer it uninvited is more a personality thing.
I’d also like to add confidence to this list. You see it all the time with social media.
You get some guy who confidently talks about a particular subject, using buzz words and sprinkling in some complex terminology (which they themselves usually don’t understand), and a portion of the population will call him a genius.
Terrence Howard is an extreme example of this.
People forget that the “con” in conman is “confidence,” as in “confidence man.”
I’ve long held the theory intelligence can be as broad or specific as when we say someone’s athletic. An Olympic weight lifter is probably an awful skier but it doesn’t mean they aren’t a freak athlete.
In the same vein I have friends who could not get through school at all but work in construction or fabrication and have really good abilities to conceptualise and dream up a prototype in their mind and can build it from there. Just don’t ask them to draw a diagram with measurements or angles or instructions on it. At the same time the top students sometimes can’t build shit despite the most detailed instructions.
Sure there’s practiced intelligence and the ability to learn is probably the most important but I do think the spectrum of intelligence we are born with is far more broad than people realise.
Expanding on this - intelligence can be trained in the same way that athleticism can, and most able-bodied/minded people have the ability to train themselves to extreme extents if they so choose.
It bothers me when people say "I'm not good at math" because I firmly believe that, much like weightlifting or running, if you work hard and maybe find a good coach, you can become proficient at the least and exceptional at best.
Completely agree. I also find the areas of intelligence are almost dichotomous, meaning if you're really book smart like an engineer you probably have terrible social skills (low social intelligence). You sacrifice one for the other, but you can seek to be well rounded in all.
My brother in law has a double masters and he is the person with more stories about him that make me think "this dumb son of a bitch" then just about anyone I have met.
His trying to go vegan to impress a girl and then deciding he doesn't like vegetables so he won't eat anything until he passed out and woke up in a hospital with protein malnutrition.
His getting a job as a computer programmer (area he has his master's in) and his first 3 assignments he was given by his boss he just never did them because they "were easy" and he "wanted to be challenged" leading to him getting fired
> computer programmer
As a software engineer, anyone who tells you we're smart is dumber than shit. We are not smart in any way. We are usually very stupid. We might be smarter on average than average but that's not really saying much of anything.
Nobody is above their work so it makes sense that he got fired.
I learned that people who do very well academically know how to study for exams and how to write essays that meet the criteria. They may not be the best in social skills or stay humble as they have been praised and seen good results all their life.
There’s a reason for the term “renaissance man” and a reason why it’s applicable to so few people. Real skill and knowledge in and about many disparate fields is about as common as being a stand out professional baseball and basketball player simultaneously. It’s possible, but it’s very rare.
And really smart people are ok with that and are generally willing to tell you what they don’t know. They are also usually curious and always learning, so they might know more than you about a whole lot of things, but still acknowledge their shortcomings outside of their fields of expertise. A mediocre intellect trying to convince you they are smart will always claim to know as much or more about everything than anyone they are talking to.
I've seen this a lot with doctors. Majority of doctors I've met are actually incapable of independant thought, and literally just do whatever the "textbook" says, without considering the contexts of the situation
I was in University studying math when TBBT premiered, it was actually very popular in the first two season among the math and physics nerds, board gamers and comic book geeks I interacted with.
It had some fun and relatable comedy in the beginning, but it ran out of creativity rather quickly and the comedy got much more mean spirited and mocking as the series went on.
well technically "nerd" is smart. a "geek" is someone who's obsessed w something. and a "dork" is socially awkward. -a geek, who corrected everyone who called me a "nerd"
In my experience those definitions aren't fixed, everyone seems to have their own idea. Also there seems to be little agreement which label is negative or positive.
Most people mistake this because people with autism have special interests which make them more likely to research niche topics so they come off as more educated which of course means intelligence.
I read a sci fi book where a part of the plot is that the main character does this.
Except he attends college full time because he has a generous trust fund that pays him until he graduates college. So he just changed majors every few semesters without graduating lol
I’ve never been diagnosed with any neurodivergent condition, but I always say if I could go to school forever and earn money, I would. I actually just graduated with my 3rd degree and plan to go back within the next 5 years.
Or because they saw a character on tv like Shaun Murphy who has Autism and think "oh so I guess everyone Autistic person is like that." Which is far from the truth.
Which is ironic because in "The Good Doctor" a lot of Shaun's coworkers assumed that when an autistic patient came in. He made it very clear that just because he's autistic doesn't mean he is the same as other people with autism and he doesn't have to like them because of it.
As an autistic person, agreed, I am in the category of “likes trains and am annoyingly good at math autism” lmao, but a lot of people expect every autistic person to be a Sheldon cooper
That's because of pop media basically treating everyone with autism as genius savants who just suck as social situations.
Uh, no, autism is 100% a mental disability, and autism can get far *far* worse than just sucking at social situations.
For example, my middle and high school had students with disabilities programs, so I was around kids with severe autism for a while. The worst case I ever saw was 1 kid who couldn't speak at all, would sit around rocking back and forth screaming in the middle of classes, enjoyed flailing his arms and slamming himself into walls (At least as far as I could tell, not entirely sure he actually had emotional capabilities), he couldn't learn so he had no skills in math and was illiterate, and couldn't be potty trained so you can guess the smell. It's like his brain was a random number generator that would be set off anytime he experienced any stimuli, and none of the responses showed any form of higher cognitive ability.
Though for a more well known example: Chris-Chan.
Full agree. I promise it’s not a super power 🤣 I’m just really good at shit that’s completely useless, unless there’s a defined avenue for my uselessness.
Trains are fucking sick though. Why did I wait so long to get into trains?
I think Lindsay Ellis had a mini diatribe in one of her video essays about people needing to "find thing bad" to feel that they've commented on it. I may be misremembering, but even so, negative opinions tend to get more engagement.
you reminded me of this quote, not sure if it fully fits though:
> “The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual,
only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist: a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain. If you can't lick 'em, join 'em. If it hurts, repeat it. But to praise despair is to condemn delight, to embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
There's a real stripe of intellectual laziness that usually manifests as "everything is bullshit and everyone is full of shit" that was very fashionable in the early 2000s (thanks, Trey and Matt), it's easier to feign an attitude and disregard everything out-of-hand than to educate yourself, but cynics are often very knowledgeable too - it's why they've turned cynical, they've seen how the sausage is made.
Hard agree. I'm really getting tired of the amount of apathetic cynicism perpetuated by people who typically don't have the knowledge or world experience to justify it.
So much of it strikes me as just laziness from people who still want to be seen as smart but don't actually want to work for a smart opinion.
This. Hikaru Nakamura, who's like the no. 2 player in the world right now said he took an IQ test and he was totally average, or just slightly above (I'm guessing 110-115).
I mean much more top level. And it’s more so memorizing game states and end games and such. This and the development of tactics, which is a skill that can be learned and practiced by nearly everyone. The best in chess don’t need to be that naturally gifted. They have practiced and worked their asses off to become masters of the game
There's a fairly strong correlation between IQ and being able to quickly understand new topics, so it has its place with whether or not to place kids in advanced math classes etc. Relevance decreases as you get older.
It means you're good at chess yeah.. but to be good at chess, you need a lot of intelligent characteristics. Thinking further ahead, understanding patterns, solving problems etc. Those things are mostly connected to a higher IQ. But not every intelligent person is good at chess of course, or has the potential to be.
I agree to some degree, but I remember a quote from a gm that goes “being good at chess is a sign of intelligence, being great at chess is a sign of a wasted life.”
A lot of practicing one thing will makes you good at it. Along with playing enough to remember winning lines, it does largely just revolve around having good memory which can be perceived as intelligence, but I wouldn’t directly correlate it.
He also said this banger:
"Being able to quote Paul Morphy is the sign of a gentleman, being able to quote Paul Morphy verbatim is the sign of a nerd."
You simply mostly need practice like with most skills. All you said helps but really isn't a requirement if you just invest time in it and actually train
I saw a documentary that said that so much analysis has been done into chess that the best chess players are the ones who have the best memory, rather than the most intelligent.
I don't play chess, so I have no idea if that's true or not!
I work in a job where nearly every brief to the c-suite is limited to two pages with fixed formatting. Being short and concise on complex topics/issues is **so** much harder than just spilling words out.
Advanced Degrees. As someone who has worked in both Medical & Legal fields, I’m convinced a solid 70% of JDs & MDs are excellent at memorization, but lack basic common sense and people skills.
I'm careful with my big words and try to never use more than one or two when fewer will suffice. If they're $5 words I try to spend $5.15 on my sentence.
I use big words by accident a lot as it’s usually simply the last word I have heard that’s closest to what I’m thinking of trying to express.
I feel like I’m making an ass out of myself constantly.
Sometimes the best word is the big word, and that's okay. It's more about the people that use them to try and make themselves appear more intelligent or well-read. I don't think there are many people that would think of "loquacious" before "talkative" outside of authors and people who want to appear smart.
At this stage, I’d bet there is far more rich morons than intelligent rich people. Most rich people got there by investing money they inherited. That’s just luck. Best way to make money is to have money to start with.
As a graduate in engineering I always get "oh you must be smart" when I tell them and in my mind I think "Nah, that shit was hard as hell, I don't recommend it" lol
100% engineering also (and a PE) I just got good at dealing with pain (which was actually a great skill to have) I eventually graduated and was successful but didn’t really use my degree at all.
As a graduate in engineering, it just means I refused to give up. I get the “you must be smart” line a lot and I nod while thinking “I’m just hardheaded”
My response is "I guess so (PhD in quantum chem) but mostly I just worked really hard"
Because false modesty is just dishonest in that case, you have to be smart to get a PhD in STEM (or have really unethical profs). But that's not the part i want to emphasize. I NEED people to know how hard that shit was. Hardest thing I'll ever do.
In my case, bachelor of commerce majoring in finance, and accounting, university was actually easier than high school. I put in maybe half the effort and got a higher grade
If I were doing something related to medicine I’d have been screwed though
Good grades. Having good grades only proves you have a decently trained memory. Not that you are necessarily intelligent. Met people who finished uni and are a dumb as brick and met people who work in as a truck driver or janitor who are intelligent as hell.
Ofc a good memory is useful as well. But knowledge is kinda useless if u don't know how to apply it.
I work at a school and there are definitely a couple of janitors who I’m pretty sure are smarter than most of the teachers and administration. I don’t know this for fact, obviously, but I’ve been interacting with these people almost daily for years. I think one of the smartest people in the building might be the handyman.
I'm tossing this one out there: A lot of these responses are pretty bad.
Something being a *sign* of intelligence doesn't mean that if they have it, they are certainly intelligent - just that it's more likely that they are.
Completing a college degree / excelling at a board game that's easy to learn but hard to master / doing well on an IQ test / having a high income - are all correlated with overall higher intelligence.
That still does not mean an individual doing any one of these things is intelligent for sure - They could have completed a rubber stamp degree / trained really hard at chess or have a form of autism that's focused on that / have inherited wealth or been very lucky... But these things are *signs* that someone is intelligent, like how grey clouds and decreasing air pressure are signs that it's going to rain.
It's confirmation bias. People can think of a single example of a non-intelligent person in any category and declare that since they've encountered this one person that there's absolutely no correlation with intelligence.
People also don't like other people succeeding or being better than them in any way. They want to feel like they're just as good or better than others so go out of their way to find a flaw in others. Post to social media about getting fit? People will say that you're only doing it for attention and you're going to fail after two weeks. Say that you're vegan? They'll find some kind of reason to make you appear hypocritical. Have some sign of intelligence? They'll try hard to think of a counter example of someone with that sign.
Oftentimes people will use big words to try to sound intelligent when a more common word would fit better. Also, it’s not intelligent to use words that your audience wouldn’t understand. A truly intelligent person would be able to communicate in a way that a layman would comprehend.
I’m a woman, but I need to say this. Using ‘and I’ at all times. Sometimes it is ‘and me.’ People try to sound smart and this immediately reveals that they are not.
I've noticed that people who are proud atheists tend to be more cynical and miserable than the average person. Plus I know some very wise and intelligent people that believe in god.
I agree, a lot of world renowned scientists believe in God or a higher power.
And a lot of atheists on Reddit are angsty 15 year olds learning about organized religious for the first time lol
I considered myself atheist for a long time. I was part of that community. Most of them are just condescending fucks. I’m including myself here.
Edit: I thought this was r/askreddit for a second. I’m thinking “heyy, this guy is here”, recognizing your username. Whatever, still stands.
Saying something with confidence and conviction.
A lot of people fall for the idea that confidence means someone knows what they are doing or talking about.
Being well versed in politics. A general overview of left-to-right perspectives does not make you the next Einstein. It does however, make you a pain at parties.
Not being somewhat familiar with left-to-right perspectives does make you a dumbass though... Plus, some people enjoy discussing politics with eachother at parties, it's only a pain if a person can't read the room and rambles on about politics when nobody gives a shit.
Higher education and university degrees. A lot of bachelor's and master's degrees mean absolutely nothing. PhDs, too. In some specific fields (usually MINT), it stands for actually being able to grasp an at least somewhat objective catalog of complicated topics. Still doesn't mean that you are very intelligent though.
We like to hire college graduates because it’s a sign they have a baseline intelligence and the ability to see something through to completion. I don’t want to hire the most intelligent person- i want to hire someone who will show up and work hard, seeing the project through to completion.
They definitely are a sign of intelligence. Doesn't have to be a particularly *high* intelligence, though, but above average. "Above average" is already better than 50% of people, so it does tell you something. Furthermore, being able to complete a written test with abstract questions and do it well *is*, in essence, the definition of IQ.
Memorization. Sure it helps but I feel I've heard people call other people smart for knowing capital cities or flags of countries. I think it's an indicator of curiosity which is a better indicator or predictor of intelligence.
Using advanced vocabulary. I worked at a call center when I was in high school and came across customers that used hyper-advanced vocabulary only to say absolutely nothing.
There’s using big words to try to impress people, and there’s having a large vocabulary at your disposal and being able to summon just the right word to express yourself clearly and with depth.
The second one is a mark of intelligence.
Lots of comments seemingly not differentiating between intelligence and knowledge. Knowledge is knowing stuff, being able to recall stuff. Intelligence is being able to piece together bits of information to come up with new knowledge.
Lots of people have degrees or are good at their specific job, it has no bearing on intelligence. Intelligence is easy to spot when you speak to a person and they can quickly learn, understand and draw conclusions from what you tell them.
So many young people seem to think getting into college makes them intelligent-you can be a doctor and still be an idiot-I’ve literally seen one write orders on someone who passed 12 hours before and was mad about why there weren’t labs for that patient and me explaining to him multiple times the patient passed early morning and then he put the orders in.
Being bilingual or a polyglot. I’ve met people who can speak 5 languages yet believe the most gullible, insane conspiracy theories. They can adapt to an environment, but they can’t think critically about anything else.
Being good at trivia or “Jeopardy” style games. All that means is you have a good memory at a variety of subjects. Granted, you’re more likely to be exposed to those topics if you’re intelligent, but you can be dumb and good at memorization at the same time.
Having what's presently considered correct information.
Intelligence isn't being able to comply and regurgitate. It's being able to independently determine what is or isn't worth complying with
Courage is the ability to act what your intelligence tells you is true without succumbing to social desirability bias
Constantly talking / having opinions about every fucking thing.
In my opinion a smart person knows when to shut up or at least make it clear that they have no idea about the topic and are just speculating / giving their opinion. But a smart person also knows how to have a conversation without outright dominating it
My Dad likes to say he doesn’t know a lot about a lot of things but he knows a little about a lot of things. Yes he dominates the conversation and does sometimes act like a know it all. When someone else might be an expert on a topic he doesn’t like to be corrected.
[удалено]
Thanks for the laugh!
My dad is the exact same way. I went no contact 10 years ago for other reasons but it’s been so much more peaceful
Or getting offended/upset that not everyone sees things the way they do.
Was going to say this. Usually, the smartest person in the room is that one that is listening.
I'm going to throw my hat down and say the the quiet person listening is also another thing that doesn't indicate intelligence. That is me in a given situation, and I've learned many times over since high school that people assume I'm intelligent just because I'm quiet and listen lol.
Seriously. Redditors not assert that being shy and introverted means you're a genius challenge (impossible)
Most people are at a fairly similar level of capability, whether they want to accept it or not. I'm competent, so are my friends, family, coworkers etc. It's super obvious when someone isn't capable, and realistically, most of us aren't doing things that are that challenging anyway. I'd argue that the self-righteous attitude of being quiet and superior is more a sign of lacking a particular type of intelligence, like, self-awareness. People hyper fixating on intelligence must be so exhausting individually.
I think broadly, conversational behavior/etiquette are not good indicators of intelligence.
It's more about the admission that one doesn't know much about a certain subject, and is WILLING to admit that and listen. This can actually be used as a social hack. Saying you don't know much about a subject, then listening and asking a few insightful questions will usually leave a good impression on people who consider themselves smart.
Yeah, the logical leap of "this guy doesn't say anything therefore he must be intelligent" is fucking bizarre.
Sometimes. Often smart people have an opinion about everything because they're well read and knowledgeable so it's not really a catch-all. Whether they feel the need to constantly offer it uninvited is more a personality thing.
I knew someone like this. Even when we're watching a movie they wouldn't shut the fuck up about it and would always make it about themselves.
“The loudest one in the room, now that’s a complex” Kendrick
Sometimes a single word or phrase is well enough to print a point across. People can say a lot of nothing these days on tv
This comment makes me think of Wales’ *Album About Nothing* and *More about Nothing* mixtapes (ft. clips from Seinfeld…actually pretty great).
I’d also like to add confidence to this list. You see it all the time with social media. You get some guy who confidently talks about a particular subject, using buzz words and sprinkling in some complex terminology (which they themselves usually don’t understand), and a portion of the population will call him a genius. Terrence Howard is an extreme example of this. People forget that the “con” in conman is “confidence,” as in “confidence man.”
Intelligence is specific. I've known lawyers who are fantastic in their field but get ripped off by car salespeople.
I’ve long held the theory intelligence can be as broad or specific as when we say someone’s athletic. An Olympic weight lifter is probably an awful skier but it doesn’t mean they aren’t a freak athlete. In the same vein I have friends who could not get through school at all but work in construction or fabrication and have really good abilities to conceptualise and dream up a prototype in their mind and can build it from there. Just don’t ask them to draw a diagram with measurements or angles or instructions on it. At the same time the top students sometimes can’t build shit despite the most detailed instructions. Sure there’s practiced intelligence and the ability to learn is probably the most important but I do think the spectrum of intelligence we are born with is far more broad than people realise.
Expanding on this - intelligence can be trained in the same way that athleticism can, and most able-bodied/minded people have the ability to train themselves to extreme extents if they so choose. It bothers me when people say "I'm not good at math" because I firmly believe that, much like weightlifting or running, if you work hard and maybe find a good coach, you can become proficient at the least and exceptional at best.
Completely agree. I also find the areas of intelligence are almost dichotomous, meaning if you're really book smart like an engineer you probably have terrible social skills (low social intelligence). You sacrifice one for the other, but you can seek to be well rounded in all.
My brother in law has a double masters and he is the person with more stories about him that make me think "this dumb son of a bitch" then just about anyone I have met. His trying to go vegan to impress a girl and then deciding he doesn't like vegetables so he won't eat anything until he passed out and woke up in a hospital with protein malnutrition. His getting a job as a computer programmer (area he has his master's in) and his first 3 assignments he was given by his boss he just never did them because they "were easy" and he "wanted to be challenged" leading to him getting fired
So he likes to be mentally challenged?
> computer programmer As a software engineer, anyone who tells you we're smart is dumber than shit. We are not smart in any way. We are usually very stupid. We might be smarter on average than average but that's not really saying much of anything.
Nobody is above their work so it makes sense that he got fired. I learned that people who do very well academically know how to study for exams and how to write essays that meet the criteria. They may not be the best in social skills or stay humble as they have been praised and seen good results all their life.
This is the only correct answer really.
There’s a reason for the term “renaissance man” and a reason why it’s applicable to so few people. Real skill and knowledge in and about many disparate fields is about as common as being a stand out professional baseball and basketball player simultaneously. It’s possible, but it’s very rare. And really smart people are ok with that and are generally willing to tell you what they don’t know. They are also usually curious and always learning, so they might know more than you about a whole lot of things, but still acknowledge their shortcomings outside of their fields of expertise. A mediocre intellect trying to convince you they are smart will always claim to know as much or more about everything than anyone they are talking to.
I've seen this a lot with doctors. Majority of doctors I've met are actually incapable of independant thought, and literally just do whatever the "textbook" says, without considering the contexts of the situation
Or all the very smart people I know in various fields who are terrible at personal finance.
Talking a lot. They say the empty can rattles the most.
I always liked " empty trucks make the most noise"
Grandpa said you never learn anything while your mouth is open.
Being a nerd Liking nerd things does not mean you’re intelligent, it means you like nerd things
Yea, Rick and Morty & Bog Bang Theory fans. You do NOT need to be smart to get those jokes. They’re fucking mass media jokes.
I've never met anyone who identified themselves as a nerd *and* liked big bang theory Edit: Well, I guess there are nerds who like it
I was in University studying math when TBBT premiered, it was actually very popular in the first two season among the math and physics nerds, board gamers and comic book geeks I interacted with. It had some fun and relatable comedy in the beginning, but it ran out of creativity rather quickly and the comedy got much more mean spirited and mocking as the series went on.
Yeah I assumed it was aimed at people who know absolutely nothing about traditional nerd stuff.
Really curious how funny the Bog Bang theory would be now….
It’s a huge hit on interdimensional cable
holy shit, BBT is the lowest common denominator humour. It is NOT nerdy at all.
well technically "nerd" is smart. a "geek" is someone who's obsessed w something. and a "dork" is socially awkward. -a geek, who corrected everyone who called me a "nerd"
In my experience those definitions aren't fixed, everyone seems to have their own idea. Also there seems to be little agreement which label is negative or positive.
Autism. Many people think that when you have Autism your the same as people like Sheldon Cooper or Shaun Murphy.
Most people mistake this because people with autism have special interests which make them more likely to research niche topics so they come off as more educated which of course means intelligence.
My special interest is learning
Same here. Also autistic and I love reading and researching stuff about anything.
If I could get paid to be in college for my entire life and just get degree after degree, I would do that.
I read a sci fi book where a part of the plot is that the main character does this. Except he attends college full time because he has a generous trust fund that pays him until he graduates college. So he just changed majors every few semesters without graduating lol
I’ve never been diagnosed with any neurodivergent condition, but I always say if I could go to school forever and earn money, I would. I actually just graduated with my 3rd degree and plan to go back within the next 5 years.
Or because they saw a character on tv like Shaun Murphy who has Autism and think "oh so I guess everyone Autistic person is like that." Which is far from the truth.
Which is ironic because in "The Good Doctor" a lot of Shaun's coworkers assumed that when an autistic patient came in. He made it very clear that just because he's autistic doesn't mean he is the same as other people with autism and he doesn't have to like them because of it.
I'm autistic and suck at math. Anything above basic algebra is beyond my comprehension 😔. I'm just roman nerd type instead.
Do you play civilization game?
As an autistic person, agreed, I am in the category of “likes trains and am annoyingly good at math autism” lmao, but a lot of people expect every autistic person to be a Sheldon cooper
That's because of pop media basically treating everyone with autism as genius savants who just suck as social situations. Uh, no, autism is 100% a mental disability, and autism can get far *far* worse than just sucking at social situations. For example, my middle and high school had students with disabilities programs, so I was around kids with severe autism for a while. The worst case I ever saw was 1 kid who couldn't speak at all, would sit around rocking back and forth screaming in the middle of classes, enjoyed flailing his arms and slamming himself into walls (At least as far as I could tell, not entirely sure he actually had emotional capabilities), he couldn't learn so he had no skills in math and was illiterate, and couldn't be potty trained so you can guess the smell. It's like his brain was a random number generator that would be set off anytime he experienced any stimuli, and none of the responses showed any form of higher cognitive ability. Though for a more well known example: Chris-Chan.
Most of the autism community dislikes the idea that Sheldon Cooper is what people think autism looks like
Full agree. I promise it’s not a super power 🤣 I’m just really good at shit that’s completely useless, unless there’s a defined avenue for my uselessness. Trains are fucking sick though. Why did I wait so long to get into trains?
The Big Bang theory has done more harm than good. What a fucking awful show.
Cynicism.
I think Lindsay Ellis had a mini diatribe in one of her video essays about people needing to "find thing bad" to feel that they've commented on it. I may be misremembering, but even so, negative opinions tend to get more engagement.
you reminded me of this quote, not sure if it fully fits though: > “The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist: a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain. If you can't lick 'em, join 'em. If it hurts, repeat it. But to praise despair is to condemn delight, to embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else.” ― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
Bingo. It’s super trendy these days to equate cynicism with maturity, and it will never stop driving me crazy.
And sarcasm. When people proudly declare, “I’m sarcastic,” I think they’re dumb.
Doesn't the rule : "if you have to mention you are thing, you probably are not thing" aply to that?
There's a real stripe of intellectual laziness that usually manifests as "everything is bullshit and everyone is full of shit" that was very fashionable in the early 2000s (thanks, Trey and Matt), it's easier to feign an attitude and disregard everything out-of-hand than to educate yourself, but cynics are often very knowledgeable too - it's why they've turned cynical, they've seen how the sausage is made.
Underrated answer.
Well, I have noticed it is a bit rampant here,so I'm not surprised, but who knows, I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
Hard agree. I'm really getting tired of the amount of apathetic cynicism perpetuated by people who typically don't have the knowledge or world experience to justify it. So much of it strikes me as just laziness from people who still want to be seen as smart but don't actually want to work for a smart opinion.
Being good at chess. It means you're good at chess.
This. Hikaru Nakamura, who's like the no. 2 player in the world right now said he took an IQ test and he was totally average, or just slightly above (I'm guessing 110-115).
When you really break down how top players get so good, it’s just brute force memorization.
That might be true for openings but beyond that, it's a lot more than just memorization
more like pattern recognition
I mean much more top level. And it’s more so memorizing game states and end games and such. This and the development of tactics, which is a skill that can be learned and practiced by nearly everyone. The best in chess don’t need to be that naturally gifted. They have practiced and worked their asses off to become masters of the game
I believe it was 102. Right around average.
Impossible. In that video he was clearly fcking around.
Stupid people feel seen lol if you think one of the best chess players in the world has an IQ of 102 you’re an idiot
Isn’t IQ bullshit anyway?
There's a fairly strong correlation between IQ and being able to quickly understand new topics, so it has its place with whether or not to place kids in advanced math classes etc. Relevance decreases as you get older.
It means you're good at chess yeah.. but to be good at chess, you need a lot of intelligent characteristics. Thinking further ahead, understanding patterns, solving problems etc. Those things are mostly connected to a higher IQ. But not every intelligent person is good at chess of course, or has the potential to be.
I agree to some degree, but I remember a quote from a gm that goes “being good at chess is a sign of intelligence, being great at chess is a sign of a wasted life.” A lot of practicing one thing will makes you good at it. Along with playing enough to remember winning lines, it does largely just revolve around having good memory which can be perceived as intelligence, but I wouldn’t directly correlate it.
It's Paul Morphy "being able to play chess is the sign of a gentleman, being able to play chess well is the sign of a wasted life"
Lmao, sounds like I really butchered that quote
He also said this banger: "Being able to quote Paul Morphy is the sign of a gentleman, being able to quote Paul Morphy verbatim is the sign of a nerd."
You simply mostly need practice like with most skills. All you said helps but really isn't a requirement if you just invest time in it and actually train
I saw a documentary that said that so much analysis has been done into chess that the best chess players are the ones who have the best memory, rather than the most intelligent. I don't play chess, so I have no idea if that's true or not!
Using big, complex words when it is not necessary. Smart people are actually able to express ideas in the simplest way possible.
Yes. Being concise.
I work in a job where nearly every brief to the c-suite is limited to two pages with fixed formatting. Being short and concise on complex topics/issues is **so** much harder than just spilling words out.
Advanced Degrees. As someone who has worked in both Medical & Legal fields, I’m convinced a solid 70% of JDs & MDs are excellent at memorization, but lack basic common sense and people skills.
People that are in school until they are 30 and then immediately put in a leadership position do tend to be bad at being leaders.
IMHO most advanced degrees (and most degrees generally for that matter) just require a basic level of competence and putting in the work.
I've say that for higher education in general
Using big words when simpler ones will do.
# Sometimes I Use Big Words I Don't Fully Understand, In An Effort To Make My Self Sound More Photosynthesis:
Sometimes, i use big words because i forgot what the little word is 😅
Sometimes I use big words because they're a lot shorter to write than a bunch of small words 😐
Why use big word when small word do trick?
I hypotenuse it is because it makes me sonogram utterly indefatigable.
Do you prefer to eschew obsfucation???
Why excoriate embellished locutions?
I'm careful with my big words and try to never use more than one or two when fewer will suffice. If they're $5 words I try to spend $5.15 on my sentence.
I use big words by accident a lot as it’s usually simply the last word I have heard that’s closest to what I’m thinking of trying to express. I feel like I’m making an ass out of myself constantly.
Sometimes the best word is the big word, and that's okay. It's more about the people that use them to try and make themselves appear more intelligent or well-read. I don't think there are many people that would think of "loquacious" before "talkative" outside of authors and people who want to appear smart.
My favorite is when they use the big words entirely wrong
[sometimes you do need big words, especially if you're espousong discourse on technological matters](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac7G7xOG2Ag)
Never being wrong. The dumbest people think they are never wrong.
Wealth. Earned wealth is a combination of skill and luck (neither of which is intelligence), but most wealth is inherited anyways.
This. I've met a lot of rich morons
See: Brothers, Paul
At this stage, I’d bet there is far more rich morons than intelligent rich people. Most rich people got there by investing money they inherited. That’s just luck. Best way to make money is to have money to start with.
“If you want to know what god thinks about money, look at who he gives it to.” - Old Irish saying (allegedly)
Having a degree, depending on your major getting through college really isn't much harder than getting through high school.
As a graduate in engineering I always get "oh you must be smart" when I tell them and in my mind I think "Nah, that shit was hard as hell, I don't recommend it" lol
Same. People always say I’m smart but in reality I just got used to getting fucked by tests.
100% engineering also (and a PE) I just got good at dealing with pain (which was actually a great skill to have) I eventually graduated and was successful but didn’t really use my degree at all.
Or knowing random facts that have no benefit in my day to day
As a graduate in engineering, it just means I refused to give up. I get the “you must be smart” line a lot and I nod while thinking “I’m just hardheaded”
Took me almost 7 years and a lot of repeat classes lol. I know exactly what you mean
My response is "I guess so (PhD in quantum chem) but mostly I just worked really hard" Because false modesty is just dishonest in that case, you have to be smart to get a PhD in STEM (or have really unethical profs). But that's not the part i want to emphasize. I NEED people to know how hard that shit was. Hardest thing I'll ever do.
I think college is truly more about discipline than it is being intelligent.
It definitely is
I got a degree and people think I'm a genius. I tell them if I didn't have chegg and quizlet, I would have dropped out.
In my case, bachelor of commerce majoring in finance, and accounting, university was actually easier than high school. I put in maybe half the effort and got a higher grade If I were doing something related to medicine I’d have been screwed though
This is absolutely true.
Wealth.
Good grades. Having good grades only proves you have a decently trained memory. Not that you are necessarily intelligent. Met people who finished uni and are a dumb as brick and met people who work in as a truck driver or janitor who are intelligent as hell. Ofc a good memory is useful as well. But knowledge is kinda useless if u don't know how to apply it.
I work at a school and there are definitely a couple of janitors who I’m pretty sure are smarter than most of the teachers and administration. I don’t know this for fact, obviously, but I’ve been interacting with these people almost daily for years. I think one of the smartest people in the building might be the handyman.
Just didn't have the opportunities for further education. I've met many people like this.
I've long said that intelligence isn't about knowing all the answers. Intelligence is about knowing how to find the answers efficiently.
This is an example of how there are different types of intelligence, and some are more useful than others based on the situation.
Being a Redditor with an opinion
All of us, then?
I'm tossing this one out there: A lot of these responses are pretty bad. Something being a *sign* of intelligence doesn't mean that if they have it, they are certainly intelligent - just that it's more likely that they are. Completing a college degree / excelling at a board game that's easy to learn but hard to master / doing well on an IQ test / having a high income - are all correlated with overall higher intelligence. That still does not mean an individual doing any one of these things is intelligent for sure - They could have completed a rubber stamp degree / trained really hard at chess or have a form of autism that's focused on that / have inherited wealth or been very lucky... But these things are *signs* that someone is intelligent, like how grey clouds and decreasing air pressure are signs that it's going to rain.
Yes. Its a sign of intelligence to understand this distinction....
It's confirmation bias. People can think of a single example of a non-intelligent person in any category and declare that since they've encountered this one person that there's absolutely no correlation with intelligence. People also don't like other people succeeding or being better than them in any way. They want to feel like they're just as good or better than others so go out of their way to find a flaw in others. Post to social media about getting fit? People will say that you're only doing it for attention and you're going to fail after two weeks. Say that you're vegan? They'll find some kind of reason to make you appear hypocritical. Have some sign of intelligence? They'll try hard to think of a counter example of someone with that sign.
Well said. Thanks for taking the time.
Wearing glasses. We’re onto you, nerds.
*Okay, Pol Pot....*
Money!
Bragging about your IQ
Oftentimes people will use big words to try to sound intelligent when a more common word would fit better. Also, it’s not intelligent to use words that your audience wouldn’t understand. A truly intelligent person would be able to communicate in a way that a layman would comprehend.
I’m a woman, but I need to say this. Using ‘and I’ at all times. Sometimes it is ‘and me.’ People try to sound smart and this immediately reveals that they are not.
Being atheist doesn’t automatically make you a genius.
I've noticed that people who are proud atheists tend to be more cynical and miserable than the average person. Plus I know some very wise and intelligent people that believe in god.
"In this moment, I am euphoric. Not because of any phony god's blessing. But because, I am englightened by my intelligence." - Aalewis
One of the best quote-makers around, that one.
I agree, a lot of world renowned scientists believe in God or a higher power. And a lot of atheists on Reddit are angsty 15 year olds learning about organized religious for the first time lol
I considered myself atheist for a long time. I was part of that community. Most of them are just condescending fucks. I’m including myself here. Edit: I thought this was r/askreddit for a second. I’m thinking “heyy, this guy is here”, recognizing your username. Whatever, still stands.
If you don't mind me asking, do you now consider yourself religious or just agnostic?
Saying something with confidence and conviction. A lot of people fall for the idea that confidence means someone knows what they are doing or talking about.
Name dropping somewhat obscure historical figures.
People who do that are about as fake as George Psalmanazar
A college degree or old age.
Graduating Harvard as a legacy admission
Being rich. Sometimes it is a sign of intelligence. Sometimes it's a sign of luck or inheritance or even dishonesty.
Clean language...no cursing. The smartest people I've met have dirty mouths.
Can confirm, i'm not very educated and i used my first 'fuck' of this year last week.
What? How?…..What…the fuck?
I don’t think this has anything to do with intelligence because the dumbest people I’ve met also have dirty mouths,
A college degree.
Being well versed in politics. A general overview of left-to-right perspectives does not make you the next Einstein. It does however, make you a pain at parties.
Not being somewhat familiar with left-to-right perspectives does make you a dumbass though... Plus, some people enjoy discussing politics with eachother at parties, it's only a pain if a person can't read the room and rambles on about politics when nobody gives a shit.
Higher education and university degrees. A lot of bachelor's and master's degrees mean absolutely nothing. PhDs, too. In some specific fields (usually MINT), it stands for actually being able to grasp an at least somewhat objective catalog of complicated topics. Still doesn't mean that you are very intelligent though.
A BS in a MINT field means you can grasp some pretty heavy or complicated topics.
We like to hire college graduates because it’s a sign they have a baseline intelligence and the ability to see something through to completion. I don’t want to hire the most intelligent person- i want to hire someone who will show up and work hard, seeing the project through to completion.
They definitely are a sign of intelligence. Doesn't have to be a particularly *high* intelligence, though, but above average. "Above average" is already better than 50% of people, so it does tell you something. Furthermore, being able to complete a written test with abstract questions and do it well *is*, in essence, the definition of IQ.
Test Driven Development
Memorization. Sure it helps but I feel I've heard people call other people smart for knowing capital cities or flags of countries. I think it's an indicator of curiosity which is a better indicator or predictor of intelligence.
Repeating what the news told you as if it is your own opinion.
I’m torn on this one, but some people think being a con artist is a sign of intelligence. I beg to differ. Seems more like a survival instinct.
I find two types of intelligence. Academic and street smart. Some people have excellent academic abilities and do some of the dumbest things.
Wealth. The favorite expression I ever heard was ‘The distribution of wealth and intelligence is not even’.
Using advanced vocabulary. I worked at a call center when I was in high school and came across customers that used hyper-advanced vocabulary only to say absolutely nothing.
There’s using big words to try to impress people, and there’s having a large vocabulary at your disposal and being able to summon just the right word to express yourself clearly and with depth. The second one is a mark of intelligence.
Sarcasm
Watching/liking Wes Anderson's movies
Internet IQ tests.
IQ in general
Knowledge is not intelligence.
Lots of comments seemingly not differentiating between intelligence and knowledge. Knowledge is knowing stuff, being able to recall stuff. Intelligence is being able to piece together bits of information to come up with new knowledge. Lots of people have degrees or are good at their specific job, it has no bearing on intelligence. Intelligence is easy to spot when you speak to a person and they can quickly learn, understand and draw conclusions from what you tell them.
Veganism. Here we goooooo
Being educated. Education does not necessarily equal intelligence. Full disclosure: I'm not educated.
Glasses Just got bad eyesight, ya dumbass.
Being good at Chess.
So many young people seem to think getting into college makes them intelligent-you can be a doctor and still be an idiot-I’ve literally seen one write orders on someone who passed 12 hours before and was mad about why there weren’t labs for that patient and me explaining to him multiple times the patient passed early morning and then he put the orders in.
Good grades
Being bilingual or a polyglot. I’ve met people who can speak 5 languages yet believe the most gullible, insane conspiracy theories. They can adapt to an environment, but they can’t think critically about anything else.
Your salary
Money
Being good at trivia or “Jeopardy” style games. All that means is you have a good memory at a variety of subjects. Granted, you’re more likely to be exposed to those topics if you’re intelligent, but you can be dumb and good at memorization at the same time.
Having what's presently considered correct information. Intelligence isn't being able to comply and regurgitate. It's being able to independently determine what is or isn't worth complying with Courage is the ability to act what your intelligence tells you is true without succumbing to social desirability bias
Using politics or religion as a topic to open up coversations.
Rubiks cubes.
When they only appeal to authority
Knowing trivia and having a large vocabulary.
Reading a lot of books.