While updating a friend on the status of my online dating situation, I mentioned that I’d had a particularly good time with one guy because he was so smart. He’s well read, knows about a lot of different topics, is fun to talk to, has a great sense of humor and makes great logical connections between what might seem to be unrelated topics.
After a little while, my friend asked “but what is it that makes someone smart?”
I think I reponded something insightful like “fuck if I know” so I clearly needed to give it some thought. It’s a little hard for me to define. It’s not like I can run someone through standardized testing, or ask for their latest IQ test scores. There are some signs of being smart that maybe aren’t the things that really make you smart. Is there a difference? I don’t even know that.
And is it all just subjective anyway?
Because I love lists, I started one.
What is a sign that you may be smart? I mean, what is smart anyway? In no particular order, and certainly not a comprehensive list:
- Being able to learn things
- Making logical connections between things
- Information retention from reading and other sources
- Rote memory, maybe
- A certain analytical bent
- Humor
- Paying attention/good focus
- Curiosity
- Speaking multiple languages
- Being good at math
- Knowing about science
- Not being gullible
- Being able to figure things out
Reading definitions of the word didn’t help very much, either. The definitions just chased each other around. Smart is intelligent is clever is intellectual is well-read is blah blah blah.
There are certain categories of people who tend to be smart. Librarians. Serious musicians. Scientists. People who can speak multiple languages well. Mathematicians. People who use various aspects of their intelligence, or various types of brain capacity perhaps?
I read a study somewhere once that mentioned the language thing, left-handedness, music lessons, recreational drug use and being the oldest child as contributing to higher levels of intelligence. Score for me! Of course being short and fat was detrimental…but I figure I am safe due to the quantity of intelligence boosters. Imagine how unbearably smart I would be if I were also tall and thin.
How do I know when someone is smart? Like porn, I know it when I see it.