The thing about smart people...

[WilliamPitt]

[Arkansas Granny]

1. +1

[Ikonoklast]

2. Dumb people don't trust smart people because they don't understand one thing they say.

They think that smart people intentionally speak that way on purpose just to make dumb people feel dumb.

[pscot]

3. There's that theory of the 30 point IQ gap

that Mensa is so pleased with.

[RC]

11. I haven't found smart people to be all that intelligent sometimes.

For example, some of them are good at book learning, but can't seem to apply their knowledge to the real world.

There are even real world examples of Shelden Cooper type characters in the "Big Bang Theory" in places of influence.
So high IQ's don't impress me all that much. The Republicans are full of them.

[Jazzgirl]

14. I know someone like that.

Extremely sharp with a memory like a steal trap. She couldn't fight her way out of a wet paper bag if she tried. Not one bit of common sense. She's in her early 60's now and still not much better.

[Mopar151]

6. This perfectly describes my last job

And a couple others....... It's kinda painful when they stand in front of you and explain just how friggin' stooopid they really are.

[Ikonoklast]

8. What'r yoo tryin' t'say thar, smarty-pants?

I'm goner keep mah eye on yoo, bud.

[seabeyond]

4. ha. i like that. nt

[siligut]

5. Dumb people cannot recognize that they are.

Ego defense mechanism, they will just compare themselves to dumber people and block out any evidence that doesn't match up with their perception of themselves.

[IMG][/IMG]

[iemitsu]

7. actually the dunning kruger effect explains this phenomenon perfectly.

The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability much higher than average. This bias is attributed to a meta cognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their mistakes.[1]

Actual competence may weaken self-confidence, as competent individuals may falsely assume that others have an equivalent understanding. As Kruger and Dunning conclude, "the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

[WinstonSmith4740]

12. Great point!

"The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority,...'

. Hence, the attack on intellectualism in this country. The earliest I remember it was Agnew's rants against "pointy-headed intellectuals". After Reagan began the assault on public education, the real "dumbing down" of America began with a vengeance. By 2000, we got a President who was not only fairly stupid, being smart was considered a liability in the political arena. Hopefully with "smart" back in the White House, as well as in cabinet positions, people will begin to think back to the time when using our intellect was the way problems were solved.

[VWolf]

9. You're crazy, Will!

[lapislzi]

10. Had it my whole life

"Why do you use such big words?"

"Because I can."

I am fortunate to have a large (really, really large) vocabulary. Why wouldn't I use it?

[IDemo]

13. The inverse applies here as well

Crazy people seem like smart people to dumb people:

[Egalitarian Thug]

15. "Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people."

Eleanor Roosevelt