Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders • Hacker News Board

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#131

Post by ozim » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 10:06 PM UTC

Zak wrote: post #123

killjoywashere wrote: post #87

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, w…

I have to ask... Why did sailors try to drive through the closed base gate and test 440V circuits with their fingers?

Some people do stuff just because they can. Some because of bad day and some because of thinking those doors are always open so just drive without paying attention.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#132

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 10:07 PM UTC

QAPereo wrote: post #14

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 had the same issue, and essentially developed a lingo to speak to those kinds of people. More contractions, dropped g’s, “fucking” used as an adjective. It’s been a couple of decades, and every time I switch to that, I feel like an utter fraud, but sadly it works. I can’t imagine what I’d do if that hadn’t been an option though. Edit: Support group at my place everyone, coffee and donuts will be provided. ;)

[deleted]

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#133

Post by watwut » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 10:08 PM UTC

Retra wrote: post #118

tormeh wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think you could become president of the US if you just wanted to? Probably not. Trump is smart. I would be in literal, not figurative, disbelief if any president in the history of modern US weren't. The competition for that position is very sharp and only the best make it. There are many problems with Trump, but IQ isn't one of them. Hitler wasn't dumb either. Being a good demagogue is hard. The strategy and s…

Hitler put himself into a situation where the best option, in his opinion, was to blow his own brains out. So he's not winning any awards for being brilliant. Perhaps being a good demagogue has more to do with luck and circumstance than it does with skill and intelligence? Maybe that's why it's not so common? Intelligence means achieving your goals on purpose. It is something that can be taught and reproduced in othe…

Your definition of intelligence is quite unorthodox and so is idea that brilliance somehow excludes suicide or risk taking or over confidence - all things that can make you loose big time.

Hitler ability to speak was not luck. It was work, skill and talent. And world did not just spontaneously arranged itself for them to get power, Hitler took a lot of calculated deeps to make it so, it is not like he was only one trying to get that power. Saying that it was nothing but luck is ahistorical. Not that it makes him any less immoral.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#134

Post by emmelaich » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 10:09 PM UTC

Nokinside wrote: post #96

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/

GWB was certainly not a dummy or an idiot if we mean cognitive ability like IQ. Becoming even mediocre pilot for F-102 Delta Dagger requires quick learning ability. GWB started as a young, affluent and connected person who didn't have to exhort himself intellectually and he continued that way. Him being dummy was him being ignorant and never developing required skills.

Well, John Kerry had a privileged upbringing and always gives out a 'smart' vibe. But he did worse academically than Bush.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#135

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

killjoywashere wrote: post #87

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, w…

Do you have examples or references for the types of charismatic speech and creative metaphors you used?

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#136

Post by dwaltrip » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 10:11 PM UTC

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 can empathize with this. It's a tough thing.

However, the main purposes of communication are to connect with the listeners and to convey information to them.

Speaking in a way that is hard for them to understand makes the communication less effective at both of those things.

The best communicators make a deliberate effort to connect with the other participants and adjust the message such that it makes as much sense as possible to them. This can take a lot of practice and empathy to do well.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#137

Post by emmelaich » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 10:12 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…

Possibly, very possibly you're wrong. You're operating on superficial impression and comparing that to people who know him?

Part of the reason he is blamed for stupid decisions is that he never sloughed off responsibility. (Unlike some certain other recent presidents and president wanna-bes)

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#138

Post by Buldak » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 10:12 PM UTC

goatlover wrote: post #111

MollyR wrote: post #103

My takeaway was that people don't like leaders that can't relate to them. Obama related well to one part of the country, and Trump related well to another part of the country. Trump's case being more surprising since he's tries very hard to come off as a class traitor. ex. Notice his love of the peoples food (fast food)

Question is why do we need a leader we relate to? We're not living in tribes any longer. The president of a country isn't likely to sit down and have a beer with us.

People feel that leaders they can relate to are more likely to take their interests seriously.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#139

Post by robocat » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 10:14 PM UTC

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…

Vocabulary is a strong signal of social status (higher education is strongly correlated to wealth or social rank). So care needs to be taken to avoid signalling you are "better than them" to others that rank you as an equal.

Do you get accused of being condescending?

Maybe find someone smart with good social skills whom you respect, and have them watch your interaction with others, and then have them give you honest feedback?

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#140

Post by scotty79 » Thu, Jan 18, 2018, 10:14 PM UTC

QAPereo wrote: post #14

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 had the same issue, and essentially developed a lingo to speak to those kinds of people. More contractions, dropped g’s, “fucking” used as an adjective. It’s been a couple of decades, and every time I switch to that, I feel like an utter fraud, but sadly it works. I can’t imagine what I’d do if that hadn’t been an option though. Edit: Support group at my place everyone, coffee and donuts will be provided. ;)

Yess. There is more than one language you have to learn as a smart kid. One is for smart adults, other is for average or worse adults (I'm sad that OP immediate family was part of that group) yet another is for other kids. Same as second one plus ton of swearwords.