How smart do you think you are.

[W800]

I found this inscribed inside my latest box of crayons:

In one’s life. there are levels in the pursuit of study. In the lowest level, a person studies but nothing comes of it, and he feels that both he and others are unskillful. At this point he is worthless. In the middle level he is still useless but is aware of his own insufficiencies and can also see the insufficiencies of others. In a higher level he has pride concerning his own ability, rejoices in praise from others, and laments the lack of ability in his fellows. This man has worth. In the highest level a man has the look of knowing nothing.

These are the levels in general;

But there is one transcending level, and this is the most excellent of all. This person is aware of the endlessness of entering deeply into a certain Way* and never thinks of himself as having finished. He truly knows his own insufficiencies and never in his whole life thinks that he has succeeded. He has no thoughts of pride but with self-abasement knows the Way to the end. It is said that Master Yagyu once remarked, “I do not know the way to defeat others, but the way to defeat myself.”

http://3yryua3n3eu3i4gih2iopzph.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/pdf/hagakure.pdf

--- Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Give up learning, and put an end to your troubles.

Is there a difference between yes and no?
Is there a difference between good and evil?
Must I fear what others fear? What nonsense!
Other people are contented, enjoying the sacrificial feast of the ox.
In spring some go to the park, and climb the terrace,
But I alone am drifting, not knowing where I am.
Like a newborn babe before it learns to smile,
I am alone, without a place to go.

Others have more than they need, but I alone have nothing.
I am a fool. Oh, yes! I am confused.
Others are clear and bright,
But I alone am dim and weak.
Others are sharp and clever,
But I alone am dull and stupid.
Oh, I drift like the waves of the sea,
Without direction, like the restless wind.

Everyone else is busy,
But I alone am aimless and depressed.
I am different.
I am nourished by the great mother.

https://terebess.hu/english/tao/gia.html

-- Lao Tzu

People have known for a long time that the smartest people often appear kind of dumb.

 

[Cincinnatus]

Please tell me it is still i. Schools keep changing things but hopefully that stays the same.

So far, yup, it's i.

My intelligence is imaginary, so it's whatever people think it is. :loco :laughing

 

[Abacinator]

Bunch of helmet wearers up in here :laughing

 

[mikev]

Not very.

 

[Climber]

Education is not intelligence.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a206/smartest-man-1199/

Agreed. Most PhD's I've known were insufferable bastards thinking that they were superior because they were working on cutting edge stuff, but they didn't realize that real world solutions were magnitudes more complicated.

Most of them wanted their PhD to prove that they were intelligent, and you know what they say about people who feel they have to prove something....

 

[TylerW]

A person who rejects education is an idiot.

ftfy

 

[Shaggy]

Poll should have been public! :laughing

 

[TylerW]

Dunning-Krugger in a nutshell: People that are stupid, are too stupid to know that they're stupid.

Eh, it's more than that. It's also people who are average who think they are truly excellent and surround themselves with people who reinforce their self-perception of excellence.

 

[cfives]

I think that I am below average in smarts, but slightly above average in intelligence. So if the Dunning-Kruger effect accurately describes my perception, I am more likely to be average in smarts, and below average in intelligence. I would not agree with that assessment.

 

[budgie45]

I ate play dough On acid one time

 

[cfives]

I ate play dough On acid one time

"One time", who are you trying to kid?

 

[W800]

I know someone who is a "self diagnosed autist." I think they learned the phrase on Tmblr. They have an exceptional memory and know a lot of things from spending hours per day on the internet.

The reason they spend hours per day on the internet is that they are not employable. Or they claim not to be.

One time they were trying to "wokesplain" something to me and I had to cut them off. I said "everything you know is from a little screen."

Experience can be learned. But it can't be taught.

Knowledge comes from experience. And intelligence is without meaning if it can't be applied. One of the smartest folks I used to know was a Mercedes mechanic. It wasn't just mechanical stuff. It was anything. They liked the work because it allowed them to solve puzzles for a living.

I also know someone with a Masters who is as dumb as a brick. I'm not smart. But I am persistent and I have a good work ethic.

 

[bojangle]

What's the square root of negative one? :teeth

¡

A smart person who rejects education is an idiot.

You're describing some of the wealthiest she most successful people out there.

 

[Pushrod]

Wife's first husband: Genius I.Q. Doctorate (4.0 GPA) from UF in optometry, two successful practices. Accolades hanging on his practice wall, houses, cars, boats, etc.

Wife's second husband (me): High school by the skin of my teeth, 'Nam, pot, construction jobs, work muscles, callouses and a motorcycle.

Fifty years later and I still have the woman (got his kids too!).

I don't trust the charts used to determine intelligence considering the bed I sleep in. And I like red with white pinstripes.

 

[Beanzy]

Having intelligence is the ability to synthesize information and come up with the right answer before everybody else. A higher IQ doesn't always equate with success and happiness.

I've known some genius-level IQ people, and I hated their quickness in sneering at others' lack of understanding.

It was the people who showed kindness and humility in their intelligence that made me love and admire them.

Anyway if I could trade some of my IQ to be more lovable and likeable, I'd do it.

 

[Eldritch]

Having intelligence is the ability to synthesize information and come up with the right answer before everybody else. A higher IQ doesn't always equate with success and happiness.

I've known some genius-level IQ people, and I hated their quickness in sneering at others' lack of understanding.

It was the people who showed kindness and humility in their intelligence that made me love and admire them.

Anyway if I could trade some of my IQ to be more lovable and likeable, I'd do it.

In my experience, the sneering judgemental types are usually second tier minds. They get all puffed up to falsely elevate themselves, because they know the first tier people are out there and they have some kind of hang ups around it.

 

[cheez]

In my experience, the sneering judgemental types are usually second tier minds. They get all puffed up to falsely elevate themselves, because they know the first tier people are out there and they have some kind of hang ups around it.

+1. I have a lot of compassion for folks who truly don't understand. Not from a lack of effort to comprehend, but a true block of ignorance between their cognition of a process or system. It makes me a good teacher because I spend a lot of effort to try and ensure the block is well removed and no remnants of it remain when the explanation is done.

You know what I think? There's far less difference in capability between the "dumb" and the "smart"- there's just far more curiosity, inquisitiveness, and intellectual drive to self-educate. I think plenty of people who consider themselves "dumb" have plenty of mental capability- they just don't apply it, or if they do, they apply it in an ineffective manner which doesn't build upon other learnings- like following recipes as a line cook in a restaurant your whole life without ever learning what the cooking techniques you were applying actually did to the food you prepared won't make you a chef, acquiring information and knowledge without using it to inform your understanding and advance it leaves one informed- yet ignorant. I'm afraid that's where we are today- lots of folks who are acquiring information and regurgitating it, but without applying much critical thinking- understanding- to it. <comments about how this is visible in modern political thinking and behaviors redacted>

 

[afm199]

IQ ranges on a spectrum, IIRC, most of the population is in the 90-110 range. 120 usually means higher degrees, if actualized that way.

Very few people reach that level.

I worked with a guy once who charitably had an IQ of 85, a totally decent guy who was able to care about and help others.

I also worked with a PhD who was an insufferable prick and basically worthless.

And I worked with an ex con who charitably had an IQ of 90 and he was a vicious motherfucker of the worst type.

 

[Butch]

What's the square root of negative one? :teeth

“i”; I learned that in High School.
I am so smart I surround myself with really smart people. I am always the dumbest in the group.

Pretty smart, eh?

 

[SM610]

I find that i am able to understand what i would consider reasonable levels of intellect, or certain kinds of intellect, but some mathy stuff wooooshes right by me like im not even there. I go out of my way to really listen when i think someone is really smart, or really not smart for that matter... Seems that a lot of people are just waiting for everyone to shut the fuck up so that they can tell you what they think. Truely listening to others just cuts into the time they could be telling you something. At least, being able to listen will help you get less dumb.

I dont place a lot of importance on my memory, as some day it will be gone altogether, and at that point I'll still be happy.

My buddys GF thinks she's a fucking genius, and never misses a chance to tell everyone how smart she is. Smart and stupid are the only ways to see people, and no one is as smart as her. I find her repulsive, possible one of the worst, most shallow people I've ever met, but she takes care of my pal who would be otherwise living in my basement, so for now she gets a pass. :laughing

The internet seems to have given not smart people a place to prove it to everyone, so why not run that in for a touchdown?. Add to that the current wave of unapologetic indignant righteousness, lack of accountability, humor, maturity and humility, the world has become a challenging place to like sometimes. It could really get a guy down, but Im too smart to let that happen...:laughing