Stupid people tend to overestimate their competence, while smart people tend to sell themselves short. As Shakespeare put it in “As You Like It“: “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” They are the ones that can identify intelligent people.
That conventional wisdom is backed up by a Cornell University study conducted by David Dunning and Justin Kruger. The phenomenon is now known as the Dunning-Kruger effect.
So, if you’re not too sure about intellect, it actually might be an indication that the person is pretty intelligent — thoughtful enough to realize limitations, at least.
Here are 12 qualities of super-smart people I have observed over the years. Use these qualities to identify intelligence in people:
Talk only to share information
To them, small talk is simply that. Small. Meaningless even.
It’s a waste of time.
They proactively listen to others and digest what was said before explaining
their counter-argument.
They bounce ideas and hypotheses off of others rather than discuss random pop
psychology or the latest news on a celebrity couple.
In short, they shamelessly focus on what’s important.
Brutally honest with what
they don’t know
I think a common trap that many people fall under is trying to pretend we
understand something that we don’t know while nodding our heads meaninglessly.
We do this because we don’t want to appear uninformed and unknowing. (I’m still
working to improve on this myself)
I think intelligent people get straight to the point. They say “I don’t
understand this, can you explain it to me like I’m 5?”
They could care less about what others perceive their understanding or
intelligence to be. What they do care about is catching up and learning so that
they can understand in the first place.
They know that without a solid understanding of the basics, there’s no hope for
them to grasp the more complex material.
Good sources: Online Resources … 19 to Learn the Best Practical Skills
Consider different perspectives
Truly intelligent people have the ability to inhabit a different perspective, especially a perspective they disagree with. Abraham Lincoln would sometimes argue with a friend from one perspective, and then they would switch and argue from the opposite perspective.
Nothing to prove
They never feel the need to prove to other people how smart they are. They don’t brag about it. Casual acquaintances probably don’t even know. I think this is because they are so secure about their intelligence that it’s a non-issue to them.
My father went to Harvard and had a stunning memory. He never used his IQ as a way to make other people feel inferior. People who want to let everyone know how smart they are—yeah, I doubt they are.
Have patience
Leonardo Da Vinci called it “sfumato” or “smoke.” The idea is that not everything is clear, and the desire to have an answer now can lead someone into error. Intelligent people have patience with difficult, dense, or even ambiguous or vague subjects.
Patience is defined as “the ability to endure, ” and in this case, a sign of intelligence is enduring not having a clear, definite answer.
Know how to explain their
craft
This especially applies to people who are professionals or experts in their
field.
This is because they’ve been through it all. They know what it’s like to come
across the topic for the first time. To progressively learn more about it as a
student. To having dedicated hours studying and researching and becoming an
expert.
They know what the stages of learning are, and can explain their craft to
anyone in those respective stages.
Albert Einstein is well-known for saying the following quote:
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
Good listeners
They read and go to talks. A sure sign of intelligence is reading and listening. The average CEO reads 50 books a year.
Warren Buffett spends most of his time reading. He’s fond of saying “the more you learn, the more you earn.”
Continuous learners
They read a lot and are constantly still learning. My father always took us to historical places or natural wonders during our summer vacations. Battlefields. Museums. Grand Canyon. Stuff like that.
Our pleas to go to Disneyland went unheard. My father wanted to learn things on his days off—and his days on too. He not only read both fiction and nonfiction, but he also watched many documentaries.
Seeking new perspectives
Intelligent people aren’t afraid or ashamed to tell you when they don’t know anything. I’ve had more than one doctor try and fake his way through a conversation when I knew more about a medical condition than he did. When I found a doctor, who said, “I don’t know. I’ll research that.”—I kept that doctor.
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Are consistently curious
They ask questions. I guess they realize that the way you learn things is often to ask.
More empathetic
Intelligent people are generally more empathetic. They are not interested in appearing nice to others just because they want to give a good impression. They will help you when no one is watching.
Most times they couldn´t care less about what others think. They have a good moral compass – even if they are not religious.
No dual personality
Intelligent people are consistent in what they are, say and do. As part of the truth, they value authenticity. They will not lie because they want to give a good impression. They will not smile in your face and talk bad about you behind closed doors. They have no problem in being straightforward and pointing out your shit (even if you have all the credentials in the world).
Because they value authenticity so much, they´ll have some shills every time they sense inauthenticity. Either that be in propaganda, hypocrisy, lies, fake people, advertisement, …you name it.
As a result, they´ll probably pick up on some fallacies in people’s reasoning and theories. Intelligent people are capable of having a conversation on different topics eg, Politics, world news, mathematics, just anything. They talk with facts and sometimes with exact dates. Average people just blah blah blah !!!
Habit of reading
This is a major sign to differ intelligent folks from the average. They usually use their considerable time for reading.
The bottom line
So never be scared of being curious. It is the roots of discoveries and inventions. It opens up options. You think and expand possibilities. Through curiosity, you can move from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Just by being curious, you make your life interesting, you are always self-motivated to learn, and your imagination is always fired up.
