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Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

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Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#91

Post by spectra72 »

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…

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.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#92

Post by exolymph »

logfromblammo wrote: post #67
dboreham wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps "people who thought they were smart"?

They say you can't cheat an honest man. Why is that? Clearly, a lot of mostly honest folks do get conned sometimes. They aren't talking about something like Bank of America overcharging you on mortgage interest every month for years. That's not the kind of con you can do without a lot of cooperation, teamwork, and setup. It's more about the one-time scores. At the core of every con is a kernel of dishonesty, as the b…

Bribes aren't de facto dishonest — their existence is, but using the only system available to e.g. get out of Germany isn't — and the type of person who falls for Nigerian 419 scams likely doesn't think the whole thing through.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#93

Post by killjoywashere »

jasonkostempski wrote: post #52
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…

Maybe the title should be "Why Really Dumb People Dislike Really Smart Leaders". "Talk to them like they're five" is what that suggestion sounds like to me.

The minimum education level for the group I work in is a STEM bachelor's degree. The mode is probably a STEM masters with 5-10 years of experience. And, within the "small" group, everyone is a STEM PhD, MD, or both. We use a lot of metaphors, partially because some of the stuff we're talking about doesn't have a name yet, and we are still trying to figure out what the important properties are.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#94

Post by psyc »

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…

Much of what you've written here has also been the story of my life. My natural way of speaking is to choose precise words from a big vocabulary. I've been chided about this on several occasions. I definitely get a much better response when I use small words and simple, common analogies. That's easy enough to do in writing, but doing it live is very hard. I have to slow my thinking down and pause to come up with simple phrasing. Of course, other people perceive big words as trying too hard, and small words as natural.

As for the rest: yeah I don't get no respect neither.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#95

Post by exolymph »

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...

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#96

Post by Nokinside »

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.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#97

Post by threatofrain »

mywittyname wrote: post #82
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, t…

I think charisma isn't a signal for intellectual weakness, but it does suggest that the person isn't speaking intellectually to you. Most people aren't at a place to understand policy implications, so charisma is a better proxy.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#98

Post by ModernMech »

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…

> he's been far more effective at getting things done than most.

You say this as we're on the brink of a government shutdown (a government controlled entirely by the President's party), which has been exacerbated by the President. The Senate Majority Leader (again, of the President's own party) said just yesterday the President is the primary impediment to keeping the government open, because no one knows what exactly he will sign, since he changes his mind by the hour.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#99

Post by tormeh »

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…

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 skillset is somewhat different to ordinary politics, but don't mistake that for ease. While we're at it: Youtubers and fashion bloggers aren't dumb either.

Trump is narcissistic, insecure, mean, ignorant and has no honor, but dumb he ain't. Underestimating the guy is unwise.

Re: Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

#100

Post by pfarnsworth »

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…

Thank you for sharing this story. My son was tested with an IQ of 160. This puts him in the top 99.98%+ in terms of population. I do NOT want what you went through to be what he goes through. But it's hard because no one caters as much for high IQ as they do for lower IQ, it's a form of learning disability relative to his peers. He is 1-2 standard deviations away from "gifted" children, who score at 130. It's hard finding schools flexible enough to cater to his educational needs but homeschooling him robs him over the social aspect of school, and a "regular" childhood.
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