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Would you characterize Donald Trump as smarter than yourself? I mean, he made it all the way to President of the United States, have you ever been President? He

Would you characterize Donald Trump as smarter than yourself? I mean, he made it all the way to President of the United States, have you ever been President? Hell, Einstein never was President, nor was he ever a Billionaire... Trump was smarter than Einstein apparently. (Well, Einstein was German, bad example... They never made it to president, or billionaire status though I don't think... It could be said Trump was more "successful"... Does success === intelligence? God, I hope not or we're doomed as a species.

chrisseaton 5y ago
I think you're making a silly argument and you already know it. Einstein and Trump weren't working in the same fields so you can't compare their achievements. Is Donald Trump smart? Well I think it's a non-partisan fact that he outsmarted the entire US political establishment in 2016. You decide how smart that is for yourself.
- seba_dos1 5y ago
  > You decide how smart that is for yourself. His campaign has been purposely based on lies and hate, which to me seems like an exact opposite of "smart" even if successful.
  - chrisseaton 5y ago
    I think you're confusing 'smart' with 'moral'. An immoral person can be smart. And in fact it's a common and dangerous mistake to assume someone's stupid because you think they're immoral.
    - seba_dos1 5y ago
      I don't. I believe that such immoral strategies are in fact easier to pull off than legitimate ones, that's why I called it "exact opposite of smart". It seems to me that it's you who's confusing "smart" with "successful".
      - chrisseaton 5y ago
        What could be more smart than doing the thing that makes you successful? Are you arguing it would have been smarter to do something that was unsuccessful?
        seba_dos1 5y ago
        Absolutely. Fouling and breaking the rules does not make you a better football player just because the referee did not notice. You won, but you're not smart, you're a cheater. Playing by the rules requires more effort - you need to be smarter to win. I find it really weird that you even ask.
        chrisseaton 5y ago
        > Fouling and breaking the rules does not make you a better football player just because the referee did not notice. You won, but you're not smart, you're a cheater. Playing by the rules requires more effort - you need to be smarter to win. A smart person dutifully operates as best they can within the rules. But a smarter person realises that actually the rules aren't what everyone thought they were in the first place. There's lots of examples in history. Navies originally thought that submarine warfare was unfair somehow or against some unwritten gentlemanly rule. The less smart thing to do would be to take that rule and not use submarines. The smarter thing to do would be to say 'don't care' and build submarines anyway. Football isn't a good example because you're volunteering to play by the rules in the first place. Operating inside someone else's artificial rules is not smart.
        seba_dos1 5y ago
        So, basically your point is that saying "don't care" about "unwritten gentlemanly rules" is an indicator of one's intelligence. I'm pretty sure that it certainly is an indicator of several personality traits, but it doesn't tell you anything about being "smart".
        5y ago

chrisseaton 5y ago

I think you're making a silly argument and you already know it. Einstein and Trump weren't working in the same fields so you can't compare their achievements. Is Donald Trump smart? Well I think it's a non-partisan fact that he outsmarted the entire US political establishment in 2016. You decide how smart that is for yourself.

seba_dos1 5y ago
> You decide how smart that is for yourself. His campaign has been purposely based on lies and hate, which to me seems like an exact opposite of "smart" even if successful.
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  I think you're confusing 'smart' with 'moral'. An immoral person can be smart. And in fact it's a common and dangerous mistake to assume someone's stupid because you think they're immoral.
  - seba_dos1 5y ago
    I don't. I believe that such immoral strategies are in fact easier to pull off than legitimate ones, that's why I called it "exact opposite of smart". It seems to me that it's you who's confusing "smart" with "successful".
    - chrisseaton 5y ago
      What could be more smart than doing the thing that makes you successful? Are you arguing it would have been smarter to do something that was unsuccessful?
      - seba_dos1 5y ago
        Absolutely. Fouling and breaking the rules does not make you a better football player just because the referee did not notice. You won, but you're not smart, you're a cheater. Playing by the rules requires more effort - you need to be smarter to win. I find it really weird that you even ask.
        chrisseaton 5y ago
        > Fouling and breaking the rules does not make you a better football player just because the referee did not notice. You won, but you're not smart, you're a cheater. Playing by the rules requires more effort - you need to be smarter to win. A smart person dutifully operates as best they can within the rules. But a smarter person realises that actually the rules aren't what everyone thought they were in the first place. There's lots of examples in history. Navies originally thought that submarine warfare was unfair somehow or against some unwritten gentlemanly rule. The less smart thing to do would be to take that rule and not use submarines. The smarter thing to do would be to say 'don't care' and build submarines anyway. Football isn't a good example because you're volunteering to play by the rules in the first place. Operating inside someone else's artificial rules is not smart.
        seba_dos1 5y ago
        So, basically your point is that saying "don't care" about "unwritten gentlemanly rules" is an indicator of one's intelligence. I'm pretty sure that it certainly is an indicator of several personality traits, but it doesn't tell you anything about being "smart".
        5y ago