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People Break Down Which Things Are Incorrectly Believed To Be A Sign Of Intelligence

People Break Down Which Things Are Incorrectly Believed To Be A Sign Of Intelligence
Siora PhotographyUnsplash

Being street smart and book smart are two different forms of intelligence.

One acquires wisdom through life experiences while the other gains knowledge through reading books, articles, and from higher learning.

But sometimes there are certain situations where neither applies to a person–even though others may initially perceive them to be intelligent.


Curious to explore this further, Redditor Indianfattie asked:

'What is incorrectly perceived as a sign of intelligence?"

Status and credentials aren't necessarily strong indicators of intelligence.

Affluence

"Wealth"

"Edit: Thank you for the gold and silver! I am so rich. Therefore I am smart! S-M-R-T smart!"

– richardec

Money And Brains

"People seem to think if you are rich with a good job you must be smart. Generally speaking I've only met one rich person I would consider smart. The rest? Ooooooof. I seriously wonder how some of them passed gradeschool."

– Cthulhubot666

Walking Encyclopedia

"I was surprised when I learned that knowledge isn't necessarily correlated to intelligence. I met a lifelong academic who knew damn near everything about her topic .... but just the facts. It's like, she was a walking encyclopedia, could cough up any info about her field, but she couldn't really process it that well, or draw conclusions, or apply it to a different topic. It's hard to explain. She had a nice 2TB SSD drive full of info in her head but she had a substandard CPU. Since then I've met several people like that. All academics, but I'm not sure that has anything to do with it."

– SkyPork

Well Connected

"I know it, you know it, everybody knows it! In fact I've got friends in high places, I can't tell you how high, but they're really very high, and they're experts in this stuff, and they always say that VPman is a commenter of world class. They should know, they're experts."

– glorpian

So Precocious

"Being labeled 'gifted' at a young age."

– Gullible-Lobster-590

Certain behaviors and personality traits can be misleading.

The Quiet Observer

"Silence. I’ve been told so many times that I’m thoughtful and a deep thinker but really I can’t figure out what to say lol"

– RecreationalParks

The Saying Goes

"There's a very good saying about that, I may be paraphrasing but I've always heard it as: a wise man speaks because he has something to say, a fool speaks because he has to say something."

– toiner

Way With Words

"A cromulent vocabulary."

– jinxes_are_pretend

"This embiggens me."

– GabersNooo

Big Talk

"Using big words or complicated language when trying to explain something or talking about a difficult subject. The smartest people can actually make it sound simple."

– 18puppies

Judging By Appearance

"I’m living in China right now and everyone keeps calling me intelligent as I’m bald and left handed."

Halfmoonhero

History has proven leaders don't always make the best decisions.

Appointed Position

"Being in charge."

– Ifyouhav2ask

​Capable Until Proven Incompetent

"Always maintain a healthy skepticism for anyone claiming to be authority, at least till they prove themselves capable."

– Mharbles

Save The Compliments

"if someone’s in an authoritative position, it should be others that praise them and say how good they are, not themselves."

– Safe_Movie_4694

The Peter Principle

'The Peter principle is a concept in management developed by Laurence J. Peter, which observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to "a level of respective incompetence." Employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent, as skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another.'

"I once worked for a company where the VP was the living embodiment of the Peter principle. She had been with the company for 20+ years, and somehow got promoted to VP of marketing."

"She very clearly had no idea what she was doing and as a result would end up micromanaging to stay busy. And she loved to come around at 4:30 on the Friday before a holiday weekend to 'say hi,' aka make sure no one was leaving early (we were all salaried)."

"This woman was completely incompetent, had no business managing anyone and didn't understand her duties at all, yet somehow she was an executive and made close to $200K per year. Just by outlasting everyone else."

– TaftintheTub

Administration Levels

"This describes my time working in public education. Many people that reach administrative level positions are wholly incapable."

"You know it's bad when teachers are homeschooling their kids or sending them to private schools rather than enrolling them in the district that employs them."

– Shadowfox_01

A person with a big vocabulary can be deceiving.

I knew someone from work who boasted a huge vocabulary and always sounded like an academic scholar when he spoke at meetings.

My view of him completely shattered when he came in for his shift one morning and seriously asked where he could get some "expresso," "expecially" since he was very tired and could use a pick-me-up.

My colleagues and I just blankly stared at each other since his statements at the time were so jarring.

People Explain What They Bought With Their First-Ever Paycheck

Reddit user MisterChiTown92 asked: 'What did you buy with your first ever work paycheck?'

Person fanning out wad of $100 bills
Alexander Mils/Unsplash

Working a first job is an important part of growing up.

Whether it's working a paper route (do kids even do this anymore?) or working at a video rental store (do those even exist anymore?) first-ever part-time jobs establish important life values and lessons to the youth.

Also, there's nothing that validates accomplishment at a young age more than being able to buy something with their hard-earned money.

Curious to hear examples of this, Redditor MisterChiTown92 asked:

"What did you buy with your first ever work paycheck?"

These generous Redditors found value in paying it forward.

Dinner's On Me

"It was 1976, I was making a whopping $2.50/hour at age 16 (20 cents higher than minimum wage, and it was an office job so I wasn't on my feet all day)....my family didn't have a lot of money (which is why I started working while in the 11th grade), so with my first paycheck I took my Mom and brothers out to dinner at Big Boy. I remember being all proud to say 'Get whatever you want, even the combo meal and a milkshake, it's on me."'

– Ouisch

Dinner Miscalculation

"I took my mom out to a fancy French restaurant. I had no idea how much it was going to cost, then plus tip, I didn’t even have enough! So she had to help me pay the rest. My mom still joke about that from time to time when we go out with the family."

"That was almost 25 yrs ago, damn time flew by."

– jonwtc

Gift For Mom

"I bought my mother a beautiful shawl. I never saw her wear it but it was in with her things when she died nearly 50 years later."

– WakingOwl1

These Redditors got to reward themselves with the things they enjoy most.

Creating Memories

"About twenty bucks of my first paper route earnings, for the pizza buffet and soft drinks, and some arcade games, with my best friend."

"While the shape I've been in has varied over the years, I've kept that stamina I built up hauling around damn near my weight in newsprint. For long endurance rides, hikes with a loaded-up pack, and running."

– ArmsForPeace84

Brand New Kicks

"I was 14 and got a job as a bus boy at a local BBQ joint. With my first check, I went and bought myself a pair of blue/brown Airwalk shoes. I remember how cool it felt to be able to buy something for myself and not have to ask my parents."

– johnnybmagic

Scoring Big Time

"A Playstation 2. Excellent buy, kept it for a over decade before buying an Xbox One."

– Birdo-the-Besto

"It was an Xbox 360 for me. Loved that console."

– HabeLinkin

"Still have a modded PS2. Had a hard drive with games on it too. It still turns on last I checked, I wonder if the hard drive still works..."

–DubaU

A Timeless Treasure

"My family owned a construction business, and my father had me on site for as long as I could remember. I don't remember the first thing I ever bought with what he paid me, but I remember the first thing I set out to buy and had to work for weeks to get the money for. It was a Lego castle set. $49. I'm almost 50 now, and I still have it."

– Spodson

Naughty Pleasures

"lol I bought a candy g-string so I could eat it off of my girlfriend while she was wearing it, and a black cowboy hat with spikes on it from Hot Topic hahaha"

dirtydickmf

Some recalled having to prioritize taking care of business over indulgences.

The Necessities

"gasoline and insurance to continue to be able to go to work."

– TurpitudeSnuggery

"I remember getting my first paycheck being so proud of it and my stepfather goes wow you don't have enough for gas. How are you getting to work for the next two weeks? Made me realize I needed to work more."

"I should also put in here that this was my first on the books paycheck. Made it feel a little different."

– truelydorky

Saving Up For Wheels

"Used to mow lawns and do odd jobs for cash when I was a kid. When I got my first 'real' paycheck that I had to cash at a bank, I saved every penny for several months until I bought my first car at age 16."

"Had zero expenses back then, which made it easy to save money. Fun memory."

– YupHio

Building A Wardrobe

"Clothes."

"I had to start working at the age of 12 because my parents could no longer afford to buy clothes for me."

– Opposite-Purpose365

I worked at a video game store in the mall when I was 15.

I was miserable being stuck behind a counter in a tiny corner store with hardly any adequate air circulation. Working with a personality-clashing co-worker didn't help things either.

But when I got my first paycheck, I remember thinking it was a major milestone and reward for enduring the unpleasant work conditions.

I used my first-ever earnings on a denim jacket from the Gap at the mall where I worked. I wore that stone-washed jacket with pride at school for years.

What was your most prized purchase from your first paycheck?

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