Do "Smart" people make the biggest mistakes?
I've been thinking about the word smart and some of the things smart people do since a friend basically asked me a few weeks ago Why do smart people fall for this? It inspired a post. I haven't really stopped thinking about it since then.
There is a danger from being considered "smart" and or if we consider ourselves smart. You are free to substitute the word intelligent. I do believe there may be a correlation between cognitive dissonance and smart people. The more stubborn, egocentric, and/or arrogant we happen to be, if we are smart then our beliefs become more unassailable than those who don't get called "smart" and consider themselves smart.
Those people tend to instead fall for Appeals to Authority and believe things simply because someone they believe is "smart" said it is true.
Let's clear something up now. Smart does not mean omniscient. A smart person is usually good at a set number of things, or perhaps they would make a good Jeopardy contestant because they have memorized many diverse facts.
That does not mean they have the clue to all of the answers. In fact, I believe they are more in danger of falling into the traps within their own minds.
Yes, I have been called smart many times, I have been called a genius before. To me they are just labels. Long ago I realized even a mentally handicapped person has experienced things I have not and likely has knowledge I do not. I am knowledgeable in many areas, and skilled at a number. There are other areas I really suck at. I try not to pretend to be "smart" in them all.
This should be a clue that a lot of this post is based upon introspection, so it may or may not apply to everyone else. I think I might be onto something here and I wanted to share it.
A lot of this comes from me seeing news, actions, and extreme behavior from many people I consider smart.( 1 | 2 | 3 ) They are reacting to words which have fueled their imaginations and created imaginary nightmares. Yet, they are acting like those nightmares are real and have happened. It reminds me a great deal of the Monster Under the bed when we are children.
Trump said words. Trump has announced appointments. He and those he appoints cannot ACT until January 20th. The appointments can change in that time as well.
Is he an arrogant ass who is really good at saying some questionable things? Without a doubt.
Yet it is words. I'd expect a "smart" person to wait for actual actions rather than reacting, protesting, and having extreme emotional behavior to words.
His words were harsh. They were also often intentionally taken out of context by some media (not always). His personality is abrasive. He said things.
Guess what? In 2008 Obama gave some amazing charismatic speeches. I actually voted for him. He got into office and did exactly the OPPOSITE of his campaign words in a number of cases, others he did not follow through with in any way, and he did do some things he claimed. I know he did the opposite on all of the points that convinced me to vote for him.
Why did I vote for Obama? Words and charisma.
I hope I learn from my mistakes. One thing I've learned and I've kept observing since that time is the WORDS a person says while campaigning seem to be meaningless. They do not tell you actually anything about what is going to happen. Likewise, whether the person delivers the speech with the precision of a Lawyer (Clinton/Obama) and charisma, or they deliver it as a brash no holds barred ass, it doesn't suddenly impart meaning to those words.
So as a rational person in such an environment the only thing I actually believe is WORTH protesting and reacting to is actual ACTIONS.
When Trump does some action after January 20th that I disagree with I will be protesting right a long with you. Yet I won't be protesting words. That in my opinion is very far from "smart".
Disclaimer: I promised to never vote for the lesser of two evils after 2008. I kept my word. I did not vote for Trump or Hillary.
Hypocrisy: There is a lot of hypocrisy going around as well. People doing exactly what they warned the other side would do if that side won the election. Likewise, now that I've pointed out this concept of "smart" they may try to spin it as "Why Trump won" Yet they have been going out of their way to indicate how idiotic, devolved, etc the people are that voted for Trump. It is kind of ironic some of the things they post, but there is so much of it, and after awhile the irony becomes distasteful due to the hypocrisy and fear centric irrational emotional tirades. It is the apex of hypocrisy to WARN that your opponent will do a thing if they WIN and then when they win they don't do those things... YOU DO!
Also I keep saying YOU and THEY because I am NOT on either side. Yet as a spectator from the side I am seeing a lot of activities I consider stupid. Post election they are almost completely on the anti-Trump side. Wait for actual actions to react to, and it might not be so emotional and irrational. In such a case, I'll stand with you.
Steem On!
EDIT: Do they still teach "Chicken Little" and "The boy who cried wolf" to kids? If not that is a shame. It seems like people should revisit the phrase "the sky is falling", and the boy shouting "wolf" when there was no wolf. When actions DO happen people might ignore you because you've been talking about the wolf before he has showed up and began chasing the flock. The SKY IS NOT FALLING YET. It might, but you might win the lottery too. Why react with such extreme actions, emotion, an irrationality based upon what MIGHT happen. Do you realize that you're not supposed to be able to convict someone until there is a crime? Yet, that is what people are doing... reacting to their imagined nightmares that might be.
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Interesting perspective
Shared on twitter
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
Maybe there is something magical about the day we are born. The dial moved forward one for my age today and I posted this. It is very close to being the highest quantity of votes I've ever received and it is not yet an hour old. It is also interesting that it is not predominantly the people that usually vote for me.
Thanks to you for the Twitter share, and thanks to the rest of you for the votes.
The day of birth is very magical as a start of thought in a new universe. I agree that smartest people make the biggest and most mistakes. Smart people always looking to learn and try new things.
Also when we are pretty certain we know things, we tend to be harder to budge from that certainty. Or we can be. We are hopefully capable of eventually recognizing these flaws and being "smart" helps us avoid them. I certainly hope that is the case.
I dont think it is just to say people are stupid when they fear Trump just because he has not done anything as president yet.
Look at it this way: As he is not president, the only predictor for his actions as president are his words and his deeds outside the office. For words he is just abominable bad. For deeds not much better. And that is not only suing when he is wrong just because he things his opponents cannot afford to fight him. Or his obstruction of a wind farm just because he can see them from his golf course, regardless of local laws (btw: he already used his almost power to lobby here).
But if you wait until he actually does something wrong, it may be too late. And that is not only true for nuclear missiles.
You know what most people said about Hitler? He can't be as bad as he says himself, that's just election speeches, he will calm down after.
Sorry, but as a German I don't buy into this "wait until after the fact". Been there. I was smart and did learn from history ;)
In general speaking: Smart people make about as much errors as non smart people. They just often do bigger ones because they CAN do the bigger ones. Also there is a knows bias that if you are smart in A you think you are smart in B too, which is simply wrong.
Smart people are used to be right even if most people say they are wrong, so they ignore those most people even if the masses are right this time.
nice post. thanks for the info.
I'm replying to myself as an addendum... if anyone is interested enough and reads this comment. I had fun making that image today.
That bed and the room around it are actually MASSIVE. That city scape in low polygon style art below the bed is actually playable size. This means if I were to spawn a traditional sized character you could actually run around in those streets.
I had an apocalyptic low poly city scene handy and I had the concept to try show what I meant by the adult level monster under the bed situation that seems to be going on.
I can say I had fun with that one. I thought of adding more fire and explosions and I'm glad I didn't as that might have made it too busy. There is also a pretty nasty spider on the beach there that is barely visible.
Anyway, making that image was pretty fun.