Stop Trying to Look Smart

It’s hard to go far when you come off as a knob.

Not everyone can pick up on the nuances of insecure people trying to look smart, but most people consciously or subconsciously will see through the façade – if not in the short term, then it’ll leak out somewhere along long-term. A charade eventually unravels given enough time. Of course, no one wants to look stupid and ask a million questions and get themselves labeled as an unknowing noob.

I used to have a coworker that would enjoy dropping GRE study words into our conversation in order to look educated, smart, etc. I was not impressed –“Steve, you seem a bit laconic today.” Of course, when you have to ask someone who also speaks English natively what they are talking about, it’s an annoying way to make others resent you for trying to look like a sophisticated scholar.

If we don’t know something, it’s better to keep quiet and learn later, or immediately ask questions – it all comes down context.

People like when we are genuine and also a bit vulnerable. It helps others to trust us when they can see that we’re not trying to hide the fact we’re not perfect. Some of the coolest people are people who don’t take themselves too seriously. However, it’s important to want to be a useful person. No one wants to be around a “confident” person who doesn’t have anything to contribute, and doesn’t want to contribute.

Vulnerability makes us more connected to others. It also makes other people feel less intimidated. When people know that you are comfortable making mistakes, then they also feel less pressure to achieve perfection for themselves (or in front of you).

If we’re going to be “smart,” then we’d better commit to learning. However, we can’t really get to an objective point of reaching smart. Most people that I think are smart are probably quite humble in knowing that there is always something to improve upon or learn. Many smart people are humbled by understanding the limitations of their lives and the knowledge they hold.

Knowledge for the sake of benefiting society or a culture is a noble pursuit. Money as the main pursuit will cause mediocre products and insatiable attitudes that are bent on gaining at all costs. When morals go into flux, then that business cannot be trusted. When details of that company leak, then a tarnished reputation is, of course, bad for business.

Perhaps we don’t actually need to look smart in order to be successful, we just need to be willing to improve and be useful.

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