Are people who look smart actually smart?

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Denis Matei, Polymath, Reads a lot, science fan, student

Updated Mar 19

Yes it’s possible, however we humans are not good at making that judgement.

But there are some factors that perhaps indicate intelligence in physical appearance. But like some people mentioned we usually judge someone to be smart, after a while of communicating only to find out, that they are nothing special.

In the book How to analyze people on sight, they explain how different types of bodies interact with behavior. Also a Dr from Japan did some studies and found out that people with a straight forehead are more likely to use logical processing and be better at math.

Above you see the 5 body types discussed in the book, the cerebral type which is the smartest, has these features. But in the book they go more in detail and how these types overlap each other, so you also have different combos.

However this is counter intuitive, because our mammalian brain perceives handsome people as smart, rather than the person who has actual intelligence indicating features in physicality.

So like I said before, I think we usually make a bad judgement regarding someone’s intelligence. Unless you are knowledgeable about this subject. Personally I have read a lot of autobiographies of geniuses, and also read a lot about intelligence and correlations of it. And sometimes it’s possible to intuitively deduce the intellectual abilities of a person. For me it’s easier to spot someone with an unbelievably high IQ like 150+ compared to someone in between 130–140. The ridiculous intelligent people behave and look noticeably different compared to any person. While the people in between, are still smart, but still kinda normal. Like that one person you know from work, who is pretty smart.

‘’They just have very intelligent eyes’’

I also found it interesting you have pointed this out. The eyes can indicate other things rather than intelligence, if you get the feeling some people can look through you, it is probably something else and not really intelligence as most people understand it. I would say the person has high emphatic capacities, and are very good at looking through your bullshit. Or that person has some degree of enlightenment through meditation, as in they are more conscious than most people, which is definitely a factor in intelligence.

Hope this has given some insight,

Cheers,

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-signs-of-highly-intelligent-people/answer/Ruchir-Raman-1?srid=4qnf

What was the most legendary "I quit!" that you know about or witnessed?

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Willie Turner, Nurse Practitioner at Hospitalists (2012-present)

Answered Jul 20

I once worked in a grocery store and the manager was constantly ,asking people work past their shift end. On one particular Saturday he told a cashier she would need to stay until 7 since we had a call in. She told him, “I am leaving at 4.”

“We’ll see,” he said.

4p.m. Came and she put the “Closed” sign up and started closing out. The manager came along, picked up the closed sign and started directing people to her aisle. She picked up the till and started walking toward the office.

“If you don't get back here and ring these people up you are going to be fired,” he creamed at her.

“I am not concerned about you firing me,” she said. “I quit effective immediately. I refuse to work for someone as incompetent and ignorant as you.”

Everyone clapped. Customers, cashiers and bag boys. She smiled and continued one her way head held high.

He followed after her mumbling something. After he returned and opened her closed register, I could see his hands visibly shaking.

Are there signs that a person will become wealthy in the future?

Saulius Muliolis

Answered Jul 26

A Stanford University experiment demonstrated that one of the most important determinants of a person's future wealth was the capacity for delayed gratification. They put children alone in a room and gave them each a marshmallow and told the children that if they didn't eat the marshmallow they would be given a second marshmallow, and they would then have two. Many years later the children that were able to resist temptation and did not eat the marshmallow were significantly more economically successful than the ones that ate their marshmallow. In fact, the ones that were able to delay gratification tested better in a number of ways, got higher SAT scores, were healthier, and more successful in everything they did.

When did you realize small things matter?

Mirella Harvy

Answered Jul 16

When I was scrolling through my camera roll and bumped into a picture of my ex-boyfriend. He was standing on my balcony, wearing his pyjamas with white dirty converse, having a smoke holding a cigarette in one hand and drinking his morning coffee in another hand after waking up. I took this picture because I opened my eyes in the morning and that’s the first thing I saw… and I couldn’t help myself but smile. I’d swim a million miles if it meant that I could go back to this moment and re-live it. This small thing matters to me more than any big thing in life. Oh and yes, I do miss him more than anything.

What are the top bad habits that should stop immediately?

Sana Ahmed, Sales Executive at MetLife

Answered Jul 13

Stop feeling sorry/victimising yourself:

Apply this Chinese proverb whenever you feel beaten down and sad for your plight, “Fall down 7 times get up 8”. Your perception about you is everything. And it is all your choice what you want to be. So be wise. Be the hero of your own story!

2. Don't immediately react to anger:

Give yourself a fair amount of time to think about the state of mind of the other person. Immediate reaction can severely affect relationships. Anger after all is bad for yourself too.

3. Don’t ignore your instincts:

Uncomfortable/illogical/not making sense situation = GTFO (universally applicable)

4. Do not stop having faith in yourself:

As Charles Bukowski said, “If you have the ability to love, then love yourself first”. In the worst of times, the person you should comfort and look upto is yourself. Never loose that.

5. Do not withstand any sort of abuse from anyone, even from someone you love the most:

Psychological abuse has the worst impact on the brain. It becomes like an external affirmation which the brain believes to be true and it becomes the constant negative voice in the head which can cause depression and other mental illnesses. Mental health is equally important as physical health.

What would be some examples of wasting one's life?

This question previously had question details. You can find them in the question comments.

Kristopher Saber, UX Designer at One18media (2017-present)

Updated Sun

Let’s say you are born with an extremely high intelligence. So much so that you can comprehend even the most pedantic and arduous academic topics with relative ease.

Yet, all you do is get high, eat Cheetos and watch T.V. You might read academic and scientific papers in your spare time, or post long winded facebook posts related to politics, but that’s the extent of your intellectual implementation.

You have the potential to be a science ph.D or hedge fund manager, but decide all of that is not worth your time. There are people who wish every single day that they were naturally more intelligent, and instead have to work extremely hard just to achieve what they want. And what are you doing with your potential, nothing, absolutely fucking nothing. What a joke.

You know what my XC and track coach used to say:

“Potential is the worst word in the dictionary, because that means you haven’t fulfilled it.”

I fucking hated my track coach too, but he was right.

Edit: Wow damn Quora momentum is random, didn't expect that many upvotes for this answer.

How many generations does average wealth last?

Elena Ledoux, Founder (2017-present)

Updated Aug 1

I like the founder of Dubai’s quote: "My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel." It was concerning oil and diversification of its economy. But it fits nicely with studies showing most wealth is destroyed within three generations.

Are geniuses made, born or both?

Asim Qureshi, Rockstar Homeschool Dad - WonderYearsSchool.com

Answered Jul 20

Meet my daughter, Sabeen.

Aged 8, she did her 16+ Maths exam, and, in practice papers of those exams she was usually getting the highest grade, putting her in the top 6% of UK 16 year olds.

She spends her entire day eating chocolate pancakes and she taught herself maths. She is a genius.

But if I tell you the truth, you’ll realise she’s not. She did fairly well at school. I took her out nearly 4 years ago to homeschool her. I taught her maths using the same system that Oxford University employs. Her 10 and 12 year old siblings also did the 16+ exams early - last year - and got the highest grades in maths, but they did not do them as early as her as when she was taken out of school she was younger than them.

There are people with exceptional natural abilities, no doubt, but not so exceptional that they could achieve greatness without hard work. In ALL cases where they have achieved exceptional ability or success it’s because they also worked damn hard.

How many people have ever won Wimbledon with less than 5 years intense training? No-one. Why aren’t there are any freaks of nature - geniuses - when it comes to tennis?

If geniuses are born how come Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player that ever lived didn’t even make the varsity basketball team in his sophomore year? Is he a basketball genius or not?

There aren’t people with such exceptional ability in tennis or basketball and there aren’t in maths, physics, and everything else.

If anyone still thinks there are geniuses out there, my daughter spends her entire day eating chocolate pancakes and she taught herself maths. She’s a genius.