People Are Revealing The "Dead Giveaway" Signs That Someone Is A LOT Smarter Than They Let On
Have you ever met someone new and noticed a few things that make them smarter than they appear? Well, a Reddit user asked: "What’s a dead giveaway that someone is smarter than they let on?" and the answers are interesting. Here's what they said below:
1."They gather information before making a judgment."
2."They are comfortable and confident enough to admit when they don't know something but will look it up."
"I've dealt with so many people who get upset over looking something up, and I have no idea why.
I'll say [X], the person says no, it's actually [Y]. So I go 'Oh, okay.' and then look up the correct answer. This is usually followed by some 'Oh, you just had to make sure you were right, didn't you?'
No? It's not about who is right, it's about what is right. If we both say conflicting things, then one of us is wrong. If I look it up and I'm right, cool. But if I'm wrong then I want to know so that I learn something and next time I have the right answer."
3."They say 'no' often in the interest of their goals. They have a large toolbox, both figuratively and literally, as having the right tool makes all the difference, in terms of time to resolution. They tend to read often, not one thing but several things, or have some experience doing many different things, this gives a really well-rounded perspective."
4."They remember small details about things and people and are able to use that information in a productive way to further their goal. Memory is important but knowing how and when to use facts that people have only said maybe once shows flexibility and adaptive intelligence."
5."They're funny. Fast thinkers come up with great jokes on the spot."
6."They ask substantial questions because they are actually listening to you instead of just waiting for their turn to speak."
7."They admit when they're wrong."
8."Sarcasm. Manipulating information on the fly is surprisingly difficult (your average comedian/stand-up artist/freestyler is smarter than your average person). Sarcasm is like manipulating information in sepia mode: you're making a point while throwing a negative filter over it, a bit like writing on a mirror with rotated handwriting. That takes more smarts to get the same point across and not miss the beat."
9."They don't argue when it is obvious that someone they are talking to cannot be convinced of alternative thinking or a different viewpoint than their own."
"I'd like to add to that that intelligent people never argue against emotional arguments. The answer 'Because I don't like it' is a full dead end for example."
10."They ask interesting questions and are not afraid to look like a beginner."
11."They have high emotional intelligence. They understand that in social situations, often when forming opinions objectively, one needs to weigh in the feelings and perspectives of different people involved rather than give a black-and-white reasoning or response."
12."They'll always add counterpoints or 'arguments against' whatever they're saying (e.g. '...but I need to add that there are people who say this blah blah...'). Most ignorant people I know always speak like their opinions are established facts that are infallible."
13."Asking questions in a dumb-sounding way shows that they understood something a lot better than most people. I had a friend in nursing school who pretended she was dumb. It took me a few months to realize she was smarter than most people there."
"To add to that, sometimes a clever person in class asks questions they know the answer to because they realize other people aren't getting it and because the teacher isn't explaining it as well as they could."
14."Downplaying their intelligence."
"The amount of super smart people I know that have unfounded anxiety about their own competence is way higher than it has any reason to be."
15."When their conclusions are challenged, they happily expose their thought process for you, laying their decision-making process out in plain terms and inviting you to pick it apart."
16."They pick up quickly on things and are observant of their surroundings."
17."I don't think there's a dead giveaway. Some people can come off looking great in one conversation, but then after a few weeks, you realize they are actually pretty dumb. I think it takes a while to truly tell when someone is intelligent. And it's NEVER the people who try to tell you how smart they are."
Do you know a "dead giveaway" sign that someone is smart? If so, tell us what it is and why in the comment below:
