People You Meet

**Tiempo** · #41 03/06/13, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJ Grandits

I don't really think it is about being smarter as much as being less stupid. Being born smart and doing nothing with it is pretty stupid while being less stupid requires work and is pretty smart.

What bothers me are people who could be smart but seem to almost choose not to be. People who lack curiosity and seem uninterested in learning anything about the world about them from interested observation.

We've all met them..like the girl who used to hostess at my ex's father's restaurant, a college student getting great grades because she had a knack for memorizing what she was required to and regurgitating it back in tests but seemed oblivious to the world around her to the point she was amazed when someone told her beef comes from cows.

Bret · #42 03/06/13, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by naturelover

Here's the thing though. I think if you consider the question very carefully you may find that it's not impossible to answer.

The OP asked "Are you smarter than most people you meet?" and something I've discovered during my past 7 or 8 years on internet is that I've been encountering far more interesting and smart people on internet than I meet face to face (and I meet a lot of people in person). I encounter dull or stupid people on internet too of course - and even most of them are still rather interesting characters because of their idiosyncrasies - but not as many boring or dim witted people on internet as those I meet in person. Something else I've discovered about unintelligent or boring people that I meet in person is that most of them have no interest in learning new things on internet or otherwise or in participating in discussions or exchanges of information on internet. So if you participate a lot on internet discussion boards it could very well be that you are a lot smarter than most of the people you meet in person and that might be one of the reasons why you participate on internet discussion boards - to socialize with other smart people with a similar interest in learning and sharing new information.

Just as an aside for this topic - being a smartass know-it-all can cause a lot of hard feelings and alienation from uninterested or less knowledgeable people that one meets in person. I've found that out the hard way and have learned to keep my mouth shut and not volunteer information about certain things unless someone asks me a question, and even that has backfired a few times. Most recently a woman in her 70's that I've known and been good friends with for 14 years asked me some questions about barometric pressure and about steelhead fish. I guess I should have asked her why she wanted to know about those things but instead I just answered her questions. When I was finished she shocked me by flying into a rage and became verbally abusive at me, called me nasty names, told me I was stupid and accused me of thinking she was stupid and told me I was so full of ____ that it was coming out of my ears. ~ !!

!! ~

Clearly the answers I gave her were not what she had wanted to hear and I told her if she didn't believe me she could verify it by looking it up on internet. Her response to that was that she doesn't do internet. Her behaviour was very offensive - I won't tolerate verbal abuse (the epitome of ignorance) from anyone, especially not people who are supposedly my friends, and I haven't seen or spoken to her since. Still shaking my head over that one.

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The more that we talk, the more that we expose to risks. I too learned that some friendship breakdowns had someting to do with something I said or that the other person said. Or seemed to be. We cannot always know what is going to be heard and processed by the listener depending on where their head is in the moment. I guess it is true for all of us.

My conclusion was to become a better listener. I thought that being a better listener meant that I had to talk less. This, I found out caused at least one person to call me aloof. I reasoned that if one person says it out loud, other's may think it. I settled on this saying--better to keep quiet and have people think that I am stupid, than to open my mouth and prove it.

We are characters, no?

My cowboy hat keep the rain from pouring in. My boots make it easier for my feet to slide out of my mouth and stirrups. BS--I'm calling myself out. Haven't been on a horse or pony since I don't know when.

I'm not so smart. I can't recover my gmail password. It's making me mad.

NoClue · #43 03/06/13, 08:06 AM

Statistically speaking, I have a higher IQ than most of the people I meet, but that doesn't really mean I'm smarter. I don't think I've ever met anyone that I couldn't learn something from.

dkhern · #44 03/06/13, 08:42 AM

im a lot smarter than i used to be

unregistered353870 · #45 03/06/13, 09:35 AM

I'm pretty smart in some ways not grammar or syntax (obviously) but I also meet a lot of dummies who are richer and more successful than me and some geniuses who are poorer and less successful than me so I don't think being "smart" is all that great.

Hollowdweller · #46 03/06/13, 09:46 AM

Not really. I work with a large number of Doctors and most are pretty sharp.

HDRider · #47 03/06/13, 11:22 AM

84% see themselves as above average
16% see themselves as below average

emdeengee · #48 03/06/13, 12:44 PM

I know, and have known and worked with, people who should never have been let out of the house on their own. Some were just not very intelligent, others just not practical or completely devoid of common sense. Many were the nicest people on the planet.

I know, and have also known and worked with, people who were so intelligent, organized and productive that they were quite amazing. Many were also the nicest people on the planet - while still managing to be very annoying to us lesser mortals.

We all have our strong points and our weaknesses so it is impossible to really compare yourself to others. No matter how much I would like to be able to really understand chemistry it is never going to happen. I took many classes and just sqeaked through with a pass and then promptly forgot everything I knew. On the other hand I am really good with numbers which is how I ended up making my living.

Our education and our experiences all help to shape us so we are all different. I think it is important to keep learning no matter how old you are.

TnAndy · #49 03/06/13, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HDRider

So tell us. How did you vote?

If you're really smart, you know the outcome, like who is going to be the WWWrestling champ this year, is mostly pre-determined and voting is a waste of time.

Jokarva · #50 03/06/13, 02:57 PM

I just spent a day as part of a jury pool.....I hope to heaven I'm smarter than most of the people I met that day.

shanzone2001 · #51 03/06/13, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callieslamb

Not only am I not smarter- I'm more pretty, more funny, more clever or more anything that those around me.

Great answer... (and what I was going to write!!!)

Scott SW Ohio · #52 03/06/13, 03:29 PM

I voted "no" because just about anybody I meet can teach me something.

Bearfootfarm · #53 03/06/13, 04:19 PM

Quote:

I think if you consider the question very carefully you may find that it's not impossible to answer.

You raise some good points. but any answer given is still just a biased opinion, with most people tending to highly overrate themselves.

Some of the smartest people I know don't even use computers (which in itself may be a sign of higher intelligence)

SilverFlame819 · #54 03/07/13, 03:13 PM

I usually rank really high on IQ tests... But what do those REALLY tell you? That you see patterns in things, that you are good at brainteasers?

I can't remember what I did yesterday, but I can tell you, in detail, about something that happened when I was 3... People call me whenever they need to know things, like I'm their personal Google...

I don't necessarily know that any of that makes me "smart"... It just means I know things that they don't know or am better at certain things than they are. I'm sure there are things that they know that I don't, or certain things that they are better at than I.

That being said... People with no common sense, or super ditzy people just tend to drive me nuts after prolonged exposure.

NoClue · #55 03/07/13, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bearfootfarm

You raise some good points. but any answer given is still just a biased opinion, with most people tending to highly overrate themselves.

Some of the smartest people I know don't even use computers (which in itself may be a sign of higher intelligence)

For once, you and I agree on something.

FeralFemale · #56 03/07/13, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozarks Tom

If the common benchmark for "smart" is IQ, and that number is based on 100 being average, anyone with an IQ of 101 or higher is smarter than half the people they meet in the general public.
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Isn't that a George Carlin bit? Something like, "Think of how stupid the average person is and then realize half of them are stupider than that."?

jwal10 · #57 03/08/13, 10:58 AM

I only went to 10th grade, then went to work. No college. I learned a lot the hard way. I have been smart in life....at times. I think I am as smart as my brothers. Not smarter than a lot of people. I learn everyday and keep going. Never had to rely on someone else or the "Gooberment". I wish I was smarter but I am doing OK....James

willow_girl · #58 03/08/13, 12:00 PM

I am routinely outmaneuvered by cows.

SeaGoat · #59 03/08/13, 12:33 PM

Ehhhh

Mathematically I am probably one of the dumbest of my age
Same goes with spelling

I find that I have "gifts" a lot of other people do not have.
I go about different ways of thinking and doing things that the average person wouldnt have done..

My brain seems to work in different ways than others I know
Maybe because Im dominantly right brained, maybe because I am an Aquarius
Maybe a combination of the both

pilot_34 · #60 03/08/13, 05:07 PM

Smart was easy wisdom has been MUCH harder to acquire.