How can you tell whether someone is smarter than you?

http://www.quora.com/How-can-you-tell-whether-someone-is-smarter-than-you

by sdizdar • 15 years ago

2 4 15 years ago

veb2• 15 years ago

WTF kind of question is this? And the answers?!

"2. They know lots of things other than what they’re specialised in. Theirs is the gift of a broad mind, constantly fed with the stimulant of being interested in what everyone else is doing."

COMPLETE SHIT. People like that obsess over a small number of subjects and become exceptional at them. Plus they're they're generally socially inept.

"5. Even when things go very badly wrong, they’ll be smiling. Smart people never get ruffled because their smart brains present them with alternatives faster than the bad stuff can happen."

They'll more than likely over-think to the point of no return... bah!

"6. They know they are usually the smartest person in the room, but they don’t spend their time dwelling on that. Instead, they take it as a personal challenge to see if they can make everyone else the smartest person in the room too."

lol

electromagnetic• 15 years ago

> "2. They know lots of things other than what they’re specialised in. Theirs is the gift of a broad mind, constantly fed with the stimulant of being interested in what everyone else is doing."

> COMPLETE SHIT. People like that obsess over a small number of subjects and become exceptional at them. Plus they're they're generally socially inept.

I'm generally the smartest person in the room, usually by an arm and a leg, perhaps by another few appendages too. How do I know? Well when you feel like you're communicated with morons, because they're talking about whatever starlet is in rehab this week. Do I dwell on it? Rarely. Do I make everyone else feel smart? Ha! Just because they can't understand words with more syllables than in their first name doesn't mean I should make them feel better (>lol indeed). If they want to talk to me, I'll try to talk on their level and if I can teach them then I'm happy to. I'd say I have a vast general knowledge and likely deeper than most people, but I believe that's only a virtue of having a high general IQ. Get me on computers, psychology, or any of the sciences and I'll talk all night. Heck, I'm even good on engineering or even any hands on subject (I work in construction). Ask me about sports and I've got so little knowledge that I'd likely rank in the 1-10 IQ range on a sports based IQ quiz. I have zero fashion sense. I'm socially inept in groups, I literally hate being in large groups.

> "5. Even when things go very badly wrong, they’ll be smiling. Smart people never get ruffled because their smart brains present them with alternatives faster than the bad stuff can happen."

I spent this afternoon building cabinets. I backed one up against the wall and thought "It's leaning forward a little, I should probably bracket it to the wall", sure enough I walked away for 2 seconds and BOOM! It fell over, broke both doors off, tore the washers out of one panel and broke the riveted-pin out of one of the hinge plates. I spent 5-minutes swearing at my own idiocy, not because I'm an idiot, but because I was smart enough that I knew I was fucking up before I actually fucked up. I fixed it, I made new pivots out of old flat brackets by drilling new holes and managed to force the pin back into place and solder it.

calebmpeterson• 15 years ago

Thank you for: 1. Bringing some diversity to HN (didn't even remotely expect a cabinet install/construction professional) 2. Giving me just a smidge of insight into the world of cabinettry 3. An enlightening definition of idiocy with a real-world example. I've never thought of it quite like that before.

veb2• 15 years ago

Good answer! However, "they'll be smiling" - you weren't, unless you smile when you swear profusely, so that makes you weird. :-)

How can you tell whether someone is smarter than you?

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