25 Qualities That Are Often Falsely Perceived As A Sign Of Intelligence, According To Folks In This Online Group

I’m a PhD student and the one that really irks me is using academic jargon and long-winded terminology. Just because you know a couple fancy words — that most do not know — doesn’t mean you’re intelligent. It is usually an indication of the opposite. “If you can’t explain it to a ten year old, you’re not that clever” is what I’ve told undergraduate classes before.

Education. Just because you managed to get one is not a reflection of your innate intelligence

f**k_korean_air said:

Confidence!

Sauerteig added:

Confidence/arrogance for sure. One incident I can give is someone years ago who confidently replied (yelled) to me he knew what confirmation bias/cognitive dissonance was in a disagreement.. asked him to explain them for the group, since they may not know.. he almost dissolved in embarrassment because he didn't. Yes it was political.

BubblesMagic18 said:

Going to an Ivy League.

Allmightydohllah

That just shows you're connected. Now if you went to MIT, then it's safe to say you're smart. You have to be to get in.

"good memory"

Often a sign with intelligent people but doesn't guarantee inteligence ...

Lots of kids just memorise and then write in exam and get good marks but they just can't apply it in real life

Money. “I have it, you don’t. You should listen to me”

Knowing a lot of facts.

I have a friend who is knowledgeable about a lot of stuff (geography and history, for example, not just things we would think of as “trivia”) and has other markers of intelligence, like a big vocabulary and a career in the sciences. He’s worldly, handsome, and yes, wears glasses. Mutual acquaintances have comnented about how smart he is, usually citing his impressive storehouse of facts.

I know him better than they do, and he is dumb as a box of rocks. He has zero critical thinking skills. I marvel at his imperviousness to logic. He believes some of the weirdest s**t - even in the field of science. (Note that I discovered this long before covid-related idiocy came along. Fortunately he’s not an anti-vaxxer)

Being old

Lack of empathy and/or hating people.

"Everyone is a bastard" does not deserve a Nobel Prize.

From a 3rd world country here. Speaking fluent English increases your value 10 times more than usual

Narfu187 said:

Being good at chess.

Frank_Woodford added:

Being good at chess is a sign of being good at chess. Most good chess players are not significantly more intelligent than average.

Wearing glasses

throwaway3132710 said:

School grades

No_Instance_1851 added:

They can be a reflection of intelligence, but they're definitely more a sign of competence. Great, you do your homework and pay attention in class. Grade inflation has gotten ridiculous. My daughter has a couple of friends that have well over 4.0 GPAs and miraculously don't even come close to breaking triple digits on their SATs (I know, I know, standardized tests are problematic in this realm, as well).

The simple fact that somebody has a YouTube channel, they are seen as an authority on a subject…

quite simply, politeness. A well spoken, silent, polite individual will almost always be perceived as somewhat intelligent even if he or she isn't. A polite individual shows a good upbringing, perhaps a good education etc. Be polite!

Starting every online article with "according to science". So much bs out there that isnt according to science at all but they use it to seem more factual than they really are.

Citing reporting from FOX News

A PHD.

Too many people who have no clue about real-life also have a PHD.

Professional-Salt-31 said:

British Accent.

Gibbonici:

Honestly, people need to get over our accents.

Of all the things they denote, intelligence is at the bottom of the list, if it's on the list at all.

All they are to us are regional and social markers. That's it.

Debating skills