The thing about really smart people is that they often sound so unsure of themselves, and that’s usually because they’re more interested in checking an idea than being certain about it.
Checking the convincing answer
The answer sounded believable. That’s exactly the problem. Smart people recognize that, and they’ll say, ‘That sounds right, but I’d want to check’ once they’ve heard something seemingly true.
It’s not because they distrust everything. It’s actually more to do with the fact that sounding right and being right are two completely different things. A genius knows that better than most people do.
Testing their own case
People who are only looking to win an argument won’t say this. They won’t ask themselves, ‘What would prove me wrong?’ because they’re only looking for information that supports what they already think. But smart people do.
They do something called actively open-minded thinking, and that involves seriously considering evidence that could knock down your own position. No, they’re not trying to give up their opinion. They’re simply trying to stress-test it, no matter how uncomfortable that might be.Â
Going back to the evidence
Simple conversations become a lot harder with this saying. Smart people ask themselves, ‘How do we know that?’ whenever a new piece of information comes to light. They’ll never say something like, ‘Everyone knows that.’
Smart people are always trying to separate claims from the evidence underneath them, and it’s a big part of their strong reasoning skills. They take steps to prevent confident guesses from becoming facts. You won’t find them ever going along with an opinion ‘just because.’
Leaving the answer unfinished
You might think that geniuses know everything. They don’t. They actually recognize that fact, and they’ll say things like, ‘I don’t know yet.’ The important part here is ‘yet.’ It leaves the answer open, instead of filling the gap with something convenient.
Intelligent people are great at judging what they know and what they don’t. These very capable thinkers may still be wrong, of course, but it’s not the end of the world. They’re willing to leave a blank space as it is until they’ve got enough information to figure things out.
Separating chance from probability
Plenty of things are possible in life, even things that seem completely unlikely. Geniuses know that, too. One of the things that sets them apart, however, is the fact that they take probability into account, too. They’ll say things like, ‘That’s possible, but is it likely?’
They know that just because they hear about something happening, it doesn’t mean it’s true. They think about the likelihood of something occurring first. Then they’ll decide whether they believe it’s true.
Keeping two ideas on the table
There are so many people in life who try to force choices that may not exist, or push black-and-white thinking. They seem to think a situation is either X or Y, with no middle ground. That’s wrong. Geniuses know that, and it’s why they’ll say, ‘Those two things can both be true.’
They recognize that two conflicting ideas can exist at the same time. They don’t believe in locking into one idea too early. Contradictions are okay, although that doesn’t mean they all magically disappear. Sometimes there really is a conflict. But smart people are more willing to accept both things instead of choosing one.
Asking for the missing steps
The answer may sound fine, maybe even good. But geniuses will often say, ‘Show me how you got there’ when someone tells them their conclusion. They do it because they’re interested in what happened in between.Â
They know that it’s way too easy to land on an appealing answer quickly without checking the reasoning that came before it. So, they’d rather hear someone walk through the steps. It’ll help them to expose any bad assumption halfway along the route, or prove the answer is solid.
Letting somebody else change the picture
Here’s one that’s hard to say unless you’re a genius. It’s ‘I hadn’t thought of it that way.’ You might be convinced that you’ve already understood the situation, but saying this means somebody else has added something you genuinely didn’t see.
It shows that you’re willing to consider alternative explanations, and that’s just not something stupid people do. Only geniuses are willing to admit that another person has changed their view a little.
Resisting the neat explanation
Some stories have a way of sounding neat, but maybe a little too neat. There seems to be one cause and one villain, along with one obvious answer. Smart people can see through this, and they’ll say, ‘There’s probably more to it’ instead.
They’re open-minded with their thinking, and that means they’re more likely to delay closure. They won’t grab onto the first explanation that seems to fit. Sometimes the simple answer really is the answer, of course. But someone saying that line is leaving room for one more detail.
Refusing the instant response
Geniuses aren’t trying to sound impressive when they say, ‘I need to think about that.’ They’re just announcing the fact that they need time to think, rather than jumping to a conclusion straight away. That’s the point.
They’re not bothered by the pressure to give an answer, and they’d prefer to sit with the problem for a minute. They might turn it around, or they might realize their first answer was fine after all. It doesn’t matter. Really, what counts is that they’re willing to delay their response.
Accounting for the blind spot
Highly intelligent people know enough to realize how much they might be leaving out. They’ll say, ‘I’m probably missing something’ even when they understand the topic perfectly well. They’re trying to think about what gaps could still be there.
Perhaps they’re missing a fact, or perhaps they’ve made a bad assumption. Perhaps there’s nothing missing at all. The truth is, they’re suspicious of certainty, and they want to explore every possible angle before making a judgment.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
