If I am being honest, I’d love to reference these folks the way Red Forman does in That ’70s Show, but you know the bots won’t let me! There are a bunch of them out there, and here are the telling signs.
1. Often Wrong but Never in Doubt
Have you ever heard of the cognitive bias known as the Dunning-Kruger effect? Essentially, it is the effect often misunderstood as a claim about the general overconfidence of people with low intelligence instead of the specific overconfidence of people unskilled at a particular task. I appreciate how one user responds: “That’s a lot of opinion for so little knowledge.”
2. Talking Test Scores
“I have an IQ of 450!” Ah, yeah, buddy, it shows. Have you met those high-IQ people who can’t wait to tell you how high their score was on an intelligence test? It’s the worst! I have a cousin who somehow brings his “high IQ score” up in every conversation. His life actions suggest otherwise. “People who boast about their IQ are losers” — Stephen Hawking.
3. Uncurious Minds
When you lack a curious mind, it leads to an awful lot of thinking you’re always right and an unwillingness to learn otherwise. “Only fools and fanatics are certain.”
4. Insulting People Instead of Providing Evidence
I think we have all been around someone who chooses to call names and insult you instead of making an educated point in an argument. It’s because they don’t have one. Literally, every social media comment thread where people waste time debating demonstrates this reality.
5. No Critical Thought
Critical thinking is essential because it allows us to see and judge things without being biased by our emotions or biases. If we can’t do that, we can’t make good decisions.
6. Inability to Listen to Others
Steamrollers in conversation do not take the time to listen to others’ opinions or even educated facts. They shoot them down and are constantly on the offensive. One elaborates: “So they simply don’t allow the potential for a counterpoint. I’m unsure what the correct term would be, but just incapable of an argument (let alone a rational discussion).”
7. Inability to Apply Abstract Concepts
Countless individuals agree with one forum member who states: “They have a hard time understanding how a concept in one context could apply to another context.” If you can learn an abstract concept and see how that applies to other things in life, you’ll tend to learn more efficiently and, therefore, learn more.
Another person shares this example: “You learn not to put your hand on the stove in use. If you don’t learn WHY, you won’t know not to put your hand on something else that’s hot. If you know not to touch the stove in use because it’s hot, you can extrapolate that you shouldn’t touch other hot things because it’d be painful.”
8. Weaponized Incompetence
Do you have zero desire to learn about things and ask others to help without trying to figure it out yourself? Do you perform poorly on purpose to get other people to do the work for you? That’s weaponized incompetence and an indicator you lack intelligence. “Please do this for me” instead of “Please show me how to do this.”
9. Inability to Process Hypotheticals
Someone reminds us of the Ted Talk James Flynn made. “He talked about how he tried to get his parents to see the wrongness of racism, but imagining waking up the next day and discovering their son was black was met by incredulous laughter at the absurdity since they think concretely and cannot think abstractly.”
10. Don’t Ever Ask Questions
If you never ask questions, how will you ever learn anything new? It leads to many “know-it-all” people who don’t know how close-minded they are. The same people say, “There are no original thoughts anymore,” because they legitimately think that everything in the universe that can be thought of— has been.
11. Limit Yourself to Bias Sources and Echo Chambers
Do you get all or most of your “news” from one source? For example, CNN, Fox, or Associated Press? You’re living in an echo chamber. That’s a sign of being unintelligent. One user best explains: “The point about getting your news from multiple sources isn’t just saying get them from sources all on the side that favors your bias.
It means to get the whole story. You need to look at the stories from various biases to be able to piece together what the truth is because often every individual source alone does report with an inherent bias towards a predetermined ideology.”
12. Inability to Entertain Other Points of View
The inability or unwillingness to try to understand someone else’s point of view and how their personal experiences contribute to their perspective — is a sign of being unintelligent. “It doesn’t mean you must accept or agree with it. Just try to understand it.”
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Source: Reddit.
Elizabeth Ervin is the owner of Sober Healing. She is a freelance writer passionate about opioid recovery and has celebrated breaking free since 09-27-2013. She advocates for mental health awareness and encourages others to embrace healing, recovery, and Jesus.