they don't talk about things they don't know
And often will think they don’t know something well at all, until they are confident they know it very well.
Or, another way to view it, the people who talk often like they know a lot about a lot are almost always the people who are not very smart.
Dunning Kruger
Her name is spelt Diane Kruger, and she looks phenomenal
just trying to prove the earlier point re intelligence
She is stunning and I love her. But don't tell her I said that. I'd be too embarrassed.
Pirate Software lol
Smart people can talk about things they don't know. They'll just couch it in provisos. What a very smart person knows is how to consider their own ignorance and use deduction and forms of reasoning to explore the implication of an idea.
I assume that's how science itself began when nobody knew anything about many topics. Think about it, come up with provisional thoughts, then follow through to explore.
Normal people who are not stupid can do this then go to Wikipedia or something and see what the answer is. Very smart people will have gone and done the work to be the citation in the wiki article. Dumb people will use the sum of their influences and biases and current propaganda bubble to assume things and never investigate it.
Yeah, this. The smartest people I know will be very excited to share details about a topic they’re still learning about—it gives a chance to reflect it back on someone else who might ask questions that would prompt further exploration—but they will make the limitations of their understanding very clear. (More often than not they’ll also underestimate their own understanding of the topic.)
very good point
They will often admit that they dont know the subject well/at all, and also be more willing to learn/be told about the subject.
and that's why they're smarter
exactly!!!
This puts about 99% of reddit in the not smart category.
Example is the recent Air India crash. Suddenly all these aviation armchair pilots had a strong opinion on what caused the crash blaming the pilots.
I see it all the time in other topics too. People confidently saying things that just aren’t correct.
Checks out.
I actually think its beneficial to talk about things one doesnt really know about. I say this because it opens up a path to dialogue. This dialogue can be helpful or not so helpful depending on the person. This hinges on if the person is open to learning and if the other person is willing to correct the person speaking without coming off as demeaning.
“Surround yourself with smarter people.”
I think in this context, they mean they speak about things they don't know about as if they do know about it. That's never a safe bet.
And they are not afraid to admit they don’t know something
exactly! Always willing to learn
They also don’t talk about things they do know, when they realize people are too dumb/opinionated to understand
redditors scramble to write every characteristic of themselves
Can watch Japanese dub anime without subtitles
Can goon for 16 hours a day
Uh uhhh knows a lot about the recent patch notes from tarkov
I know a dude who is 100% fluent in Japanese. Can speak it, write it. He's god awful at English and we regularly can't understand wtf he's talking about .and he was born in bournemouth.
"They can stay a whole week without taking a shower because of how...uh...intellectually busy they are...yeah"
"They masturbate alot"
well, king arthur came*a*lot
Cumming 21 times in a month reduces men's risk of prostate cancer by 37% and women get healthier when they cum a lot. So don't stop.
And run it through their mental thesaurus to sound as sophisticated while saying it as possible
everyone thinks they are the smart one.
You can really tell when someone’s smart because they’d rather explain something clearly than sound impressive. Plus, they actually get excited when they learn something new instead of doubling down on being wrong.
On top of these behaviors, Intelligent people don't boast about it and call others stupid for having a different level of education. Intelligence comes from a diverse background!
They know when to say I don’t know.
Admitting they don’t know something instead of pretending they do.
Geez this hits home. I am not saying I’m smart but I am quick to ask questions and say if I don’t know something and have noticed on more than one occasion that leads the fake it till you make it’ers to think I don’t know anything
When someone pretends they now something even if they don't means that their pride is too high.
My mom’s boyfriend does this shit all the time and starts spewing nonsense. I know he’s wrong because it’s usually about something I know a lot about but don’t even try to say anything to contradict him. Not worth the time
They don’t get defensive when corrected. They appreciate learning moments.
That's just emotional maturity. Anecdotal of course but I've met plenty of highly intelligent people who will not even entertain the idea that they were mistaken about something. It's especially problematic among doctors.
Being a doctor doesn't guarantee smartness. It guarantees that a person is committed and has had the opportunity to put a lot of time and effort into school. Unfortunately this sometimes doesn't always translate to intelligence
Doctors likely have above average intelligence, but the career and field doesn't seem to value Openness, such that doctors can seem dumb while they just didn't engage their full brain.
Sure, there are exceptions to any rule. I'd expect the average intelligence of medical doctors to be towards the upper end of professions though. In the few unfortunate experiences I have had with family members in care, it's been the high profile specialists who aren't used to being wrong that have caused issues.
Doctors are a strange sort of intelligence because they are selected from smart children (lets say early 20s is children) and trained/indoctrinated to behave a certain way to tell people what to do all day every day. They listen to medical journals and drug studies from their training but everything else is them telling everyone who is right which is themselves. They have no in between from being kid to being a minor deity to everyone around them.
Like look at the medical system. It doesn't need more doctors, it needs a better system. Any idiot actually in the system can see that. But the doctors run and design the system and they want more doctors.
They react to jokes and wordplay quickly. Humor requires an involved cognitive process, and the quicker a person reacts to a joke, the faster their reasoning is.
Humor? I hardly know her!
Processing speed is a facet of intelligence, not the only one. Some people who have slow processing speed still have very deep and capable reasoning ability. Do not judge people based on how quickly they understand jokes
The smartest people I’ve known were all super curious people by nature. That’s about the only unifying trait I’ve noticed.
they love to learn new things, ask good questions and listen to you when you explain it. Some are so bored, they even learn stuff they will never need...just to have something new for the brain.
They ask thoughtful questions, listen more than they talk notice details others miss and can explain things simply
I can do 1 2 and 3, but struggle with 4 - explaining things in a simple way. Lol 🙃 any tips on how to work on that?
I like analogies for this.
Yes! Analogies work very well if adjusted to the reality of the person you're explaining to
Could you explain your comment?
They recognize that this fucking question is asked constantly on Reddit.
Actually that's not being smart... Probably just terminally online people noticing the rapidly growing black hole that is human content on this platform.
They are genuinely curious
And not judgemental
If they don't understand something, even something trivial, it bugs them until they can research it and understand it. In the meantime, they will admit that they don't understand it, and not try to act like they are an expert on the subject. Their opinions are formed via critical thinking, not emotions, or preconceived notions.
They listen more than the average person. They freely admit when they don't know something.
They ask A LOT of questions and/or seek answers
They ask really good questions instead of trying to sound smart with answers. Like questions that make you think huh, I never considered that angle.
Often in conflict situations as an observer, the ability to see both sides or perspectives, or refusal to be absolutist on a question framed by someone else as being one of morals.
Intelligence is a range, there's so many types. But generally there's a level of competency in what they do, they might not be competent at everything, but they might be brilliant in one area and specialize in that, they are burdened not with what they know, but with what they don't know. They can talk talk exhaustively in depth on that topic/subject and understand subtle nuances that another person might miss. This is a small sign to me, another sign is if they are willing to listen to another point of view that is different from their own and question their own views and beliefs in regards to this. But another sign is curiosity, they long to know, long to understand, and seek knowledge as if grasping for air itself. These individuals might not be the most socially gifted, though they can be.
They keep quiet
They listen.
A deep knowledge of kubernetes.
They accept and even embrace the fact that they’re not smart. They are willing to admit they’re ignorant of a subject and ask questions of someone who knows more than them, in order to learn.
They listen more than they speak.
When you ask them a question, they give you a simple and concise answer.
They are a good listener.
The world gives them an inescapable melancholy because they know too many things
If they don't know what you asked them they usually say "sorry I don't know that". An idiot will always start to tell you just something else
Quick wits and wordplays relevant to context.
They don't think they're very smart because it comes so naturally to them
Really good at knowing when to stay silent, calm and very good at deescalating a situation.
They display traits like empathy.
They don't waste their time posting to reddit
They are knowledgeable enough to hold a conversation on many topics. They ask a lot of questions especially when they don't know something.
I have a friend like this, she seems to know a lot about anything anyone is talking about. I asked her how and she doesn't know But I notice that she asks questions and is genuinely curious. I think it's just in her nature to pick up on things up very easily and she doesn't even realize she's always passively learning.
Isn't "smart" pretty subjective?
Curious asf
When someone says "I don't enough about that to comment."
They listen more than they talk. This is how they gain knowledge.
They don't tell AND remind you all the time.
Look for the quieter ones, seek to understand, naturally curious and opportunistic to learn from others. Feel like this is the place for the ego vs confidence debate too, ego is competitive and has to be right. Confidence doesn’t worry about being wrong - ego often leads to being more close minded I feel like, not receptive to new information. Confidence contributes to everyone else getting better, ego does not
They ask great questions — not to sound smart, but to understand deeply. That’s sexy.
Usually quiet but when provoked with difficult question they seem to provide a very coherent and elaborated answer
Honestly? Nothing.
These types of questions and comments don't really reflect reality.
There are so many ways to define "smart" that the definition is meaningless. On top of that, "smart" people do dumb shit all the time. So are they smart or dumb?
Why does it matter any way?
Couldn't agree more.
I don't understand why people actively look for shortcuts to inform them of how to judge others. People are nuanced and it's lazy and judgmental to measure someone's character with checklists of "green flags" and "red flags."
This type of thinking is the difference between wanting to understand people and wanting to label people. It's social media superficiality.
They don’t have an opinion about everything
Most people here are basically commenting on signs that a person has high EQ. For that, they're right. For me, that is not what 'smart' is - that is about IQ.
Most people I have met with very high IQs are pretty strange. They're often awkward around people. Many have big egos that are trying to hide crippling insecurity from being bullied in their younger years for being different. They get better with age as they become more socialised but often they also have emotional issues such as depression and anxiety. Sometimes this translates to them being scathing of others who do not see what they see. Some are a bit on the spectrum, but not all or even close.
Most are very gentle at heart but they have their outbursts.
A tiny tiny minority have both high IQ and high EQ.
There are a handful of extremely high IQ people who simply can't operate or communicate with regular people - though, as you stated, some of them improve with age.
For me though, the truly smart people possess both high IQ and high EQ. For instance, if I'm genuinely curious about something physics-related and trying to converse with a smart physicist, they'll likely do their best to use ordinary vocabulary and avoid overly technical terms. They won't roll their eyes or get flustered if I fail to recall the difference between centripetal and centrifugal forces, something which may be absurdly basic to them; they'll just calmly and efficiently "explain it like I'm 5" because they'll have astutely and smartly observed that this is the best avenue to have the conversation.
Being able to comprehend and work with extremely advanced concepts makes someone very smart when it comes to those concepts. In my view though, the smartest among us also understand people and communication, at least to an extent that they can help themselves communicate.
They say “I don’t know” unironically… then Google it, fall into a research hole, and accidently learn three new unrelated things before circling back like a boss
Probably sailing through their careers and life easily and relatively unphased because everything seems like kids stuff to them.
In my opinion, I think they would know the difference between a learning moment and a conversation.
I learned this difference and was humbled pretty hard when I had my first interview with Westinghouse Electric.
I went looking for practice, not a job. I knew I was super underqualified. My interviewer locked on to this and called me out on it, but was kind enough to tell me about the field and how I should navigate from here on.
In short: I was talking to him like I would my colleagues and classmates. His tone shifted and he said something along the lines of, "You should probably learn to shut up and listen more if you want a job as an engineer."
So I try to shut up and listen more.
They admit when they don’t know something
Many peoples answer is for a smart person they would personally like or admire lol.
They ask lots of questions because they're curious.
They're usually respectful of other people.
They won't panic and make excuses if smone give em arguments that they are wrong
They post "I'm really smart" on a Reddit thread.
They speak less
They listen with their ears and not their mouths.
They use the search function in reddit before reposting the same question for the eighth time today
Their home has a lot of books, maps and documents skewed on the coffee table
They ask a lot of questions and listen well.
They make you feel like the most important person in the world after your conversation.
If they are really smart there won't be any. There is no advantage to showing off like that.
Perhaps the only one... they will be quiet. Nobody ever learned anything while talking.
they're single
They are not on Reddit.
I wouldn't know
Usually they’re sad and alone cause there’s not that many of them.
Nihilism.
I used to be a self-described nihilist. As in ”nothing really matters, God is dead and we killed him, so witness me, the great nietzschean ubermensch and tremble before me” (but not really because I was to afraid to go outside and meet people and engage with the world). People tend to see me as smart nowadays, somehow, and I probably was back then too. But I would say I was stupid as fuck. Dumb as a rock.
Now in my early forties, with a degree in organizational behavior and a specific interest in how humans make sense of the world via social organizing, my previous nihilism has morphed into a much healthier relativism. I “know” (not really, but best guess) there are no moral absolutes, no endgame and no ultimate meaning. But that doesn’t mean we can’t, or won’t, make our own meaning both for ourselves and together in our social settings. We create meaning all the time, we cannot even avoid doing it, and meaningfulness-for-me can become meangingfulness-for-us if we engage with each other with respect and openness. To me nihilism would be antithetical to this mindset.
You should check out Albert Camus and some absurdism, to couple with your realism. Some interesting views on life’s’ meaning and the universe’s efforts to remind us that it is meaningless.
Economy of language in a niche passion.
When they discuss complex ideas and make them simple.
Also, if they see through situations to an answer that no one else saw.
I remember 20 years ago when I was with one of my smarter buddies and we were hanging out with a big group at brunch. We’re getting rowdy and it was time to go and they were telling us to go and not everyone’s wanting to go but we started walking all the way through the restaurant towards the problems and he just opens the exit door. Someone said “it says do not use.”
And he just looks at everyone and says “what are they gonna do kick us out? “
It was perfect and that door was much closer to the parking spot anyways
They agree with everything I say.
The way someone explains complex stuff without making you feel dumb? Yeah, that’s hot. I’m a sucker for quiet confidence and guys that will throw random facts they read years ago 🤭
not mentioning or bringing up the fact that they are smart or bosting about intelligence.
Depends on how you define smart IQ or EQ ? I also think happiness is way more important than IQ
The whole best comments are about smart people behavior when interacting with others.
For me it's quick problem solving
“I don’t know.”
They browse reddit
Stop looking for signs. They aren't valid or reliable.
I think a lot of people are simply describing humble people here, or rather good communicators. Neither of which necessarily mean they are smart, but often go hand-in-hand.
A small sign to me that indicates if someone is generally smart is how quickly they learn a new topic or adapt to a new situation - whatever it may be.
Crime without getting caught
sines*
They act like psychopaths
The quiet ones that don’t feel the need to gloat during conversation tend to always be super intelligent and are capable of the deepest conversations once you get past the small talk.
They are not MAGATS.
They have a head twice the size of regular thinkers.
They are on Reddit all the time (like me).
They are funny. Not in the way of making fun of others but genuinely making good joke, quips, and doing things that everyone enjoys
Admitting that they are not an expert, because they can see the gaps in their knowledge.
He’s not the guy describing himself in this thread with zero subtlety or self awareness
Consideration for security. Especially for things that have low probability.
All u gonna get is a list of behaviors people interpret as showing deeper intelligence.
If someone is smart they will be able to thrive in environments like poverty and have more control over the circumstances. Because they're intelligent.
Good qualifiers are a highly prestigious job, lots of education, success and money, social circle
Signs that don't show low OR high intelligence: low mood, being nice, being curious. They may show an active brain but smart means you can take advantage for benefit or it's useless.
They don't generalize needlessly.
they know the right questions to ask
If whenever you mention them to someone else that person tends to tell you about how smart the person in question is.
You: “I’m planning to go to the new bbq spot with Tim.” Them: “That’s great! Tim is such a smart guy he knows a lot about x”
That’s when you know that you aren’t the only who noticed as their intelligence has become their defining trait to anyone who knows them
They listen more and talk less. There's always outliers though.
I really like people that park in reverse.
This is from complete observation and I might be wrong but - People who talk without filling their sentences with ‘aa’ ‘mm’ and speak in one go
If they see through you and understand you without asking too much.
They have a good imagination -Albert Einstein
curiosity
When they aren't on reddit.
People who can be presented new material and parse it quickly and ask good questions. You can tell they're putting things together and starting to see around corners. Those people stand out.
When they talk about something they know, they usually make it easier for people to understand. The whole "smart people use simple language." They're not concerned with you being impressed with how smart they are; they'd rather you just understand what it is they're talking about.
Why use many word when few word do trick
Me say, “car no go” and he understood
cargo space?
Car no do that. Car go road.
Cargo vroom
This is the sole reason I despise word count essays.
Why make me write 2000 words about something when I can accurately explain the topic in 1200?
ALL THE STRUGGLING COMES FROM TRYING TO GET TO 2K! WHY DO YOU NEED 2000 WORDS SPECIFICALLY!
The point of that is to choose a topic that can be discussed appropriately in 2000 words. If you can do it in 1200 then that's not a good enough topic 🤷🏻♀️ and often teachers and professors will mark off for poor choice of topic.
When me president they see……they see.
See/Sea world
Don't use a $10 word when a $5 one will do.
Go away, batin
Why come you don't have a tattoo?
Why many word when few do trick
Why trick?
You stay out of this, Kevin!
Not all geniuses are good teachers. Some of them struggle to relate to regular people. I had an uncle that was a genius, not just IQ score, he had multiple degrees in different disciplines and made significant contributions in those fields. When I would talk to him you could tell he was working on complex problems in his head while trying to remain engaged in the conversation. He struggled to dumb it down and often became impatient and irritable.
It's been pointed out that elite athletes often make terrible coaches. At that level they just know where the open receiver is and Tom Brady trying to explain to a schmuck like me how to read a defense probably isn't going to work. It's difficult to explain to someone how to do something that is just second nature to you.
Definitely hear this. I replied to another comment and said that I think the smartest people among us have both high IQ and high emotional intelligence. And I believe that, but then the conversation also starts to involve the definition of intelligence and what people value.
So that said, when we're talking about true geniuses - people who undeniably contribute to solving complex problems and essentially help to push our species forward - they are no doubt shockingly smart, and they almost no doubt have trouble relating to non-geniuses.
It's almost like we have to differentiate between legit geniuses, regular smart people, and just regular people. I'm probably looking mostly at 'regular smart people' because it's very rare that we encounter geniuses.
This is how I am with my kids sometimes, unfortunately, where I have real issues trying to figure out how to explain something plainly. My autistic brains works in steps and doesn't deviate well, so re-processing those steps into more or simpler steps is difficult. I end up talking to my kids mostly as adults because of it.
My brain make connections very quickly, to the point where I'll go from A to M before other people are at D, and they look at me like I have two heads when I start talking about M. It's not that I'm smarter than other people, it's that I can see how things affect each other. It made me a great data analyst and database administrator and also chemist. It's also frustrating for me because I look crazy for a little while until the rest of the room catches up.
This is not a humble brag. I suck at plenty of things. This is just probably my strongest ability.
God, YES, I relate entirely. I have a bad habit of assuming (usually correctly) the end of someone's sentence or story, so I cut them off or already accept the conclusion so by the time they get there, it's a flourish for them but it's already heard news for me. Which I'm aware isn't fair to others, and is rude because I should be presently listening, but I've been 'correct' in my assumption sooooo many times, it's hard not to jump to the end.
Or I have the same thing with concepts. I can be dense as a loaf of bread while I'm trying to grasp the concept of something, but usually there's a specific example or phrase said that just clicks into place in my brain, then I understand the concept entirely. BUT that'll happen during an explanation and they keep talking even though I understand, so I'm just impatiently waiting with the knowledge I already understand. Again a me problem, but it's just how my brain works and can be frustrating.
Same! “I’m nodding vigorously so please move on from this point.” proceeds to headbang in agreement
I was going to take an astronomy class in college years ago and was so excited because it was the non-math astronomy class, so for someone like me who isn't good in math. The teacher was so into the math and his research that he made it horrible for all of us that were in there. I feel like he didn't get the memo that it wasn't supposed to be the math astronomy class. Lol Luckily I was able to drop the class, but I was sad that I didn't get to learn more about astronomy. Sigh
I get this. I'm not a genius by any stretch of the imagination, but there are things that I'm just inherently good at and it's so frustrating trying to explain something that "just makes sense" to me to someone who can't grasp it.
Those poor guys. Imagine you are super smart so pretty much everyone else is stupider than you. So you have to speak to everyone like an adult is speaking to a toddler. But sometimes that toddler still don't understand and sometimes even get angry at you and maybe even violence. Fucking miserable. But then that's always been the case for them. So they may think it's just normal.
"Von Neumann would carry on a conversation with my 3-year-old son, and the two of them would talk as equals, and I sometimes wondered if he used the same principle when he talked to the rest of us." - Edward Teller
And don't forget to add into the mix the fear of appearing condescending so you have to choose the right level of explanation: not to high, but not to low. WTF is the goldilocks level??
There's a reason that the higher the IQ, the more likely to suffer from depression 🫥
The copium of stupid depressed people
I am depressed but I don't know if I'm smart or not.
It's just like how scientists/scholars are to people in power when they try to reason out how things should be done.
Most of the times is exhausting. But you get used to it pretty fast. Not that I claim to be smart. I just happen to be a subject matter expert at work.
This means having social intelligence. A lot of super smart people are clueless on how to interact with others, doesn't mean they're not intelligent.
I’m a radiological physicist and yeah I always give a disclaimer if someone asks “how does this/that work?”. I can explain it very simply or this can turn into a whole 45min presentation
Not sure I buy this. Seems like intelligence would have little to do with one's desire to impress others.
Agree. I think I framed it this way because many people who believe they are smart (when they might not be, in actuality) seek validation of their smartness. So in many cases, a 'pretend smart' person might be looking to impress, while a 'true smart' person is just looking to create some understanding.
It's not hard to imagine why somebody who isn't so smart might feel the need to compensate and as a result tend toward pretention, but I just don't think the relationship between all of the things that go into determining how somebody interacts with others is that simple. If I had to guess I'd say it's related more to self-confidence and some less tangible like general social disposition or something, rather than intelligence directly, and I certainly don't think that the less-intelligent have a monopoly on insecurity. And frankly not all (or even most?) communication is even about raw information dissemination in the first place.
No but someone who is emotionally intelligent and wants to pass on an idea will know how to code switch. A doctor would not talk to a layperson the same way they'd talk to a child or a fellow medical professional even if they're trying to convey the same information.
That’s the real giveaway someone who explains without ego and makes you feel smarter too not smaller
All the greatest scammers do this, as alot of concepts cant truly be explained simply. Like AI, sounds good but total crap.
No, but say you work in a specific scientific field and a lay person asks what you do, the point is that you should be able to smooth down a complex idea so that it’s digestible and accurate even if it’s not a complete picture.
This is such a huge factor when it comes to fields like therapy. It is one thing to know the theories and information behind it, another thing to be able to properly apply it, but to also be able to explain it in a way the client can UNDERSTAND it? It makes a world of difference. The ability to explain how or why a coping skill works or what causes certain behaviors and thinking patterns allows for the root problem to be addressed, not just the symptoms.
Luckily, my autistic ass always struggled to convey my thoughts and ideas in a way that was understood when I was younger. This led to me actively working to compensate for my weird thinking patterns via using a ton of metaphors, symbolism, etc. to "ground" or "anchor" points of information that allowed others to understand me. I feel like this is what makes a huge difference in my client's growth and personal development.