It's hard to measure intelligence, and it comes in many different forms. There are certain things, however, that some people seem to believe indicates intelligence, which isn't necessarily the case.
Well, Reddit user u/Ezgod_Two_Three recently posed the question, "What is definitely NOT a sign of intelligence but people think it is? to r/AskReddit, and here are some of the most popular responses:
1. "Public speaking. Some people can sound like they know what they're talking about, but really don't have a clue."
"Politicians are particularly good at this. They focus on their oratory skills far more than thinking skills."
2. "In the same vein, interpersonal skills. I know some very intelligent people that are awful with others. If you can pull off glib, you’ll seem intelligent to many."
5. "Also simple, definitive answers to extremely complex questions – even objective ones."
6. "Being rich."
"And the opposite is true as well. Poor doesn’t mean dumb or lacking of intelligence. It’s such an unfortunate stereotype. At least that’s what I keep telling myself."
"I work with extremely rich clientele. I can tell you they are some of the stupidest fucking people I’ve ever met. I feel like a lot of it is because they have other people do everything for them so they hardly ever learn basic skills."
7. "Never admitting there’s things you don’t know. Experts realise the limits of their own knowledge."
8. "Being able to solve a Rubik’s Cube. I say that as somebody who loves the thing."
9. "Being so strongly opinionated that you never budge on a topic in a debate, or change your mind about things."
10. "Indubitably. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, an undeniable truth that manifests itself most clearly and unmistakably when an individual chooses to employ excessively wordy, elaborate, and prolix language, replete with an abundance of unnecessary and superfluous verbiage, in order to articulate and convey their intended point or message. Why waste time say lot of word when few word do trick?"
11. "Parroting anything, people think because they took the time to Google how many licks it takes to get to the centre of a tootsie pop, that means they're big brained."
12. "Trivial knowledge. I have known people with large 'trivial knowledge' base, but can't understand nor perform simple logic. Intelligence will largely depend on a combination of curiosity, logic, open mindedness, and what one chooses to learn."
13. "The ability to memorise. Having a good memory does not reflect true intelligence."
14. "Expensive degree."
"I work with many people with many expensive degrees. The least intelligent of these people like to brag the most. The most intelligent don't want you to call them 'doctor'. (I do know one exception to this, but he has 6 or 7 degrees.)"
15. "Contrarianism. It’s one thing to have principled reasons for disagreeing with common sense, but it’s another thing entirely to habitually take a devil’s advocate position on any position."
H/T to u/Ezgod_Two_Three and r/AskReddit for having the discussion!
Have you got any more to add? Let us know in the comments below!
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