Being Smart, good or bad?

Being smart certainly has its pros. Everybody knows those. But it also has its cons. Discuss (well, debate)

 

You have to define smart in this case.

Smart as in, able to play the school game?
Smart as in, you know what you're talking about in an area of study?
Smart as in, understanding rocket science?
Smart as in, being able to interpret and understand people (i.e. a good businessman)?

 

Smart as in the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.
Smart as in the ability to see links between seemingly separate concepts that others fail to recognize.
Smart as in being able to go from A to D without needing B or C.

In other words, the classical definition. Not necessarily someone who knows a lot, but someone who can figure things out.

 

Well, the obvious pros are:
Being able to figure out stuff
Possibly getting yourself a better lot in life because of it
Probably being resourceful

Cons:
It might be better if I speak from experience. Growing up in a household and world being told that I'm smart and brilliant etc etc. has led me to quite a few problems. Firstly, my conflict with humility. I learned to hate being praised for two reasons: 1. I stood out, was ostracized, and picked on for it. (big deal, right? pssht), and 2. because the things that I was being praised for were unfair. I was naturally better at reading than my brother, but he was chastised for not being as good as me, while I was praised for being better than him. For me, reading was easy. For him, it was hard. So it wasn't fair to praise me for an easy task but him for a hard one. In fact, it made me quite a bit lazy.
It also made me want more praise, for something I felt I actually deserved. Enter perfectionism. I was just thinkin bout this earlier today, actually. Perfectionism, at least in my case, seems to come from the desire to be perfect, because you feel inadequate. So, the more I was praised for something I felt I didn't deserve, the worse I felt about it. Guilty, inadequate for not finding a more difficult task, etc.
I missed 5 questions on the ACT. Out of something like 140. When I got the scores back, I was bitterly disappointed in myself.
The feedback loop starts there, see. Because you know you shouldn't be disappointed, this is great! But you are disappointed. So now, you're upset with yourself for being disappointed. And then you become more upset because you know you shouldn't be, feel bad for being, but are /still/ disappointed. And it just builds.

And I'm serious when I say the guilt is real. I feel horrible for mentioning the ACT scores, because I also fear making others feel inadequate. Do you know the feeling of watching your best friend's face fall when she asks you what you got on a test you felt you did badly on, and you can't lie because you know she saw part of it?
Maybe it's just my personal issue with socializing, but I would much rather either be surrounded by people who I can't make feel bad by being "smarter" - which I hate, because it's not necessarily true. All the time... There are some... *ahem* - or just be like everyone else.

There are pros and cons. And no one's pros or cons will be the same, because each personality is different. Smart people can better the world by creating inventions, whatever, but, you know, they could also be a genius serial killer. I say it depends on the person and what they do with it.

 

I definitely feel this.

 

Being smart is the ability to learn without difficulty and adapt to anything knowledge wise thrown at your brain.

Everybody is smart (in a way but except @RaidByNightOnly he's dumb) , because we all have something that we're good at & that something is easy for us to learn and adapt to. Some people just have trouble figuring out what makes them smart.

Grades don't determine intelligence at all. I hate when people say "I get straight A's" or whatever 1. because I've been there done that 2. nobody cares 3. Grades determine how well you're able to work, not how smart you are.

There could be dumb people in this world that graduated who just studied before every test and did all their homework in school.

The only exception to the "smart" factor is that people with higher IQs (a countless amount of studies show) tend to be more intelligent.

TlR: you're all idiots

 

We determined that problem solving was how we were defining intelligence, tho, not grades. To be clear.

 

This is basically my experience at the moment (if you're not familiar with it, check it out here).

You could call me smart. My grades are not exactly "good" at the moment, but I can work well. I definitely agree with @nhjed on defining smart. It's how you solve a problem, not what grades you get. I enjoy Maths, as there is a definite answer, not like English where the result is based on the teacher's perspective and understanding of the writing piece. I can definitely solve a problem well, because I have multiples situations where I did (They're pretty interesting, if you want them, create a forums conversation).\

So, I'm "smart". There are some ups and downs, but I think there are a tiny bit more ups than downs.

Pros:
- You can figure things out.
- You can get your way out of a sticky situation (again, many good examples, start a forums conversation if you want some).
- You get praise from family members.
- You get a good job, and obviously have a good life.

Cons:
- You're not "cool", and therefore maybe a bit harder to find a partner if you're not good looking (me).
- You can get constantly put-downed. Examples?

Peer: Hey, what did you get on your Maths exam?
Me: Oh, I got an A--
Peer: Yeah, I don't care, bragger.

Or, when you get a bad grade (like I did just recently [I have been receiving a lot of rub-it-ins like these])

"Hey, what did you get? A C-? You serious? Lol, I did better than this guy and I'm like the dumbest in the class."
"You're so bad, aren't you an A student? What am I thinking, haha,"
"Oh, you get C-? Get rekt, bro. You're so bad. Lolololololololololol."

- You can get bullied. This is the majority of the reasons of bullying in schools today, and it's not nice. (This is not saying I have been bullied.)

So, there are a couple reasons why. Personally, I think it's a good thing to be smart. I'm not dumb. I don't care about being cool.

I'll stop so I don't link this back to the "Defining Cool" debate thread. Happy to see your opinions on my perspectives.

 

Well, obviously not every intelligent person is going to experience the exact same cons, but some cons that I've experienced are:

-Laziness: I grew up being able to learn, understand, and remember things very easily, which caused me to be lazier later on. For instance, elementary and middle school were a breeze for me, as everything was easily done without having to try much, if at all; however, when I got to high school and my school work actually began to feel like work, I became lazy with it.

-Overthinking: A problem of mine is that I always end up analyzing what could go wrong in situations, thinking up obscure possibilities of what could be wrong based off of tiny little things that aren't actually an issue (such as worrying that a minor bodily pain is a symptom of a dangerous medical condition), etc. This often prohibits me from being able to fully enjoy could-be-dangerous activities the same as others can.

-Loneliness: Another con of being intelligent is that you don't often particularly fit in (This a rather cliché thing to say, but it remains true). I'm a pretty socially awkward person, which definitely doesn't help one to fit in (lol), but regardless of that, I've often felt disconnected from others and that most people I've talked to are, for lack of a better/less-conceited phrase, below me (Luckily, I have family members and friends that are also intelligent, saving me from this happening with everybody that I know). I don't know, I do enjoy being intelligent and feeling unique/disconnected from most other people, but at the same time, this could be considered a con, so I thought I'd go ahead and mention it.

I can relate to this a lot (Not specifically with the ACT, because I haven't taken it, but just in general).

There are many times that I do well on something and I shouldn't be disappointed because I know that I did better than most people, but at the same time, I didn't do as well as I wanted to. For me, this happens with just little, random things that are related to intelligence as well. For example, I'll often get disappointed when I just forget a little, insignificant thing or fail to understand anything at all. Even though I know that the little, insignificant thing is something that nobody would be expected to remember or expect me to remember, that nobody understands everything immediately, and that the thing could've been explained extremely poorly, I still feel like I should've been completely capable of remembering the thing and understanding the other thing. Furthermore, this leads me to doubt myself: Am I actually that intelligent? For me, self-doubt goes along with the perfectionism, because whenever I don't do great on something that involves intelligence, I begin to immediately doubt that I was ever as intelligent as I thought I was. I know that I'm just doubting myself and that I am intelligent, but at the same time, since being intelligent is a part of me and it affects my opinion of myself, whenever I fail to do well on something like that, the doubt always comes back.

I can relate to this in some ways, but not in others.

In some situations, I have to admit that I enjoy being around people who are dumb, because it fuels my ego (lol), but in situations concerning close friends/family members, I do prefer being surrounded by people who are around my level of intelligence. This isn't only because I don't want to make them feel bad, but also because I can't really connect with people who I find to be dumb.

I would never say that I just want to be like everyone else though, because being intelligent is great and it's part of what makes me who I am. I haven't mentioned any pros of being intelligent because they're all mostly things that are understood to be pros; however, I will mention the biggest pro of all right here, which is simply the fact of being intelligent. In my opinion, intelligence is very important and simply having it is a bigger pro than any other pros that come along with it. Furthermore, any cons that come with it easily pale in comparison.

Hopefully everything I said makes sense - It's 4:00 A.M. and I'm too tired to check for errors.

Edit: Wow, I feel so conceited after writing all of this. I'm sure someone will read this and feel like I just wanted to boast about being intelligent. Idk, hopefully it doesn't seem like that.

 

Thus far, we seem to all generally agree. And have egos. And think we sound concieted.

 

I love you.

wit? intelligence? motivation? vison? experience? all part of making "smart decisions"


I think you should reformat your question OP, "is it good or bad to be surrounded by people who lack what you have", because the determination of being "smart" is a relative one, it depends on the environment in which you're judging yourself against.

 

cons:

when you get a mediocre grade (i.e a B) your parents hear about the grade they go absolutely ballistic and take away your video games for 2 months ;c

when you get a good grade your parents dont really care


now lets do it from the mediocre kid's POV

kid: mom guess what i got an A on my math test

mom; WOW SON. You should be in a gifted class!

then next week

kid: mom i got a B on my math test

mom: thats great honey


who has the advantage now?

 

yeah my scroll wheel is broken i guess
or im just not that smart
well played

 

Lol great story. When I took the psat, I think I missed 2 in the math section, one I think on logarithms or something, all I remember is that we hadn't covered it yet, and one where the only way known to all my friends who took the test (one is quite literally a genius) was to guess, which I refused to do.


I was really frustrated.

And the English one was stupid. I think I missed 3 or 4, idk, but it's so subjective... I was frustrated with that too.

--- Double Post Merged, Jun 15, 2016, Original Post Date: Jun 15, 2016 ---

The only A I've ever actually worked for is Chemistry, because our teacher literally taught us nothing. Over half the class failed.
But I see what you're saying, that just because you have great grades, it doesn't mean you're smart, you could also be good at studying or have a really good memory.

--- Double Post Merged, Jun 15, 2016 ---

Hey, I'm not the only one .

 

first to define "smart" as extensive knowledge and experience in a particular subject matter (visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic, logical-mathematical)

pros:

• can profit from it
• can find purpose in it
• can contribute to the advancement and enrichment of society

cons:

• can become absorbed in it
• can begin to value others based on their intelligence on the same matter

if you're limiting the definition to "smarts" as in a logical-mathematical sense, then you're often overly critical of your own shortcomings and can become absorbed in it to prove your worth. it's much healthier to view intelligence as multifaceted to show that any shortcomings are made up elsewhere. (ex: to be absolutely dreadful at math but have wonderful musical talent, or to be exceptionally good at speaking to and understanding others but awful at music and literature)

 

Pros

• I hardly have to study for 200 and 300 level courses, and when I do study it's more of a review and not a deep reteaching and practice of material.
• Tests can be solved by logic rather than simple knowledge.
• Learning is really something that just happens rather than something I work at.
• Seeing multiple solutions to one problem.
• Being able to understand complex information and make logical conclusions.
• Excelling above the norm in intellectual tasks.

• And of course, playing a mean game of chess
• Sometimes I wake up knowing the answer of a question I had the day before.

Cons

• It's hard to build a lasting work ethic when things come so easily
• People become quite easy to read when familiar with human nature, and sometimes knowing the lies and insincerities of close friends can be difficult.
• I know a lot more about the personal lives and thoughts of friends and acquaintances than I should.
• My thoughts are clear and well thought out in my head, but putting them into words can be very challenging.
• Struggles in learning becomes very frustrating, especially when there is failure involved.
• I get along much better with strangers and friends than I do with my own family, as they have high expectations while praise seems insincere.
• Solidarity, despite having many amazing friends, always seems more appealing.
• Always, always contemplating things like existence, religion, politics, and asking harder and harder questions that end up in sleepless nights.
• Sloppy handwriting from thinking faster and not slowing down for those perfect Qs.
• Having a sense of humor that many people don't understand, as more ironies stand out as well as second meanings.
• Drawing relationships between things that don't relate.
• Hearing what people say, but always knowing what they really mean.
• stupidity frustrates me to no end.
• Always being outside the social norm.
• I find it hard to take big steps and risks because of thinking about how other people will react, and sometimes, knowing the hard truth about what is the most likely outcome.
• Thinking too fast, especially in math, leads to leaving important things out.

 

It's ultimately better to be smart than dumb. Good thing about being so smart is that the cons you are faced with, like many mentioned above, you should also be smart enough to compensate for. Of course this also depends on your personality. If you are smart enough to the point where you stick out, but extra attention makes you feel uncomfortable, then yes that is a problem. On the flip-side, if you like attention this whole 'problem' morphs into a pro. Also, the social aspect of being a genius is hard to compensate with as a child, but as one matures (in most cases) it becomes apparent the significant advantage of possessing such intelligence. Not to mention, smarter people are the ones who make contributions to humanity on the whole so that's something to keep in mind.

However, I must add that that there is one soul shattering con of intelligence. That con being: A clear understanding of the reality which surrounds us. This perception means one must face terrible truths as a price merely of their understanding... this lead to an array of mind-boggling realizations... which can ultimately result in a mindset of pessimism. Realizations like just how small us humans really are on a universal scale, and at times thoughts of how little we even matter, are examples of some of these thoughts.

I believe that this con can be combated by using these realizations as fuel for curiosity, and your curiosity, of course, as motivation. It is difficult to convert such lousy feelings into their optimistic counterpart... but hopefully, we'll all just be smart enough to figure it out.

 

Lol I did that for world history once.
I wrote about a paragraph of information on the test, all stuff I pulled from questions, and then lined it up, so it was like: Who was the Russian leader during the Cuban missile crisis? I had no idea, but 10 questions later, it said "Nikita Khrushchev did blah blah blah in 1962, or whenever, and a little while after that it asked "In 1962, what incident brought the U.S. and Soviet Union to the brink of war?"




Also, I don't think anyone's said this yet, but another thing that comes with intelligence is a crushing lack of self esteem and a great deal of loneliness.

 

its*
pros*
cons*

Sorry, given my superior intelligence, it seemed necessary to bestow the great gift of grammatical correctness upon you.

--- Double Post Merged, Jun 17, 2016, Original Post Date: Jun 17, 2016 ---

On a more serious note, I feel like being "smart," at least in the conventional sense of the word, has been more of a curse than a blessing, at least on a personal level.

Since I've been young, pretty much everything has come easy to me. I was reading street signs and what-nots by 15 months, reading simple books by 18 months, and by four, I could read most of my aunt's pharmacy textbook--obviously I couldn't comprehend the more technical parts, but still.

With minimal effort, I'd become (almost) a state geography champion by seventh grade, and without studying, took the SAT and scored 1960--not bad for a 12-year old seventh grader. By the way, apologies if I sound conceited; it's certainly not my intention.

However, now that I'm in high school, I find it difficult to put more than the minimum effort into any given task. I've grown so accustomed to everything being so easily doable that I never really built up a habit of working hard to achieve goals--in the past, the goals had always been easily exceeded with barely any effort.

Thus, I find it hard to, for example, sit down for hours and work through problems, study effectively for tests, and (the bane of my existence) finish homework. Though I've tried to make strides toward being a more responsible person, the complete absense of obstacles in my past has come to haunt me. I can absorb material very quickly and with little practice, usually scoring >95% in advanced classes' tests (without studying), yet I can't bring myself to sit down and do tedious homework I already know how to do. As a result, my grades aren't the best, as you can probably tell, and my relationship with several teachers (hopefully none are reading this forum) have suffered. It's really a daily struggle that most of you wouldn't really envy.

Hopefully I'll develop more of a responsible mindset as I ask, and will be able to finish actions that really need to be done, even though I don't like them per se (can someone terraform my town? I'm too lazy).

--- Double Post Merged, Jun 17, 2016 ---

Also I'll just quickly add that oftentimes in group projects, I'll get really heated. Because I've been correct so many times in the past, I've adopted a "my-way-or-bust" mentality: that is to say, I'll express enormous amounts of frustration at other group members because I'll assume they're wrong and I'm right. Obviously, these assumptions are unhealthy, but they're not something that can easily go away (my staff team coworkers can attest to this).