Members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community have recently discussed such signs after the user ‘Occyz’ started a thread about it. If you’re curious about what kind of person might make you feel like Pinky next toThe Brain, scroll down to find the redditors' thoughts on the list below and feel free to upvote the signs you believe are indicative of intelligence as well.
Below you will also findBored Panda’sinterview with a professor of psychology in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University,author ofAdaptive Intelligence,Dr. Robert J. Sternberg, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about perception of intelligence.
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Someone who can understand someone’s opposing view without having to agree with it or get angry over it.
They struggle with imposter syndrome. Dumb people always think they’re the tits.
Discussing the signs that indicate that a person is of high intelligence, Dr. Robert J. Sternberg noted that for him, intelligence is not about people’s score on a test or how much they impress others with their erudition. “It is about what you do in your life that makes a positive difference to the world at some level.”
How often they are confident in saying “I don’t know”.
I consider someone intelligent if they’re able to explain something incredibly complicated in simpler and more readily understood terms.
In an interview withBored Panda, Prof. Sternberg emphasized that “Intelligent people don’t have to talk about how smart they are, or try to use subtle signs to broadcast their superiority. Rather, they are out there making life better not just for themselves, but for others as well.”
Choosing not to argue with someone who’s wrong and choosing their own peace of mind over being right.
When being taught to do something new, they care just as much, if not more, about why it should be done a certain way as they do about what needs to be done.
“There are a lot of high-IQ people whose main claim to fame is their high IQ or their impressive educational credentials, but they do little with their IQ,” Dr. Sternberg said. “High-IQ societies compete with each other to be more selective in allowing in people whose claim to membership is spending a lot of time solving meaningless puzzles irrelevant to real-world adaptation. It can become a test of narcissism, not intelligence – for bragging rights rather than the ability to adapt.”
They ask really good questions and listen more than they talk.
My freshman college roommate was a mechanical engineer. One of the first nights we were in the dorms, we had pizza delivered. We didn’t eat it all, but the pizza box didn’t fit inside the dorm fridge. He went all out origami and transformed the box into a smaller, perfectly square box that did fit inside the fridge…in about 12 seconds.I’m pretty good at math, but not necessarily geometry. My mind was blown.I spent 35 years in academia between my student/teacher years and he’s still one of the three smartest people I’ve ever met. His ability to “just do it” is dumbfounding to me. His retirement project is transforming his father’s 1963 Mercedes convertible into a “hybrid” that has a small diesel engine that runs on vegetable oil along with a totaled Tesla Model S battery pack.
They don’t continually need to tell people how intelligent they are.
They can adapt their communication style — vocabulary, tone, content, etc — to fit the situation and people they’re talking to, and it seems completely natural.
They’re very good at problem solving. Even if it’s something they have no experience with they always approach the problem from the right angle.
Dry humor. Pulling it off requires an observant, quick wit with a nonchalant delivery that almost downplays its own cleverness.Like it means their immediate passing thoughts are often profound enough to be very funny without any real effort.
It seems that people say that actions speak louder than words for a reason, and this list is great proof of that. But the same seems to be true of people who, contrary to the ones described here, don’t possess the qualities characteristic of bright minds. For proof of that, move on to browse the timespeople at workshowed just how stupid some individuals can be or check out the dumbest thingsthese netizenshave posted online next.
Understanding/appreciating nuance.
When someone can admit a mistake and they know they don’t know everything.
Curiosity.
They’re very observant, sometimes reserved.
If someone is actually intelligent, they don’t put down the intelligence of others or make others’ accomplishments seem small. I’ve never met a genuinely intelligent person who feels the need to directly (or even indirectly) hint that someone else is “not so smart.”.
VERY quick wit.Not at all interested in proving how smart they are.
They talk only when they have something to say.
Honestly, after reading their work, debates, talks, podcasts, discussions, arguing, etc, I noticed they often use conditions in their sentences that’s not absolute. There’s also this saying “only a fool talks in absolute”.Tgey use: I think, many times, often times, usually, it’s possible, it could be IF …So it appears they talk as if “I can be wrong” or “based on what we know”.If you compare sentences so known unintelligent people they lack these conditions and voices absolutes only.
One thing I’ve noticed is that really intelligent people tend to be empathetic. They’ve quietly analyzed many situations and have thought critically about them.
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They pause to think about a novel question instead of instantly blurting out an answer. Sometimes people think it means they’ve been “stumped” and claim victory. No, they’re thinking, analyzing, and formulating a reply.
Really funny and depressed.
They’re storytellers. They craft narratives for themselves and for others that are compelling, that make the world make sense, that invigorate and install a goal, a mission.
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They don’t argue with stupid people.
I usually find that creativity, humor, and verbal acuity are good signs of intelligenceI generally see lack of empathy, low open-ness, and seeing the world in absolutes as signs of low intelligenceAlso, I notice many socially inept people tend to consider themselves intelligent almost just because they’re socially inept and/or not good at sports. It’s as if their ego needs something to value themselves on so they assume they must be smartIt’s entirely possible that the “other” guy in your life who makes you insecure is taller, stronger, more charismatic, AND smarter. Such is lifeLastly, people (especially tech people) will often conflate technical/domain knowledge with intelligence which is absolutely not always the case. Yes there is a bare minimum intelligence required to be an engineer etc, but being an awkward senior engineer doesn’t mean you’re just too smart for normies to understand and lack of a specific domain knowledge has f**k all to do with intelligence.
They have a nuanced perspective and are able to articulate it well. They understand that things tend not to be black-and-white, but shades of gray, and they listen intently to others during a conversation.
They get excited sharing their knowledge and talk to people instead of at them.This probably isn’t a 100% guarantee that someone is intelligent but it’s something I’ve noticed more often in intelligent people than in people who are just knowledgeable.
The ability to break things down simply.
Half of intelligence is critical/lateral thinking and the other half is comprehension. You need to identify what you already know, determine what you need to know, and then how to get there. Identifying the path to knowledge requires you to be attentive and ask the important questions. There is a desired outcome, whether or not you get there, you have intention which focuses your efforts.With this in mind, I find a subtle sign someone’s is very intelligent is when they ask questions and either specify why they are asking or word the question in a way that shows intent. You can clearly tell where they are going with their questions, or if they happen to be asking irrelevant questions, you both figure it out much faster. It helps them get the information they want, but also helps the person answering understand their train of thought and focus their answers.
I find that highly intelligent people have the ability to think in complex hypotheticals while being nuanced.I find that Wise people have enough patience and forethought to consider longer term things and be considerate in ways that are hard to take into account.
Being able to read people very well. Adjust communication style to communicate most effectively. Also be able to read the room. Sense of humor is in there too.
I worked with a lad who was very like this. He could make any conversation really intriguing and thought provoking, often causing people to reconsider their perspective and position. He was a HR manager that could defuse any situation, helping people mend bridges and resolving issues because he could get both parties to compromise and put aside resentment.He had IQ and EQ to go a lot further than the role he was in but he was happy and maybe that is another little tid bit of intelligence.
Efficiency and elegance in tasks. Other people are walking and the genius is doing ballet.
They are funny and can talk about a range of topics.
They ask good questions. .
I was going to use my vast vast intelligence to form the perfect answer but forgot what we’re talking about.
I’m scrolling through here to see how many of these I match with lol .
Giant head.
If they have a fedora and say mlady.
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