To me it is chess. I know how the piece move but that is it.
I’m smart enough to know that everyone is both smart and stupid.
I’m stupid enough to believe that doesn’t apply to me.
Believing that you are smart, is the first sign of not being it. Even the smartest people will admit that they are mostly good at maybe a few areas, and at best average at everything else.
Any position I hold is toppled over with the slightest argument unless I have very recently done a ton of research on the topic. I have zero ability to recall whatever evidence I used to come to a conclusion. It’s incredibly frustrating because I do try to be informed about things but I just can’t defend anything at the pace of a normal conversation.
If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it’ll spend its life believing it’s a failure.
Yeah but I can’t even figure out how to breathe water
Being bad at chess doesn’t mean you aren’t smart.
I know somebody who is great at chess, but thinks covid was a hoax, vaccines are fake, Musk is a genius and Russia has a right to Ukraine.
We’re all capable of being a dumb-ass while having something else we’re good at.
Last week I moved the cheesegrater so I could look behind it… for the cheesegrater.
People smart enough to realize how much they don’t know are most likely to think that they aren’t smart… and it takes a certain level of intelligence to do that.
Something something Dunning-Kruger Effect. Dumb people who know very little about a topic will tend to overestimate their knowledge about said topic. As you gain more knowledge about the topic, the more you realize you don’t know, and the less confident you are about it.
In extreme cases, it ends with the person having Imposter Syndrome. When a person is very knowledgeable and experienced in a certain topic, but believes they aren’t qualified enough to be considered an expert. They feel like an imposter who will inevitably get outed by someone more knowledgeable than they are. So they have a lot of anxiety about speaking on the topic, because they’re afraid it will result in them being outed as an imposter.
Being confused often by people and not being able to apply yourself to simple intellectual tasks would be good hints but they could also indicate other underlying disorders and atypicalities different from intellect.
This is further exasperated by the fact that most people specialize in one or more brainy tasks such as mechanical visualization, language comprehension (spoken and/or written), rhythm, mathematics, etc.
There are also behavioral differences that are judged as more or less smart depending on the person. For example, is selfish self serving actions smart or stupid? Do we prioritize long term satisfaction or short term? Does a smart person care about betraying trust of others?
TLDR: Idk man, its real hard to tell, dude
My brain insists on telling me so several times a day so nowadays I just roll with it.
Same
Chill man. There’s loads of types of smart. Some people are great at chess, others have an intuitive feel of how a ball moves in the air, or how musical notes harmonize, or how equations collapse into simple forms, or how color or smell evokes emotion, or how ingredients work together to create pleasant texture and flavors, or how materials fold under the strike of a hammer, …
Point is, while you may not be smart in one area, there’s always areas to explore. Who knows, you may be a savant in your field. Enjoy the journey and appreciate the diversity.
I hate that people don’t recognize the depth of what intelligence can be. You alluded to athletic intelligence, but there’s so many more. Emotional intelligence is a big buzzword, but just being a kind person is a reflection of that type.
Some of the most insufferable people I’ve ever met are “smart” but holy shit would I prefer to spend my time with someone else.
I don’t think there is a great way to quantify intelligence, but IQ and MENSA ain’t it. And chess is just boring. I’m not good at it because I don’t want to be.
I don’t think I’ve ever met a genuinely smart person that wasn’t kind. Most insufferable people I’ve met weren’t outstandingly smart. But maybe that’s just the bubble I live in and a little bit of luck.
Or I’m just very tolerant and have a high ceiling for what I’d describe as insufferable.
I think intelligence brings with an awareness of the scale of all knowledge, and that imbues a sense of humility. It’s the people who let it get to their head, maybe because they solved one problem within their locus, or managed to monetize one thing that puts them at an economic advantage, and it ruins their character.
Some people are very smart at writing smart things like you !
Thanks, friend. I really needed that in light of the recent news.
Admitting you don’t know everything is smart.
Continuing to still think you do know everything when you don’t is when you’re dumb by default.
Doesn’t mean you’re not smart. People’s brains work differently. Some people enjoy thinking five moves ahead, or memorizing standard plays and reactions. Other people are good at math or chemistry. Talents aren’t an “all or nothing” thing.
I know I’m not smart because I often need to do the same mistakes several times before i get it
You’ve gotta make the same mistake two or three times, just to make sure 😉
It’s the scientific method! Trial by repetition!
You don’t. If you’re even entertaining the thought that there is more to learn than what you already know you are displaying intelligence. Stupid people “know” they’re NOT stupid and intelligent people constantly question their own intelligence. This is why a grown adult with the reading age of a 12yr old can spend twenty minutes online and become the world’s foremost authority on… 5G, vaccines, international geo politics, chemtrails, why the Nazi party were “ackshully” socialist etc. etc.
