What I've Learned About Smart People. • Hacker News Board

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#151

Post by soonisnow » Mon, Feb 13, 2012, 1:51 PM UTC

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…

Humility about oneself and the path and process to being better, at anything, I think, is core to the constant asking of questions. As the @tmac721 touches on: ask to challenge one oneself (and others), ask to listen (truly listen!), and ask because being better always matters more than being good.

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#152

Post by kahawe » Mon, Feb 13, 2012, 2:09 PM UTC

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…

> That's great, but please don't overlook all that you can learn from people that may not seem so smart.

The really, really important part here is: SEEM not so smart, and accordingly, SEEM oh-so-smart

"Smart" is pretty difficult to quantify, let alone compare... just to play devil's advocate here: a lot of the oh-so-smart people might have "nothing" but a decade of experience more than you and an ability to be extrovert about what they do and they might be one of only a handful of people in that field, so might just be big fish in an actually small pond. And have you ever talked to PhD candidates about what is really going on in scientific publishing?

So, question and look at how these oh-so-smart people do things, see their up- but also, especially, their downsides as good and fair as possible. That way you will learn something about people and about yourself.

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#153

Post by dhimes » Mon, Feb 13, 2012, 2:16 PM UTC

jamesli wrote: post #131

dhimes wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Oh yes, I know the type you are talking about. It sounds like what Felder describes as a "Global Learner" (for whatever validity there is to the idea of learning styles).

http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILS...

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#154

Post by Craiggybear » Mon, Feb 13, 2012, 2:22 PM UTC

Sigh. Define "smart people".

A lot of people I've seen described as smart are either a) actually good at making money (not necessarily legally) or b) good at manipulating people to get what they want. I describe this as cunning, rather than smart. Although they may be smart, too -- but that's quite rare in my experience.

But, yes, smart people tend not take anything at face value or believe everything they are told by the media.

Going to institutions like Harvard is not in itself a measure of smart, necessarily. All it usually represents is a disposable income.

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#155

Post by ZeroGravitas » Mon, Feb 13, 2012, 2:23 PM UTC

samirahmed wrote: post #48

kenjackson wrote: post #38

A lot also has to do with comfort. If I'm the smartest person in the class I feel a lot more comfortable asking questions. I know that if I have a question then a good percentage of other people do too. But if I'm not the smartest in the class (or simply not familiar with the material) I may be more inclined to look on Google or follow-up afterwards with the presenter. I don't know if the question I have is worth the…

what you say is very true. Asking questions in an environment of peers tends to depend on confidence. Questioning everything and asking questions are often different things in a classroom environment. A key premise of the Khan Academy is that students learning in the intimacy of their own space enables slower students to learn and excel

In Sal Khan's TED talk he displays a graph and claims they repeatedly saw "slower" students catch up and excel. He then asked himself whether he (and the audience) had benefited not by being better than their classmates but more by luck that they didn't misunderstand (or simply miss) some early lesson and then get left behind as the class moved on before they had a chance to grasp it.

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#156

Post by kragen » Mon, Feb 13, 2012, 2:33 PM UTC

AdleyEskridge wrote: post #108

Natsu wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've long noticed something in the same vein: people who are uninterested or who don't think they're smart aren't just uncomfortable asking questions, they're uncomfortable seeing other people asking questions, too. It's probably related.

I've attended meetings where this behavior was the norm. It was a demoralizing sight: Large groups of people visibly wincing whenever someone asks the speaker a valid question — even a question whose answer no one but the speaker could possibly know! "Don't make us look stupid! Stop! Just go along with it! Stop caring whether you understand everything!"

Maybe they wanted to get out of the boring meeting and go back to flirting with that cute 30-year-old in Accounting, but didn't feel that it would be polite to leave while the Q&A was still going on?

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#157

Post by gallamine » Mon, Feb 13, 2012, 2:46 PM UTC

kmfrk wrote: post #71

Don't get caught writing "very unique" at Harvard. Being unique is binary. :) I don't like words like "smart" - and "stupid" - but I can recognize some of the qualities associated with them. One of the biggest is to know what you don't know, to not be complacent and arrogant. The people I respect the most are humble people, and I think it comes down to this. I don't know what the definition of "smart" is, but I think…

> Being unique is binary

What is the probability of being unique?

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#158

Post by groby_b » Mon, Feb 13, 2012, 2:56 PM UTC

j45 wrote: post #83

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…

It's not what your education/degree makes of you, but what you make of your education/degree. This false belief turns out so many people who feel cheated later in life. Perpetual self learning is the only required skill for the truly educated, or self-educating. IT especially, what we learn today is worthless in a short time.

Really? And here I was just reading a paper from the '60s.

Being less snarky: It matters very much _what_ you learn. If you spend time being buzzword compliant (and to some extent, you have to), yes, that'll expire soon-ish. If you learn the underlying principles, it'll stay with you for a long time. (I'd say probably your entire career unless you're living on the cutting edge of research)

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#159

Post by groby_b » Mon, Feb 13, 2012, 2:59 PM UTC

Drbble wrote: post #13

ryanwhitney wrote: post #3

Reminded my of this, from Gladwell's Outliers : "The way you were raised, namely with wealthy or less fortunate parents, also plays a role. Gladwell explains that when wealthy parents drive their children to the doctor, they tell their children things like, “Johnny, now if you have any questions, be sure to ask the doctor. This is your opportunity to talk to him about any health problems you’re having….” And so on. I…

Gladwell's story is completely made up though. Rich kids are more obedient due to their high class structured environment, whereas as poor kids live in a dog eat dog world where they learn fast to fight for survival. Sociology is fun, any just-so story becomes social science. even.

> Gladwell's story is completely made up though

That seems to be a tautology these days ;)

Re: What I've Learned About Smart People.

#160

Post by Gustomaximus » Mon, Feb 13, 2012, 3:01 PM UTC

Craiggybear wrote: post #154

Sigh. Define "smart people". A lot of people I've seen described as smart are either a) actually good at making money (not necessarily legally) or b) good at manipulating people to get what they want. I describe this as cunning, rather than smart. Although they may be smart, too -- but that's quite rare in my experience. But, yes, smart people tend not take anything at face value or believe everything they are told b…

People also confuse "smart" with ability to memorise. I've had this when I read some history book and the topic comes up and you suddenly have loads of information on an obscure topic. People will say how smart you are. But IMO this has nothing to do with smart. My definition of smart is more a brains ability to ad insight to facts with thought, not just recall them by rote.