Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders • Hacker News Board

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#81

Post by logfromblammo » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:05 PM UTC

invalidOrTaken wrote: post #22

oblib wrote: post #5

When I was a kid my family would often chide me for using "big words" and told I was trying to "impress everyone" doing that. The truth is, I was just trying to relate something I'd learned and thought was interesting and every time that happened I was kind of shocked and left wondering how they'd missed the gist of what I was talking about. My own mother did it. I finally stopped sharing things I thought they'd atta…

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

And it is superficially similar to the plot of the book Matilda by Roald Dahl, which makes me think that it is not a situation unique to grandparent poster.

We will probably never know the number of kids out there that never fulfill their intellectual potential because of envy, jealousy, spite, pettiness, avarice, bigotry, or other equally bad motives.

"Prevention of learning" just seems like one of those things that should be considered a crime, but is never punished with even so much as disapprobation.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#82

Post by mywittyname » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:05 PM UTC

invalidOrTaken wrote: post #27

>The study’s lead author, John Antonakis, a psychologist at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, suggests leaders should use their intelligence to generate creative metaphors that will persuade and inspire others—the way former U.S. President Barack Obama did. “I think the only way a smart person can signal their intelligence appropriately and still connect with the people,” Antonakis says, “is to speak in char…

I think charisma is best used to signal a lack of intelligence. Someone else posted a link to a op-ed about GWB, but Trump follows a similar approach. Lots of people question his intelligence and decision-making ability, yet, every one of us hear or talk about him several times a day.

He also has a political sleight-of-hand that I don't think has ever been matched. Every time a key policy decision is being debated, the news channels are focused on Trump's latest gaffe rather than the decisions being made in Washington.

Appeal to emotion to get results, not reason.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#83

Post by Jtsummers » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:06 PM UTC

jancsika wrote: post #69

oblib wrote: post #5

When I was a kid my family would often chide me for using "big words" and told I was trying to "impress everyone" doing that. The truth is, I was just trying to relate something I'd learned and thought was interesting and every time that happened I was kind of shocked and left wondering how they'd missed the gist of what I was talking about. My own mother did it. I finally stopped sharing things I thought they'd atta…

I'm not sure I understand the upshot. If you were shown to be intelligent enough to be bumped up a couple of grades, you were also intelligent enough to choose the most appropriate language for your audience. If people furrowed their brow at "nodes", "miners" and "Byzantine fault tolerance", degrade gracefully to the a simple story of the "Two Generals Problem." That pattern doesn't work for everything, but it certai…

Intelligent kids tend to not be observant with respect to other people's reactions. This is why nerds and geeks were social outcasts (until the terms got rebranded). This lack of awareness doesn't mean they aren't intelligent, it means they're kids. Gaining the kind of emotional/social intelligence ot not geek out like that, or to learn to change your language, requires socialization and experience.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#84

Post by monochromatic » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:08 PM UTC

mlevental wrote: post #71

rb808 wrote: post #40

Related: 'George W. Bush is smarter than you'. Elite leaders often make themselves look dumber than they really are. https://keithhennessey.com/2013/04/24/smarter/

this is a crock. it was a crock when it was written and it's still a crock now. the idea that someone can for 8 years in the spotlight disguise themselves so much so that appear wholly opposite is ludicrous. it takes months for professional actors to produce 90 minutes of performance - the guy was on camera for literally weeks. he's not "smarter than you" this kind of revisionist nonsense is politically motivated - p…

> people were saying the same exact thing about Trump before he took office and we are now all very sure it's not the case

Don't be so sure. First, he outsmarted both political parties to become the most powerful man in the world. And in his first year as president, he's been far more effective at getting things done than most. The fact that some people dislike the things he's getting done doesn't take anything away from that.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#85

Post by 4bpp » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:08 PM UTC

I am put off by the circumstance that in spite of the title, nowhere in the article does it seem to say (nor even suggest that the paper answers) why people dislike really smart leaders.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#86

Post by Jimpulse » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:10 PM UTC

zafka wrote: post #6

oblib wrote: post #5

When I was a kid my family would often chide me for using "big words" and told I was trying to "impress everyone" doing that. The truth is, I was just trying to relate something I'd learned and thought was interesting and every time that happened I was kind of shocked and left wondering how they'd missed the gist of what I was talking about. My own mother did it. I finally stopped sharing things I thought they'd atta…

I don't know my exact position on the curve, but I can relate. I find it ironic that many of the folks who score pretty high on general intelligence, often have an issue with social intelligence. I spend a lot of time now trying to study human nature in a game of catch-up. What most people seem to learn instinctively, I need to study.

It may not necessarily be an innate issue with their social intelligence, but more so a learned reaction. Getting singled out by something as important as speech as a child could have lasting ramifications. Having to constantly weigh your words in stressful social situations sounds like a surefire way to develop social anxiety.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#87

Post by killjoywashere » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:14 PM UTC

Personal anecdote, but I wonder if my experience as a junior officer in the Navy helped with this. The last comments in the piece are that intelligent leaders should 1) seek creative metaphors and 2) speak charismatically. Coming to the fleet from a bachelor's in physics, I knew I was reasonably intelligent, but also that there were some people much smarter than me (at least my battered ego assured me of that).

So, walking aboard a frigate with sort of an academic's self-awareness and certainty that the world is an uncertain place, I had to lead a division of sailors who would do things that just left me dumbfounded. "Why would you attempt to drive through the closed base gate?" "Why would you test the 440V circuit with your fingers?" "Why would you go in the engine room without hearing protection?" "Do you realize you installed all the valves backward?" "Where did you meet this woman? No, she can't come on the ship!"

Then you have to get these folks to do work. They're not lazy, but trying motivate them with the bigger picture could be challenging. Metaphor came to hand more and more. And you sort of settle in. You're not intellectually challenged, and repetition and comfort bring confidence, which makes charismatic patterns of speech easier.

When I went to grad school, I found myself using these same patterns of speech to get things done. And I still do. It's always poor form to toot your own horn, but the last few years, I have to say, I've realized more and more, having a hard science degree and early leadership experience are an extremely valuable combination. I have no idea how I'd be doing what I do now without that.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#88

Post by exolymph » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:15 PM UTC

guelo wrote: post #28

WalterBright wrote: post #16

There could be something else at work here. My father told me that con men preferred to go after smart people, like doctors. The reason is that smart people thought they were too smart to get conned, and hence were more gullible. He was also an economist, and told me that there wasn't an economist born who could stand the idea that the economy would run better (i.e. free market) without their "help". And I've noticed…

> the economy would run better (i.e. free market) without their "help". As if boom and bust business cycles aren't a thing in free markets. Or monopolies. Or monetary policy. Or externalized costs. Or tragedy of the commons. That's just run of the mill anti-intellectualism.

Even prominent libertarian economists like Russ Roberts are in favor of some regulation. There are definitely those with more radical positions, but rarely very mainstream.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#89

Post by scotty79 » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:17 PM UTC

How did they establish that leaders with iq over 120 are not objectively worse, not just in the eyes of their followers?

I think it's common intuition that you need some degree of stupidity to sometimes make a prompt decision when more intelligent person would rather wait for more data to make better (but possibly harmfully late decission).

If there's a yes or no decission to be made you already have 50% chance of success as a leader even if you are no smarter than a cointoss. Smart leader might take too long to try to improve the odds or to verify that you can't improve them. Slightly dumber leader can decide faster "it's too hard, let's go with my gut feeling".

Maybe 120 is perfect for recognizing that often more thinking doesn't matter but at the same time recognizing instances when thinking pays off.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#90

Post by macintux » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 9:18 PM UTC

monochromatic wrote: post #84

mlevental wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is a crock. it was a crock when it was written and it's still a crock now. the idea that someone can for 8 years in the spotlight disguise themselves so much so that appear wholly opposite is ludicrous. it takes months for professional actors to produce 90 minutes of performance - the guy was on camera for literally weeks. he's not "smarter than you" this kind of revisionist nonsense is politically motivated - p…

> people were saying the same exact thing about Trump before he took office and we are now all very sure it's not the case Don't be so sure. First, he outsmarted both political parties to become the most powerful man in the world. And in his first year as president, he's been far more effective at getting things done than most. The fact that some people dislike the things he's getting done doesn't take anything away…

> And in his first year as president, he's been far more effective at getting things done than most.

Citation (other than him or his spokespersons) needed.