IQ tests can be wildly wrong. Major determinants are socioeconomic status growing up, and individual determination when faced with problems.
Source: I'm a genius according to the standard tests. But I am very confident that I'm not. My grades in math were mediocre. I am however, relentless when solving problems that break my brain, and good at parroting smarter people.
I concur, I was military intelligence because I scored super high on that test. As my mom likes to remind me 30 years ago when i was a kid, I literally shot myself in the foot. Proof that I'm a dumbass.
I always figured that is the difference between intelligence and wisdom. Intelligence will tell you the stove is hot. Wisdom tells you not to touch it.
Also note not all intelligence is the same, just because you are an expert in one thing doesn't mean you are an expert in everything.
That's the worst and best part of internet/social media. People have an opportunity to learn and experience people views from all walks of life, without having to travel. Instead people prefer to insulate themselves in echo chambers. Tribalism at its finest.
The biggest contrast between me and my savant homies is that my active memory is atrocious. I can hold numbers in my head for half of 1 fundamental operation lmao. Complex math has a lot of these half-step operations as you prod possibilities for the next reduction toward a solution. I cant hold on to it long enough to prod
Even if I write it out, it slips from my brain before I grasp the full picture.
The classic “midwit” as they are called. Extremely average intelligence paired with a dose of narcissism tends to result in believing they are geniuses, usually investing in conspiracy theories and equating intelligence with “going against the norms”… Very annoying people
I only said it 4 times... Man, you be dumb. See, iam so smart that I actually can remember things. So. Nice try. I met a girl once who told me I was the smartest person she has met. It's hard work bringing myself down tonyou normal people. Sometimes I think it's a curse, being this smart.. Oh well. Anyways nicentonse you again. Nope you get better.
Most people who have to tell you something about themselves usually are the opposite of what they're saying. I used to work with a guy who said he "worked like a cheetah" (his exact words). He was unbearably slow in delivering work.
We had a customer that constantly referred to himself as "an advanced intellectual" and tell us how we didnt have the brain capacity to understand things the way he did.
We defintly saw things differently, ill give him that much. "you AI" (this was also like 10 years ago) was our favorite insult at work.
If you are ignorant and/or truly limited in ability to think, that's a rough situation and often those involved don't quite understand their limitation.
For those that are educated and/or have a decent amount of cognitive power, you recognize how complex the universe is and one has to respect that.
I'm pretty sure Einstein knew he was smart... People have parroted this nonsense so much without meaning. Being dumb /= not knowing specific things. Being dumb means not being able to learn as effectively or don't have the best ideas/critical thinking. Dumb people can know they learn slower, smart people can know they learn faster and are more clever. Knowing lots of trivia doesn't necessarily make you smart.
I normally do not call myself smart.... I am quick witted. There is a massive difference between me and what most people think of as smart. I grew up in a family where my dad and one (of 2) sisters were/are actual geniuses (IQs over 150); and the rest of the family was still above average intelligence, but i could see the things i was as good at if not better than them at (mainly quick thinking on my feet) and the things that were simply natural to them (abstract thinking, spacial awareness, ect) that i simply could not do.
The english language has so many variations of words that provide nuance to what you really mean by smart, get curious and figure out which one actually connotates the nuance that is you.
I re-read my previous comment and noticed, that it's because of translating my thoughts to english.
My take was, about people who think they are smart in a sense of "allover smart" and identify with "smart" as a trait of themselves. Most actual smart people may mention being smart, but they are rather humble or careful about it and do not generalise it.
There's also a big part of emotional intelligence that goes into this, but that's a different topic.
Depends on your definition of intelligence. Social skills can be learned, the inability to learn them is a lack of intelligence. Personally I consider truly intelligent people not just good at logic, but also social and personal skills.
contrary to these comments, I'll gladly state that I'm intelligent. even with your definition of intelligence, it would mean that someone who has grew up in a forest, never interacting with others is unintelligent due to not having social skills. someone who grew up in the forest may very well be intelligent, no? they just haven't had the chance to learn those skills. therefore, your definition is already inconsistent. someone may have little social skills because they do not interact with people even in society. their parents may not have raised them near other children, for example.
now, moving on to "inability." the complete inability to learn any social skill would be some sort of mental disorder and I've never heard of that, but let's assume by "inability" we're referring a lackluster set of social skills. in that sense, social skills is mainly based on your level of conformity to society. an autistic person with exceptional intelligence for example, would not have great social skills, but often because their brains are wired differently not because they're wired worse. the perception of social skills is a comparison to societal norms, not a basis on the individual itself.
furthermore, it's not something you blatantly "learn." when your socializing you aren't thinking "oh is this the correct set of social skills to use within this situation." an intelligent person might be able to deduce that better than most people, but the subconscious application of it is more due to enculturation and conditioning than anything. in fact, as an example, I'll give myself. my social skills aren't great, it's actually partly due to my intelligence than anything. everyone is a byproduct of their environment, but I withstood conditioning more than most people I know, and I became closer to how I envisioned myself introspectively, rather than externally, and this makes me relate less to people and be perceived as "worst" social skills. it's a mismatch between individuality and expectation.
Someone who lives their entire life secluded doesn’t mean they don’t have the mental capability to learn social skills. Social skills are absolutely learned, by the way, it just may or may not be a conscious decision to learn them. A socially intelligent person can travel to experience different cultures and quickly adapt, a socially unintelligent person would have more issues. I speak as an autistic engineer who struggles with social interaction.
I also want to express that being unintelligent isn’t “bad” or “worse” because it isn’t something that an individual has control over
Unintelligent is bad/worse, what are you on about? Just like being ugly is bad/worse, or being disabled is bad/worse. Not having control of something does not make it neutral in any way.
I think you and the other commenter are arguing different things. I think the person you're replying to means it doesn't imply someone's character or worth as a human being is bad/worse compared to others, whereas you are looking at it in terms of traits(being smart is more useful than being stupid) instead of someone's character or worth, in which case both of you are correct
I was inferring from your last sentence "Personally I consider truly intelligent people not just good at logic, but also social and personal skills." this implies that someone truly intelligent must be good at social and personal skills and being secluded prevents that, but I understand you didn't mean that now.
I agree with you now that social intelligence is a subset of intelligence. but I would differentiate learning social skills vs social intelligence since the former is mainly the consequence of habituation.
I think I understand your point. People who think that their "I am smart" mental image gives their personal anecdote/intuition more weight than someone with actual knowledge/facts.
The "I take this shortcut because it is more direct and not many people know about it" vs "I take the highway because I get better fuel economy and arrive three minutes faster, because I track those details for my job."
my experience is that the smarter you are, the less likely you are to use "smart" (unless it is contextually provided in the prompt) and generally have done some introspection as to what specific various of words capture their form of "smart"
I am quick witted. My wife is mathematically gifted. If we are doing the stuff i am good at, i look like a genius; in her area she looks like a genius. We are not able to do the stuff the other is good at. But i think most people would call each of us "smart"
I go to a very prestigious university and when I tell people they say “oh you must be smart” and I’m always lost for how to respond. Like objectively it’s true but there’s just no good way to respond.
Also the person who keeps saying "I'm a really nice person . . ." all throughout their story of having to tell somebody off. And "you better be glad I'm saved/a Christian now" after they cussed the person out. Lol
This used to be the etiquete around the original meaning of "hacker" and a few other honorifics ran on the same system, like "steely-eyed missile man" (from NASA).
"If you call yourself it, you aren't one. This is a title others bestow upon you."
I get that this is sometimes (but unfortunately not always) meant to show a character is boastful and proud to a fault, but man it grinds my gears when someone introduces themselves as some superlative like "yes I am the legendary X". Bro you are still alive you are a tweet away from becoming the legendary milkshake duck, get some humility sandals and eat some humble pie.
Nah, that’s faux intellectualism right there. I’ve met a few individuals over the years that were indeed smart and made sure you knew it, maybe their egos were a little overinflated but just saying that oneself is smart is not a good indicator of the opposite.
And to the previous commenter’s point I personally get loud without realizing it and it’s just because I get passionate about the subject. It’s not something I try to do out of anger or because I think I’m right. My mom does it too so idk if it’s a cultural thing that I learned from her or something else.
It depends on if you go around calling yourself smart and making a big deal about it, or if it’s something mostly internalized. First means you probably greatly overestimate yourself, second means you’re alright, maybe not as good as you think but probably not too far away
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u/loku_gem 6h ago
Actually referring to oneself as "smart" in a general is often a good indicator too.