Let’s Talk Intellect!

edited 2014-05-31 03:04:59 in Talk
What criteria do you use to determine how “smart” somebody is? What about how “educated” or “wise” they are (if you don’t know the difference make an educated guess)? How much importance do you place on this? This is the part where I’d ask yourself to estimate your intelligence but of course you’re by far the smartest person you know of so no need ^_^ I hate you cunts
Tagged:
«1

Comments

  • “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    That's... difficult.

    I know smart when I see it, generally, and I know dumb when I see it as well.
  • Touch the cow. Do it now.
    uguu
  • ~*tasteless*~
    大學的年同性戀毛皮

    aaaaa
    well fucking duh but what type of behavior or demeanor typically sets off your sensors for one or the other?
  • i need not estimate, i have numbers around here somewhere
  • edited 2014-05-31 03:13:57
    “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    I actually have a high enough IQ that estimates tend to get wonky. I don't really like saying that too much, though, seeing as saying stuff like that tends to make people think that you are a pompous ass... >_>
  • ~*tasteless*~
    大學的年同性戀毛皮

    aaaaa
    pompous ass? tropers??? noooo

    also I left that question out for a reason. granted, I put it back in as passive-aggressively as possible for a reason too but that's beside the point.
  • edited 2014-05-31 03:21:04
    “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    Well...

    I'm kind of proud of it, but I also know that means nothing if I don't do anything useful with it, and bragging about it is just stupid and asinine. Plus, to be completely honest, it's alienating to know that literally only one in over a thousand people is like you, or that when you start talking about something that really interests you half of the people in the room are lost in five minutes and it's not because they don't care - it's you, the freak.
  • imagei will watch the heck outta this pumpkin patch
    Aw.  Being smart doesn't make you a freak, Sredni.

    Conversely, I often feel like my adding anything to something someone intelligent has said would be superfluous and presumptuous... this feeling tends to decline once I become comfortable around the person, but it doesn't go away.

    As to how I gauge a person's intellect... hm.  I feel like being able to converse confidently about a subject I find difficult (e.g. art) tends to suggest intelligence, and being able to converse confidently about multiple difficult subjects suggests a greater intelligence.  Being able to switch seamlessly between confident discussion of multiple difficult subjects and discussions of pop culture and Internet phenomena suggests an even greater intelligence.  I always think that the ability to crack jokes about multiple, sometimes difficult subjects is a particular give-away regarding intelligence, since it suggests a high level of confidence and understanding of those matters.

    That overlaps a lot with education, of course... I suppose I'd say someone sounds less educated if while they're attempting to carry out intelligent discussions they frequently make obvious goofs.

    Wisdom is trickier... if someone is able to say things that I could never have thought of myself, but which on hearing them are instantly enlightening, that to me suggests wisdom.
  • I don't usually gauge intellect.

    I get called smart by most of the people I meet, and I feel like being smart isn't really an improvement on my state of being, so I value most whether X can/will teach me something new rather than whether X is strictly smarter/as smart as/less smart than e.
  • “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    Learning from others is a terribly satisfying experience, particularly when what I am learning is something interests me but really isn't in my wheelhouse as far as intuitive understanding goes. I know that some intelligences I have are stronger and others weaker, and I really respect those who are strong where I am weak.
  • Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
    Everyone is clever in different ways. Unfortunately, our collective societies tends to not acknowledge that.

    Now, being intelligent is one thing. You can cultivate that yourself, with books and apprenticeships and courses. But wisdom, wisdom is hard-won. Wisdom is begotten from willing to commit foolishness and be willing to move past it.

    Intelligence is recorded in your brain. Wisdom is recorded in your bones.
  • Quite honestly I tend to think of most people including myself as being pretty middling in terms of intelligence.

    Whether that suggests that I am a realist or simply not very perceptive is hard to say. It's very rare that someone strikes me as particularly intelligent or particularly stupid.
  • well, that would be a pretty safe assumption statistically speaking.
  • i prolly some off as less intelligent online because i'm a very verbally oriented person, idk.
  • Especially over the internet it's really easy to look intelligent (at least in the sense of being well-read) by just having Wikipedia open in another tab at all times.
  • i prolly some off as less intelligent online because i'm a very verbally oriented person, idk.

    you do when you say "some off" instead of "come off"

    lol i own u nerd
  • “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    No-one on this site strikes me as less than reasonably intelligent, to be honest. Some of you are definitely very, very intelligent, but none of you are dumb. I'm pretty sure of that.
  • ur dum.

    my dum.

    (*grabs, drags off*)
  • Touch the cow. Do it now.
    uguu
  • “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    AAAAAA~
  • ~*tasteless*~
    大學的年同性戀毛皮

    aaaaa

    I don't usually gauge intellect.

    I doubt the validity of this statement

    Everyone is clever in different ways.

    No-one on this site strikes me as less than reasonably intelligent, to be honest.

    and I doubt that anyone actually thinks this. >_>
  • “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    I haven't met anyone truly dumb here. Clueless, sure, or wildly misguided, but I don't think that a truly stupid person would last long here.
  • ~*tasteless*~
    大學的年同性戀毛皮

    aaaaa
    Unless of course they were just stubbornly persistent?
  • if it makes you feel any better i did not say any of those things
  • “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    I think they'd either get bored or bore everyone else after a while.

    I mean, this is a nonsense forum, but when we have actual discussions they move pretty quickly.
  • Sup bitches, witches, Haters, and trolls.

    No-one on this site strikes me as less than reasonably intelligent, to be honest. Some of you are definitely very, very intelligent, but none of you are dumb. I'm pretty sure of that.

    I feel pretty dumb when I venture out of my intellectual comfort zone, really.
  • Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
    Okay so what I mean when I say "everyone is clever in different ways" is that everyone has different aptitudes to different mental skills.

    Some folks don't know how, can't or won't develop those skills they're good at.
  • ~*tasteless*~
    大學的年同性戀毛皮

    aaaaa
    Better.
  • “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”

    Okay so what I mean when I say "everyone is clever in different ways" is that everyone has different aptitudes to different mental skills.


    Some folks don't know how, can't or won't develop those skills they're good at.
    Yeah, I don't disagree this concept, although I do think that there are probably some people markedly more or less apt overall than others, although whether they have compensating flaws or strengths is an open question. Real ability is, I think, about working around or dealing with one's weaknesses as much as being skilled at something.
  • Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
    Sure. Like, a lot of things you can overcome with hard work.

  • I don't usually gauge intellect.

    I doubt the validity of this statement
    Well, I try not to, at least.

    It's something my mind does, but I don't recognize it as something useful. Just like that one synapse that keeps muttering about romance.
  • ~*tasteless*~
    大學的年同性戀毛皮

    aaaaa
    That sounds delusional and naïve but I don't judge.
  • edited 2014-06-01 00:50:18
    “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”

    That sounds delusional and naïve but I don't judge.

    Hypocritical/paradoxical statement there?

    With most people, I don't consciously try to gauge intellect because it doesn't seem important, personally. A really dumb or smart person will stick out, but most people are just kind of around. Unless I'm having an in-depth conversation with them, why should I care what they know/comprehend or don't?
  • edited 2014-06-01 00:57:57
    ~*tasteless*~
    大學的年同性戀毛皮

    aaaaa
    No one consciously does it, but to say that you either don't do it at all or don't make subconscious judgments based on it is just dishonest. And I'm not understanding where the hypocrisy lies so either explain or stop making baseless accusations, thank you.
  • Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
    I try to gauge someone's self-awareness and wisdom.
  • edited 2014-06-01 01:18:19
    “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”

    And I'm not understanding where the hypocrisy lies so either explain or stop making baseless accusations, thank you.

    I mean saying "I don't judge" after insulting someone.

    Granted, I get that it was at least partly a joke, but the irony there was hard not to point out.
  • ~*tasteless*~
    大學的年同性戀毛皮

    aaaaa
    :P

    (although this is ↳Talk and I'm pretty sure posts consisting of nothing but an emoticon is bad form so I will say) kindly refrain from derailing the conversation I will NOT tolerate any such behavior Vashtar.
  • “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    McMacho, you being super cereal serious outside of really special circumstances is wrong on so many levels that I cannot accept that reprimand without intense giggling.

    But to the topic at hand: Intellect is not one thing. I think that we all agree on this concept?
  • ~*tasteless*~
    大學的年同性戀毛皮

    aaaaa
    I may or may not have giggled while writing that

    I believe we can, even if it wasn't the original point of dispute.
  • imagei will watch the heck outta this pumpkin patch
    I don't deliberately try to discover anyone's intellect, but it's an impression people tend to form on me after I've known them for a sustained period of time.
  • imagei will watch the heck outta this pumpkin patch
    also

    i prolly some off as less intelligent online because i'm a very verbally oriented person, idk.


    This doesn't necessarily contradict what you said but you come off as one of the most intelligent people I know, online or off.
  • “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    My beau is a very smart man and terribly knowledgeable and witty as well!
  • ~*tasteless*~
    大學的年同性戀毛皮

    aaaaa
    dammit this is ↳Talk take it to the flirting thread
  • Outside of just judging someone as being more or less intelligent, what assumptions do you folk tend to make about those you believe to be either smart or dumb? i.e. "that person is such a know-it-all" or "that person's going to work at McD's for the rest of their life"?
  • edited 2015-10-06 04:10:37
    Most of the time it's mainly just a judgement of "this person is/isn't intellectually lazy." Or "this person is an asshole and it makes them stupid.""
  • :3 said:

    ur dum.


    my dum.

    (*grabs, drags off*)
    this is still true, he is a dum
  • Outside of just judging someone as being more or less intelligent, what assumptions do you folk tend to make about those you believe to be either smart or dumb? i.e. "that person is such a know-it-all" or "that person's going to work at McD's for the rest of their life"?

    my mother worked at a McDonald's for almost 35 years, she only quit a few days ago.

    I realize this isn't your original invention, but, "oh they work in fast food so they must be a blithering idiot" is one of the worst stereotypes about anyone.
  • LWLW
    edited 2015-10-07 00:17:47

    0vvvv0 said:

    Well...


    I'm kind of proud of it, but I also know that means nothing if I don't do anything useful with it, and bragging about it is just stupid and asinine. Plus, to be completely honest, it's alienating to know that literally only one in over a thousand people is like you, or that when you start talking about something that really interests you half of the people in the room are lost in five minutes and it's not because they don't care - it's you, the freak.
    To be perfectly honest, I think that sounds pretty arrogant out of context, haha. But I think I sort of understand what you are saying in context and I feel like it makes some sense. It seems to me that a lot of people feel like that when discussing a niche interest of theirs that a lot of people do not share.

    To me, "smartness" is mainly an innate thing. If someone is particularly smart, they can often understand things like complicated math problems with much less effort than your average person. My experience in school was that some people could just easily pick up on stuff and not have to put much effort into their classes to do well. I would consider those people smart.

    I feel like "wisdom" and "education" are more related to experiential/practical knowledge and textbook knowledge respectively. I tend to consider somebody wise if they have life experience and/or a great deal of maturity and tact. It seems to me like people can educate themselves both in school and out of school (e.g., Heapers here reading about math, science, philosophy, history, and politics for fun), so it is not necessarily all that easy to determine how educated somebody is.

    Personally, I  really dislike talking about people in terms of their intelligence or smarts.

    First off, I think it can encourage elitism and ranking people based off of something that is sort of arbitrary. People are not worth more as people just because they happen to have more IQ points than the average person. Second, complimenting someone by saying they are smart or criticizing someone by saying they are dumb does not make much sense to me since it is not like the person in question is responsible for any innate smarts they may have.
  • We can do anything if we do it together.

    Outside of just judging someone as being more or less intelligent, what assumptions do you folk tend to make about those you believe to be either smart or dumb? i.e. "that person is such a know-it-all" or "that person's going to work at McD's for the rest of their life"?

    my mother worked at a McDonald's for almost 35 years, she only quit a few days ago.

    I realize this isn't your original invention, but, "oh they work in fast food so they must be a blithering idiot" is one of the worst stereotypes about anyone.
    ... Are you all going to be alright?
Sign In or Register to comment.