4 ms·

I cannot remember the exact quote, but I thought Norm Macdonald nailed this idea a while back. He said something to the effect of: it's easy for a smart person

I cannot remember the exact quote, but I thought Norm Macdonald nailed this idea a while back. He said something to the effect of: it's easy for a smart person to pretend they're dumb, but it's impossible for a dumb person to pretend they're smart. Norm himself was pretty good at convincing people he was dumb when very much the opposite was true.

datsci_est_2015 6mo ago
I have my doubts about Nate Bargatze being half as dumb as he pretends to be as well. Great comedic niche to fill, in my opinion.
lisper 6mo ago
> it's impossible for a dumb person to pretend they're smart. Unfortunately, that's not true. It's actually pretty easy to convince dumb people that you're smart, and so even dumb people can learn that skill. Myriad successful careers and even entire industries have been built on that foundation.
- WarmWash 6mo ago
  The truth is you can build a successful career, on a foundation of a successful industry, that is run for and run by, all idiots.
- abraxas 6mo ago
  I can think of a couple of presidential careers where that worked out for the deceivers.
  - D-Coder 6mo ago
    I see your point, but voters are not voting based on the candidate's intelligence levels.
- nh23423fefe 6mo ago
  Successful people are stupid? That's the theory?
  - lisper 6mo ago
    It worked for me. ;-)
deleted 6mo ago
[deleted]
peebee67 6mo ago
I realise he was making comedy, but breaking that down further I'd argue that dumb people can fool smart people for a little while that they're smart. My social acuity has developed slowly, only after being repeatedly pounded into shape from mistakes, and quickly reading people is something that does not happen intuitively for me. I've been misled multiple times by people who, overall, I would now describe as just not that bright, with horrible consequences as the relationship developed. What they had in common is that they were all good at mirroring. Eg, They hear me use a technical term in an early conversation, they drop one or two confidently not much later, and before I picked up on what they were doing, I mistook them for an intellectual peer and let that early impression colour later ones. These days I'm much more attuned to it and have caught people doing it, along with the little microexpressions they pull when they think they've successfully deceived me. It's fun now, but it certainly didn't start that way.

datsci_est_2015 6mo ago

I have my doubts about Nate Bargatze being half as dumb as he pretends to be as well. Great comedic niche to fill, in my opinion.

lisper 6mo ago

> it's impossible for a dumb person to pretend they're smart. Unfortunately, that's not true. It's actually pretty easy to convince dumb people that you're smart, and so even dumb people can learn that skill. Myriad successful careers and even entire industries have been built on that foundation.

WarmWash 6mo ago
The truth is you can build a successful career, on a foundation of a successful industry, that is run for and run by, all idiots.
abraxas 6mo ago
I can think of a couple of presidential careers where that worked out for the deceivers.
- D-Coder 6mo ago
  I see your point, but voters are not voting based on the candidate's intelligence levels.
nh23423fefe 6mo ago
Successful people are stupid? That's the theory?
- lisper 6mo ago
  It worked for me. ;-)

deleted 6mo ago

[deleted]

peebee67 6mo ago

I realise he was making comedy, but breaking that down further I'd argue that dumb people can fool smart people for a little while that they're smart. My social acuity has developed slowly, only after being repeatedly pounded into shape from mistakes, and quickly reading people is something that does not happen intuitively for me. I've been misled multiple times by people who, overall, I would now describe as just not that bright, with horrible consequences as the relationship developed. What they had in common is that they were all good at mirroring. Eg, They hear me use a technical term in an early conversation, they drop one or two confidently not much later, and before I picked up on what they were doing, I mistook them for an intellectual peer and let that early impression colour later ones. These days I'm much more attuned to it and have caught people doing it, along with the little microexpressions they pull when they think they've successfully deceived me. It's fun now, but it certainly didn't start that way.