Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serial posters on DCUM

Nope. We're dumb.

Anonymous wrote:Serial posters on DCUM

Anonymous wrote:At work, they ask questions. More than that, they ask questions and do their own investigations to try to understand the root cause of problems and WHY any problem is occurring. They try to solve problems and try to create efficiencies. Don’t just always do things the way they’ve always been done if there’s a better way to do them. Really smart people have a natural curiosity.

It’s a lot harder to tell in non-work settings, but the natural curiosity is going to come through eventually regardless of the situation.

Anonymous wrote:Serial posters on DCUM

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny and quick witted. Clever.

Good recall on information and weaving it back into the conversation when relevant. Connecting the dots easily and quickly.

Excellent ability to concisely and accurately summarize disparate threads of a conversation and tee up decision points in a meandering group conversation. (This is a work thing.)

And then there is the traditional academic stuff - very good at math on the fly, etc.

Agree with all of this. I always consider a quickie mind and sense of humor to indicate intelligence

Anonymous wrote:Oh and very funny people are usually very intelligent, like Ali Wong and Oscar Wilde.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually, they are low key, not the self aggrandizing type. Maybe they get bored easily with activities normal people enjoy like small talk, tv shows, movies, novels. Like ok, Tina sees Bob. Tina talks to Bob. Tina has a secret past. Oh gee wiz, what will it be! Oh wow Tina and Bob, I love that brand of furniture. Oh Tina and Bob, you're going to Florida next week, oh wow sounds so mind blowing. Exhausting.

You haven’t seen smart people discuss furniture brands?

Furniture has brands?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually, they are low key, not the self aggrandizing type. Maybe they get bored easily with activities normal people enjoy like small talk, tv shows, movies, novels. Like ok, Tina sees Bob. Tina talks to Bob. Tina has a secret past. Oh gee wiz, what will it be! Oh wow Tina and Bob, I love that brand of furniture. Oh Tina and Bob, you're going to Florida next week, oh wow sounds so mind blowing. Exhausting.

You haven’t seen smart people discuss furniture brands?

Anonymous wrote:Just outward signs/things that tell you someone is extremely bright.

Anonymous wrote:Usually, they are low key, not the self aggrandizing type. Maybe they get bored easily with activities normal people enjoy like small talk, tv shows, movies, novels. Like ok, Tina sees Bob. Tina talks to Bob. Tina has a secret past. Oh gee wiz, what will it be! Oh wow Tina and Bob, I love that brand of furniture. Oh Tina and Bob, you're going to Florida next week, oh wow sounds so mind blowing. Exhausting.

Anonymous wrote:I encounter two types of very smart people a lot:

The type who are very engaged, listening to everything being said, asking questions, building on ideas as they come up, challenging assumptions, etc.

The type who say almost nothing but then when they do talk, say very insightful things.

I think it just depends on personality type. The quiet ones are stealth smart but then when you get a peak at how their brains work, it's intimidating. One of my best friends is like this. She is a huge introvert and doesn't volunteer much. But she's one of the smartest people I've ever met.