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Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

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Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#161

Post by Jyaif »

tormeh wrote: post #99
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…

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…

> but dumb he ain't

He puts himself in trouble all the time via tweets. That's pretty dumb in my book.

> Underestimating the guy is unwise

I agree with that. Underestimating someone with as little honor and ethics as Trump is dangerous.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#162

Post by alexashka »

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.

Given the choice between hearing a stranger talk about stuff you don't understand on TV, you'd choose the one you 'like' more. It's that simple really.

Trump is no more a leader to you or me, than Brad Pitt. It's just some person on TV you never come in contact with.

A better question is why is there voting for a president, by people who don't understand anything about what it takes to be good at that job. Absolutely nothing for the vast majority.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#163

Post by Gatsky »

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…

I think con men go after doctors because they have large incomes with few options to minimise tax and they tend to have minimal free time. It's not like doctors don't have to deal with uncertainty and their own limitations, they are reminded of this constantly trying to manage medical conditions.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#164

Post by FuckOffNeemo »

XorNot wrote: post #129
lobo_tuerto wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in the same boat as you. I hate politics and back-stabbing environments. Why can't everybody just do what it's supposed to do in a work environment?

People who "hate politics" tend to create a lot of it. Being politically savvy/expedient is as much about knowing how to get along with people as it is getting what you want.

I'm of the same cloth, I'm not fond of interpersonal politics in a working environment but I've came to accept it's part and parcel of live, work is no exception.

Politics is not so much about politicising ethics or your workplace. It's the nuances about creating a positive work environment, finding compromise in decisions, creating common ground and finding a balance between honesty and caring for others.

The nuance is there but it's entirely in the grey. It's not black and white.

There's a quote from Russell Brand that comes to mind who from what I recall, was quoting his own father:

"A man that says a space is a spade is fit only to wield one"

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#165

Post by Nomentatus »

quantdev wrote: post #112
guelo wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Actually, it's not clear if boom and busts are "a thing" in free markets. We've had far worse booms and busts, and at a higher pace, ever since the Federal Reserve was created and has artificially modified the interest rate. The Fed lowers the interest rate because they have an incentive for the economy to perform well, because they want to look good (Alan Greenspan admitted he kept interest rates lower longer than h…

My understanding of economic history, including the 1870s (but many other busts, too), is quite different. Can you cite a source?

I happen to be reading "A History of The World Economy", by James Foreman-Pack. It contradicts you at every turn (Chapter 6 esp) and notes there was a time when the U.S. was the odd man out, lacking a national bank and suffered more severe downturns than other nations, amongst other things.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#166

Post by Aunche »

spectra72 wrote: post #91
monochromatic wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

If the recent book is to be believed at all, we now know that the person that Trump outsmarted most of all was himself. He never intended to actually win.

Just because he didn't expect to win doesn't mean that his victory was a fluke. You can't accidentally get yourself elected as President.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#167

Post by alexashka »

logfromblammo wrote: post #50
Isamu wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Why are you always trying to impress everyone by using big words." Yeah, I had similar experiences. I read a lot of books and absorbed their vocabulary, and sometimes it would slip out. I would just say what's on my mind, and that's what other people do, right? Then I would get into trouble also by pausing to weigh my words, people read too much into your pause before answering them. Or I just wouldn't say much, b…

Whenever I paused to consider my next words, someone would start talking into my silence and then accuse me of interrupting them when I tried to continue. I eventually realized that I wasn't bad at speaking; I just had a different style. Some people are more agile in conversation, because they do not think about what they want to say before activating their mouth-parts to make the noises. They jump right in, by using…

It may help to understand that conversations for most people, about most things, are a way to express and exchange emotions, not information.

There's information in there, but that's purely optional.

You have built-up resentment towards others because you'd like to relate to them, but it hasn't worked out so far. That's not because they 'can't even manage whole sentences' - it's because you're weird :) That's not a bad thing, or a good thing, it's just the way it is.

You can continue existing in your bubble of negativity and resentment, or work towards finding ways to enjoy people's company, because frankly, if you didn't want it, you'd not feel any resentment in the first place. You'd happily sit alone in a room and do whatever 'smart' things that you do, and that wouldn't include posting on here.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#168

Post by invalidOrTaken »

exolymph wrote: post #95
danharaj wrote: post #41

In my experience really smart people can be arbitrarily wrong, perhaps moreso than less smart people, because they can create elaborate mental models to justify bad ideas, and someone significantly smarter than me can create difficult to refute arguments that serve as a bulwark against pushback. Remember that sophistry requires sophistication but is still little more than the smart person's stupidity.

Metacontrarianism! I'm always delighted when I get a chance to link to this: http://lesswrong.com/lw/2pv/intellectual_hipsters_and_metaco...

To readers wondering if they should click the link: you should!

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#169

Post by thriftwy »

I guess it's not an option that gets widely offered.

Most people would like a leader who is a) really smart and that's proven by "peer review", b) cares for their needs and not some other agenda, c) doesn't hesitate to display all that.

But that's just not who gets offered in e.g. modern democracy setting.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#170

Post by QAPereo »

booleandilemma wrote: post #156
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…

You don’t become president of the United States by accident.

I wonder if he had some kind of political connections that could have helped?
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