The truly intelligent are well aware of how little they know.
The problem, a la Dunning-Krueger, is that too many people who are not intelligent think they know a lot.
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Are Highly Intelligent People Inherently Cruel?
- Thread starter Cooky
- Start date
The truly intelligent are well aware of how little they know.
The problem, a la Dunning-Krueger, is that too many people who are not intelligent think they know a lot.
I have seen that with a lot of smart people. They do not blissfully enjoy being told what they should think by anyone, smart or dumb. And a few (but not all) dumb people love to talk, but hate to listen. They are willing to lecture a quantum physicist on quarks, and a plumber on toilets. And they are the last people on the face of the earth to catch on to how rude that is.
That seems upside down. I see wisdom as understanding
without unrealistic expectations. The latter serves no purpose
but bringing woe. Of course, one can still be an optimist...just
one not at odds with reality.
PoetPhilosopher
Veteran Member
And I get caught up on the careful wording sometimes. I don't consider myself highly intelligent, key word being highly, at least these days, or I'd be able to keep up with a few people in these science talks. I just know my ROPs from my ALUs and TMUs and caches and bandwidths when it comes to computers.
Does that make me a genius?
Oh....wait....this is one of those logic thingies, ie, the converse isn't necessarily true.
Dang, for a moment there I felt all triple digit....
That scenarios seems familiar.
I am not certain that cruel is the correct description. Dealing with intellectually lazy or stupid people can be frustrating. That frustration can come off wrongly interpreted as arrogance or cruelty.
There are actual studies showing that, Dan. I recall one study by a group out of Harvard Business School concluded that the ideal boss is not more than 20 IQ points smarter than his average employee. Why? The authors speculated that when he or she is much more than 20 points smarter, their employees can't understand them. Communication breaks down, the employees end up feeling lost, uncertain how to do their jobs, or what is expected of them.
Another study found that if you are a whole lot smarter than someone else, that other person is very likely to conclude you are dumber than them -- because they don't understand you.
Spot on!
I consider you one my very intelligent friends on here. Bet you didn't know that.
Agnostisch
Egyptian Man
Highly intelligent people are funny
ROFL! So true! So true!
Please don't mention them. They embarrass me every time.
PoetPhilosopher
Veteran Member
I also had a friend who didn't know anything on anything, yet, could tell whether a person was having a good or bad day even if they tried to hide it.
I think I find the intellectually lazy more insufferable and you do not even need to be more intelligent than they are to find them frustrating.
I'd print & frame that if I knew how to print things.
My last secretary was a bit like that. She knew next to nothing about most things. But I and everyone else in the company adored her. She could always tell how someone felt and she could always make you feel better.
I think it would be worth considering people who excel in one particular area more generally.
For example, on average, do extremely beautiful people rate beauty as more important than others?
Also worth remembering that how people measure intelligence is subjective and commonly self-serving. Concepts like 'multiple intelligences' would not fit well with the notion that someone is 'exceptionally smart' but completely lacking in other areas.
The intellectually lazy, for sure. But even more so (for me), the willfully stupid.
I believe anyone, kind or cruel, may be intelligent.