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The best thing I've ever read online about 'being smart' came from a Reddit comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/confession/comments/nxdzz/im_not_as_smart_as_i_th

by ph33r 11y ago

The best thing I've ever read online about 'being smart' came from a Reddit comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/confession/comments/nxdzz/im_not_as_smart_as_i_thought_i_was/c3d91jl https://www.reddit.com/r/confession/comments/nxdzz/im_not_as...

Nimitz14 11y ago
That was good. Thanks for the link.
- Sealy 11y ago
  I second that, thanks for the share ph33r. The story highlights that 'smartness' is linked more to a learning mentality then actually knowing a lot of things. Humility. Similarly to the study shared in the OP, if you tell yourself that you are good at something, you are less likely to try hard, thats when you'll fall behind. I read a book that shared a story like this recently, 'David and Goliath' by Malcolm Gladwell.
  - baby 11y ago
    I liked that as well > And I put that in quotes because "smart" is really just a way of saying "has invested so much time and sweat that you make it look effortless." When you look up at smart people that have succeeded in their career. It's certainly because they worked so hard to get there. I've learned a lot about that reading another book of Gladwell, "The Outliers". Which is one of my favorite book. One of the story is about a genius who is still living in his mom's basement because he lacks the social traits of other successful intelligent people. I think I will check your "David and Goliath" book. Also, from the reddit comment, what I got is that he reached out. He asked for help around. Most things are hard to learn by yourself, and if not a book, people around you are the most likely to help. It helps being humble, when asking for help.
JamesBarney 11y ago
While this is a good read. I think what differentiates the top 5% of the bell curve(people at MIT) in terms of success is probably different from what differentiates the rest of the bell curve. For instance what accounts for the variation in play between a bunch of 7 foot tall basketball players is not what separates them from a gentleman of 5'5. Most research backs this up. The gap in achievement between an IQ of 115->130 is far large than 145->160.
- burkaman 11y ago
  There was a study posted here recently that disagrees with you: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10488998 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10488998 The summary is that very intelligent people do not seem to have any unique genetic or environmental factors that explain that, they just happen to be at the edge of the bell curve. This is not true of very unintelligent people; there are lots of genetic and environmental factors that can decrease intelligence. From the abstract: "We found that high intelligence is familial, heritable, and caused by the same genetic and environmental factors responsible for the normal distribution of intelligence."
matsur 11y ago
ESR's takedown of Linus in 2000 is a recapitulation of this. http://www.vanadac.com/~dajhorn/novelties/ESR%20-%20Curse%20Of%20The%20Gifted.html http://www.vanadac.com/~dajhorn/novelties/ESR%20-%20Curse%20...
- GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
  If you're talking about people not nearly as smart as they think they are, ESR is up near the top.

by ph33r 11y ago

Nimitz14 11y ago

That was good. Thanks for the link.

Sealy 11y ago
I second that, thanks for the share ph33r. The story highlights that 'smartness' is linked more to a learning mentality then actually knowing a lot of things. Humility. Similarly to the study shared in the OP, if you tell yourself that you are good at something, you are less likely to try hard, thats when you'll fall behind. I read a book that shared a story like this recently, 'David and Goliath' by Malcolm Gladwell.
- baby 11y ago
  I liked that as well > And I put that in quotes because "smart" is really just a way of saying "has invested so much time and sweat that you make it look effortless." When you look up at smart people that have succeeded in their career. It's certainly because they worked so hard to get there. I've learned a lot about that reading another book of Gladwell, "The Outliers". Which is one of my favorite book. One of the story is about a genius who is still living in his mom's basement because he lacks the social traits of other successful intelligent people. I think I will check your "David and Goliath" book. Also, from the reddit comment, what I got is that he reached out. He asked for help around. Most things are hard to learn by yourself, and if not a book, people around you are the most likely to help. It helps being humble, when asking for help.

JamesBarney 11y ago

While this is a good read. I think what differentiates the top 5% of the bell curve(people at MIT) in terms of success is probably different from what differentiates the rest of the bell curve. For instance what accounts for the variation in play between a bunch of 7 foot tall basketball players is not what separates them from a gentleman of 5'5. Most research backs this up. The gap in achievement between an IQ of 115->130 is far large than 145->160.

burkaman 11y ago
There was a study posted here recently that disagrees with you: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10488998 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10488998 The summary is that very intelligent people do not seem to have any unique genetic or environmental factors that explain that, they just happen to be at the edge of the bell curve. This is not true of very unintelligent people; there are lots of genetic and environmental factors that can decrease intelligence. From the abstract: "We found that high intelligence is familial, heritable, and caused by the same genetic and environmental factors responsible for the normal distribution of intelligence."

matsur 11y ago

ESR's takedown of Linus in 2000 is a recapitulation of this. http://www.vanadac.com/~dajhorn/novelties/ESR%20-%20Curse%20Of%20The%20Gifted.html http://www.vanadac.com/~dajhorn/novelties/ESR%20-%20Curse%20...

GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
If you're talking about people not nearly as smart as they think they are, ESR is up near the top.