An answer to “What are the common traits of highly intelligent people?”
A few traits I’ve seen in those I know whom I consider highly intelligent:
- Shunning jargon for simple language unless it’s absolutely needed
- Communicating concisely in the minimum time / words without compromising on clarity
- Willingness to admit they’re wrong and change their mind when presented with reasons to do so.
- Ability to entertain an idea and think about it even if it’s completely at variance with their own views.
- No ad hominem attacks when you attack their beliefs (Ad hominem: You’re wrong because you’re an idiot).
- No argument from authority when trying to convince you (Argument from authority: This is right because a smart guy said so).
- Understanding the difference between correlation and causation (You can find a relation between the rate of growth of grass in your yard and your country’s population – doesn’t mean they affect each other)
- They reject superficial generalizations –
- not all smart people read books, not all smart people are humble, not all smart people are introverts , not all smart people talk about deep philosophical topics (and those who do these may not be smart either)
- Choosing for themselves – exercising or not, watching TV or not – based on their values they can make their own choices