4 ms·
You probably know this, but a lot of studies back you up. Being smarter doesn't necessarily make you more likely to be right, but it makes you a hell of a lot b
by ellius 7y ago
You probably know this, but a lot of studies back you up. Being smarter doesn't necessarily make you more likely to be right, but it makes you a hell of a lot better at rationalizing your position and persuading others. Also, that comment about the "old guy with an inferiority complex who sneaks one really profound comment in every meeting" really hit home. We have that guy on my team too. You have to wonder what's going on when those guys are sitting in the corner and us blustery people are doing all of the talking.
- perl4ever 7y agoI would say that being smart does make you more likely to be right, but overall, your rightness is not the percentage of cases in which you were right, because some bad decisions are far more (and unexpectedly) highly weighted than others when it comes to an overall outcome. Where smart people fail is because they were "right" in a limited, seemingly appropriate context and it turns out that in a larger context, it didn't matter.
- jammygit 7y ago> Being smarter doesn't necessarily make you more likely to be right (...) > (...), but it makes you a hell of a lot better at rationalizing your position and persuading others. My reading has said the opposite: smart people are far more likely to be right, but it does no good because the important thing is to be able to communicate
- ellius 7y agoSo I included that "necessarily" on purpose. In general smarter people will solve problems more correctly. But there is also a whole class of problems where being smart is actually a detriment. Here is a good read on this topic: https://www.newyorker.com/tech/frontal-cortex/why-smart-people-are-stupid https://www.newyorker.com/tech/frontal-cortex/why-smart-peop...