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What I've Learned About Smart People.

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Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#131

Post by jamesli »

dhimes wrote: post #128
vacri wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Niche experts often seem smarter. I've known a number of PhD students who are fascinating in their narrow chosen field, but weren't much good once you took the big fish out of the little pond. None of those folks were passionate generalists, though.

Perhaps it's useful (for what? I don't know, but at maybe for discussion) to distinguish between smart: how much you know intelligent: how quickly you can learn wisdom: the perspective you have about everything you have learned This works well with hat I've observed: intelligent people who are not smart, smart people who seem rather "slow," and that surprisingly wise person you always seem to come across who seems to…

Excellent observation.

Other than the three types you mentioned, I come across another type. They don't learn new stuffs that quickly. They might look dumb when they are introduced to new things. However, given more time, they are able to think and dig really deep.

Then it occurred to me that they were already thinking wider and deeper from the beginning. Because the knowledges conveyed in an introductory scenario is so limited, they have more questions and they get confused. They have no intention to hide their confusion. Once they acquire more knowledges in the field and organize the pieces into a system, they start showing how deep their thoughts have gone to.

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#132

Post by gridspy »

larrys wrote: post #70
edw519 wrote: post #42

Going to Harvard means I have the very unique opportunity to be around a lot of smart people. Good for you. Even better for you is the fact that you recognize your opportunity. How sad that so many people in your situation never do until it's too late. Now, when I say “smart people,” I don’t mean that guy who always wins trivia night. I mean, blazingly intelligent individuals who are regarded as the pre-eminent schol…

"please don't overlook all that you can learn from people that may not seem so smart." I love that you said this. One of the things that smart people do is learn something from anyone they can about anything they can. I met a bellhop once in Florida. He had moved his entire family to Orlando. I think he came from some less desirable place up north. But he had enough smarts to realize that if he was going to cart bags…

Apologies. I downvoted you when I was attempting to upvote. I wish I could reverse this.

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#133

Post by radagaisus »

espeed wrote: post #27

Humility is the key to understanding, but hubris often prevents people from growing because they believe their understanding is right from the beginning. For a while I have understood that people see the world in fundamentally different ways, but about two years ago I had an epiphany that really crystallized it for me. Now I see people existing in either one of two camps: 1. Those who believe the world is the way the…

Hubris actually works great for me. It makes me say yes to projects way beyond my league and I have to learn and work much harder.

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#134

Post by jamesrcole »

espeed wrote: post #27

Humility is the key to understanding, but hubris often prevents people from growing because they believe their understanding is right from the beginning. For a while I have understood that people see the world in fundamentally different ways, but about two years ago I had an epiphany that really crystallized it for me. Now I see people existing in either one of two camps: 1. Those who believe the world is the way the…

1. Those who believe the world is the way they see it.

2. Those who realize how limited their perspective is.

That's a good point. I suspect that the first one isn't so much a lack of humility, though.

Naively, it seems that you're just perceiving how the world is, as if your eyes are just windows into the world, and that your judgments (e.g. such and such is being a jerk) are simply reflecting the objective nature of how things are.

It takes time, learning and effort to really become aware of your perception of things as something in itself, that it is a process which takes in limited information and makes judgments on the basis of various assumptions, and that it is something which can be turned in on itself in a critical fashion.

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#137

Post by mhartl »

rokhayakebe wrote: post #115
mhartl wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a quote from "Cargo Cult Science" (p. 313 of Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! ): The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool. —Richard Feynman

Curious. Did you remember the page of the top or did you look it up?

I have every page of Surely You're Joking memorized.

Bazinga.

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#139

Post by speleding »

edw519 wrote: post #42

Going to Harvard means I have the very unique opportunity to be around a lot of smart people. Good for you. Even better for you is the fact that you recognize your opportunity. How sad that so many people in your situation never do until it's too late. Now, when I say “smart people,” I don’t mean that guy who always wins trivia night. I mean, blazingly intelligent individuals who are regarded as the pre-eminent schol…

"There are many vectors of smartness in both magnitude and direction. Some of the smartest people I've ever known never went to college."

This is true, however your comment makes it seem you ascribe to the romantic idea that everybody is good at something. The harsh reality is that the magnitude of the vectors in not independent: some people are smart in almost every way and some people are dumb in every way. I've had to good fortune of attending one of the top US schools and I can relate to the feeling of meeting people where you seriously wonder if there is anything you could outsmart them on. I very much agree with the gist of your post though, and the other points you make.

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#140

Post by tnicola »

neilparikh wrote: post #116
tnicola wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In high school (and I truly hate to be the one to tell you this), it is quite possble that your teacher doesn't know the answer, so he is annoyed at you for asking questions so that you do not expose his/her shortcomings. A lot of high school teachers know little past what they are actually teaching and even that not in a lot of depth. This is for a lot of reasons, some of them not their fault, but it is a sad fact.…

Thanks for that advice. Also, what do you mean by "office hours"? I've heard that phrase used, but never really knew what it meant.

'Office hours' are a college term. It's the time that teachers or professor allot for students to go get extra help. A place where your teacher keeps their purse (sort to speak). It's away from the teaching environment where teachers can focus on your lack of knowledge or desire to expand it.

Keep in mind though. High school teachers are mostly overworked. Even the ones that know what they are talking about (some don't - we established that already), so do cut them some slack and be curteous. But keep asking questions. And if they don't answer, ask anyone who will. Read, explore and keep learning. It's what keeps us alive and what - at least according to this post - keeps us smart.

Good luck and you are on the right track to greatness.

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