Yahoo Lifestyle People Are Sharing The Subtle Red Flags That Someone Is Not So Smart, And Some Of Them Are Spot On
When you meet someone new, there may be a singular sign that indicates they may not be as smart as they seem. So when Reddit user lesbirealNL asked: "What are signs that people are not that intelligent?" over five thousand people shared their thoughts. Here's what they said below:
1."Thinking that LOUDER is how to 'win' an argument."
"Similar: thinking that LOUDER is how to overcome a language barrier."
2."Refuses to humble themselves or admit they may be wrong."
"Adding to this: when they see admitting you were incorrect as a sign of weakness. I had this one guy start some REAL shit because I had some inconsequential information wrong. He corrected me, and I said that, yeah, he was right; I guess I had the wrong info, but now I know better for next time. And he said I was shutting down and some other weird chest-thumping wannabe 'alpha male'-type crap.
No, man, I was wrong; you were right — take the win, dude"
3."I've never had someone who I would consider intelligent tell me how smart they are."
4."They fight to win instead of discussing to discover the truth."
"Those who want to be right, search for support. Those who search for righteousness, search for truth."
5."A lack of curiosity about the world or other people."
"In my opinion, the biggest tell is a lack of curiosity about anything. The average Joe can learn a whole lot, but they have to want to."
6."They make absolute statements that are just not absolute."
"This is the one. Almost nothing is absolute, and it’s incredibly irritating when people think that way."
7."They parrot headlines without knowing what the article said."
"My mum does this all the time, even if it's about the most innocent, innocuous things. She takes headlines at face value every time.
A while back, we were having lunch, and she said, 'Oh, did you hear Henry Cavill has been cast as the next James Bond?' I said, 'Huh, really? I hadn't heard that. Let me look it up,' and I found nothing about it other than he's a fan-favorite pick.
She obviously saw some article with a clickbait title about how he won some fan-casting poll and took it as pure confirmation. It happens all the fucking time."
8."Cruelty. Look for those who are hateful, angry, spiteful, and combative. Ignorance breeds anger because when they are too stupid to understand the world around them, they lash out."
"Exactly lack of empathy is also lack of intelligence."
—None
9."When they confuse knowledge, intelligence, and Wisdom. Knowledge: knowing information. Intelligence: how to apply said information and valuable experience doing so. Wisdom: understanding of when and how to apply said information/experience."
10."Says a ton more than they listen."
11."The first thing I thought of was some sort of self-awareness. For instance, when people clearly can see you’re walking into a store, but they’re just standing still and blocking the entrance. Like, dude, you’re standing in the worst place possible — just go outside of the store or one inch to the side. Then, when you squeeze past them, they continue to stand there like they don’t know what happened. Like they’re thinking, 'Oh, why did that guy have to squeeze past me?' Even if you don’t understand social cues, you should still be able to realize stuff like that if you have a working brain."
"Another way I see intelligence is being able to solve problems without knowing all the information. Similar to the Raven’s Matrices used in IQ tests. But those tests might as well be fun Sudoku puzzles for me, so I don’t know."
12."They think that certain words are incantations which, once said, automatically win the argument. A couple of common current examples are accusing someone of 'violating boundaries' or 'gaslighting.' Another strong indicator of a lack of intelligence is the assumption/belief that there is a simple, easy solution to any persistent issue or problem. If it were simple or easy, it would have been solved a long time ago."
Is there another sign that indicates someone is not that smart? Tell us what it is in the comments below.
