5 days ago • 71%

Awareness

I was reading a comment thread recently.

One commenter stated that they are aware of the people who are "dumber" than them, and if they are not aware the person they are talking to is either similar in intelligence or smarter than they are.

So my question is, do you have this awareness?

Are you conscious of your relative standing in the intelligence hierarchy around you?

And a side point, can you tell a smart person is acting dumb to fit in with those around them?

21 comments

Don't forget about different types of intelligence. There's sharpness, memory, puzzle solving, and so much more - someone could be extremely high in one category and abysmal in another.

But what seems to trump them all is emotional intelligence, which has almost next to nothing to do with normal intelligence? Or rather, has more to do with being raised by parents and oneself, I think bc wisdom (e.g. a willingness to learn from others' mistakes) has little to do with intelligence (the ability to spot mistakes on one's own, not necessarily coupled with a willingness to do so though).

Bc of all this, it's not so easy to simply judge someone as being "smarter" or "dumber". Though if they are making an extremely obvious mistake, or say something that took you a decade to puzzle out, then there's that evidence to go on - sometimes the other person makes it very easy to see who they are, at least in that moment, in that specific sense of intelligence.

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- Agreed, there are many types of intelligence. It is not often that you have people who are high in many types.
  
  I don't really agree that EI trumps the others. EI is great and important; especially where managing others. It really depends on the problem you are trying to solve.
  
  I would say having high self awareness (which maybe a type of EI); is super important, knowing what you are and are not good at; will stand you in good stead no matter what you are doing.
  
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  Knowing the correct thing to do that will fix things (high IQ, e.g. making a vaccine), yet not doing it (low EI, like refusing to take said vaccine), leads to bad outcomes. Conversely, I've never seen anyone fired for being unintelligent (low IQ) who was willing to work with their employer (high EI).
  
  Like making a nuke is great, but knowing when to use it - and more importantly when not to - is even better? And today's version: IQ resulted in climate change, yet will it now save us, or will we need to develop some EI as a culture or species to survive the massive issues facing our entire planet?
  
  EI seems more mandatory to exist, while IQ... is great and fun and all, but not anywhere close to being on the same level. At least, that's what shows such as Star Trek taught me:-).
  
  Maybe we can say that EI is necessary for longevity, while IQ provides more the spikes in processing power to get through a particular task in front of you. But even there, most tasks that people associate with "intelligence" have rather more to do with sheer dedication than anything else - e.g. math ability relates to patience to learn from constant mistakes especially those made early on prior to building up confidence, studies show. That patience helps you learn math, which literally makes you smarter (legitimately, bc it increases your capabilities).
  
  Ergo even though intelligence is measured as IQ, it appears not to be a foundational but rather at least in large measure a derived characteristic for people. Which is why I was saying that EI trumps it: e.g. a genius who committs suicide helps nobody. But yes, locally there are times when IQ is more important, ofc.
  
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I assume everyone is at least as smart if not smarter than me, so it's only really apparent when they are not even as smart as me. Cuz I'm hella dumb.

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- So you are aware of how much you do not know - sounds smarty to me! :-D
  
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- I try not to assume, I trust people will show their personality naturally.
  
  And for the record, the fact that you are on lemmy shows that you are probably above average.
  
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I'm more aware that I don't know shit.

I get irked by people acting like idiots, like most people, but I've seen enough to know that I'm only experiencing a snapshot of someone's personality.

Everyone has their unique talents and areas of expertise. Some people are tired, hungry, stressed or have neurological differences that can impact their social behavior. Some folks just say dumb shit because they haven't learned otherwise yet.

My awareness is of my own feelings about the people around me and understanding where those feelings come from. The moment I start generalizing someone as 'dumb' I know it's time to reflect.

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- Everyone has their unique talents and areas of expertise.
  
  This is a good take.
  
  I know many people who are not as academically smart as I am, but they are capable of doing many things I cannot. I find it weird, they are impressed by me doing things that are hard for them, but dismiss when they do things that are hard for me....humans can be strange creatures.
  
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  Even to say someone isn't academically on your level is to accept academia as a monolith and not acknowledge the biases that influence people's performance. Not all schools are the same, not all of them will cater to different learning styles and needs and not everyone has the same support structures, if any, to help them along.
  
  For instance, I understand and retain information very well so I ace tests, but can't show up on time to save myself. Even though I know and understand the information, I'm brought down by scheduling issues.
  
  Another student said they were academically smarter than me because they got better grades, despite lower test scores, who also believed the moon landing was a hoax and vaccines cause autism.
  
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I always assume someone is as smart or smarter than me. I'm not that smart, so it works out most of the time. But it's kind of like being tall. I'm taller than average, but I have a hard time judging if someone is taller or shorter than me. I really only notice height in the extremes, and sometimes I'll think "That person is really tall" but then we're in a picture together and I am much taller.

If I talk to someone who is very smart, it's immediately obvious. If I meet someone who is very stupid, it is immediately obvious. In between the extremes, it isn't particularly memorable.

I can't say I've ever noticed anyone pretending to be stupid to blend in.

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Its usually pretty easy to tell whose a complete idiot, but the ones in between average and smart are impossible to tell without knowing the person pretty well.

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- This is a pretty good take, a lot of this is time. But the aggressively stupid do out themselves pretty quickly.
  
  Interacting with people more, will give you a fuller sense of their personality.
  
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