How smart people behave. How smart people treat people they don't like They don't take unnecessary risks

Imagine an ideal world. People in it treat each other with kindness, attention, generosity and love. Jokes are never flavored with a share of causticity and sarcasm. People are placed in a cheerful atmosphere where no one upsets, slanders or gossips.

Nevertheless, such an ideal world is a utopia. In real life, things look very different. The people around us drive us crazy, and we respond to them in return. We are used to dividing the environment into "white" and "black", "bad" and "good". Those who do not love us often annoy us: they plot, try to denigrate us, spread stupid gossip, and joke unsuccessfully. Secretly, people expect the object of their hatred to laugh and make fun of them behind their backs. Very soon the confrontation may become open.

Let us ask ourselves the question: is it possible to treat all people equally well? Or is it still unrealistic to learn to love each person? We turn to a professional psychologist for advice. Stanford University professor Robert Sutton is sure that such a scenario is impossible. The ideal world, where only true friends and nice people exist, is really utopian. However, smart people, in order to avoid conflict situations, behave with those they do not like in a certain way. We will learn about this further.

They recognize that everyone is different

Sometimes we are trapped in our own stereotypes. If a person judges things from his own bell tower, this does not mean that his opinion is the only correct one. We often consider ourselves good, and our antipodes are seen as pure evil. But if for a moment you go to the camp of the enemy and look at the situation through his eyes, the picture will look like a mirror image. Smart people are aware of these nuances and recognize that there is no good or bad. We're just all different. Differences in upbringing, in lifestyle, in worldview give rise to conflict situations.

Just because you don't like a person doesn't mean he's bad. You just have different views on things. If you can feel the difference, many conflicts can be ironed out.

Smart people seek profit in dealing with unpleasant personalities.

Conflict is always negative. Of course, you can constantly respond to your opponent's attacks on you, but it will be better if you grit your teeth and ignore his hard-hitting joke. Psychologists of the old school advise avoiding a negative environment so as not to absorb negative energy. However, in terms of performance, your "enemies" can be quite useful. Often, those who challenge us are unwittingly propelling us to success. Just remember that you are not perfect and be tolerant of others.

They treat people kindly

By being polite to your enemy, you can partly deflect your message in the opposite direction. If you are rude to him, he will most likely return the same to you. Therefore, remain neutral and impartial. Learn from diplomats who negotiate with impenetrable faces. This requires polite manners and courtesy. Thus, you will not stoop to the level of internecine troubles.

No situation should take them by surprise

It is not uncommon for a person to have unrealistic expectations about other people. Of course, you can expect your opponent to act in a given situation in exactly the same way as you usually do. However, in reality this does not happen. If you begin to expect other actions that are characteristic of you, you will be deeply disappointed. Instead, set your expectations to a different range. Thus, you will be psychologically prepared for any turn of events, and the behavior of the enemy will never take you by surprise. Smart people do just that. It is unlikely that something will unsettle them.

They focus on themselves

Even if you try to treat the enemy in a neutral way, he can still annoy you. One gets the feeling that he has penetrated deep under your skin and exudes poison. In this case, it is important to learn how to process unpleasant emotions and disappointment. Instead of focusing on the annoyance itself, focus on the nature of the feeling. Why do you react the way you do? Sometimes what we don't like in others, we don't like in ourselves. These point triggers can be disarmed after you change your own reaction. Remember that it is much easier to change your perception of what is happening than to try to open the eyes of another person to his behavior.

Pause and deep breath

Some features of individual personalities will always be annoying. A colleague was once again late for work, missed the deadline for submitting a report, and a neighbor each time makes obscene jokes in your presence. The first time it happens, you endure. Be patient even when it happens for the third time. But when an unpleasant moment repeats itself with enviable regularity, you are ready to explode. Take a look at the mechanism of irritation from the inside. Where is the lever that activates it?

Thus, returning home, you will be ready to meet your neighbor and let the next obscenity pass by. You already know when this event is coming up, so take a moment and take control of your own adrenaline. Focus not on emotions, call on the mind to help. There is another technique: take a deep breath and take a big step back. This can calm you down and protect you from overreacting.

They voice their own needs

If people are used to constantly interrupting you, point it out to them without descending to the level of complaints. Let them know that their communication style is inappropriate for you. Avoid accusatory words and phrases. Instead, focus on their action and your feelings. It can be phrased like this: "When you interrupt me in a dialogue, I feel that you do not appreciate our cooperation." Take a break and wait for a reaction.

Sometimes the situation is resolved instantly. So, it may turn out that the interlocutor simply does not always understand where the moment comes when you have finished your statement. Sometimes people stop talking excitedly the moment they have a "brilliant idea" and they're just afraid to forget about it.

Smart people create additional space between themselves and the enemy

In order to prevent negativity from invading consciousness, smart people deliberately create additional space between themselves and an unpleasant person. Let go of the situation and go your own way. In working conditions, it is impossible to reduce communication with an enemy to nothing. However, you can move to another office, and sit away from the unpleasant person at the conference. The resulting distance will give you equanimity, and from afar you will be able to interact with this person as if there is no enmity between you.

Conclusion

It would be much easier if there were no enemies at all in our life or we could always communicate only with nice people. We know that life works differently, so we need to do some work on ourselves.

How to distinguish a smart person from a stupid one? Enough . Is this enough for the title of a man at least not stupid? Science says no, and offers as many as 9 ways of varying degrees of specificity that automatically reveal a genius. Alas, not everything depends on you, but if you meet at least 8 out of 9, then you can safely take the fate of the world into your own hands.

1. Learn from your mistakes

Smart people immediately realize that they made a mistake. But instead of shifting responsibility for it to others or pretending that everything is fine, they learn from it so that they do not repeat it in the future. A study by researchers at the University of Michigan found that people who learn from failure are able to absorb new information and perceive life experience much more effectively.

2. You know how to argue with dignity

People who can argue without offending their opponent or ignoring other points of view are just saints. From a human point of view, they are much more perfect, and in themselves much smarter. This kind of behavior shows an intelligent interlocutor that you respect him, even despite the disagreements. This, of course, is always flattering. And if you have to argue with a fool, then he considers himself a winner. And thank God, otherwise he would have behaved like a dove playing chess: he threw a tantrum and provoked a conflict.

3. Unsure of your genius

People whose intelligence is above average do not consider themselves especially smart, unlike shaped nerds who think they are geniuses. The phenomenon is known as the "Dunning-Kruger effect": the more stupid a person is, the higher he evaluates his abilities.

4. Like humor

Research from the University of Vienna shows that people with a sense of humor tend to outperform their shy counterparts in verbal and non-verbal intelligence. The researchers selected 159 adults and had them watch cartoons all evening. They then measured their sense of humor using standard analytical and psychological tests. The researchers write: "These results support the hypothesis that humor processing is associated with cognitive and affective components and suggest that these variables influence the performance of frame shifting and conceptual blending during humor processing." In simple terms, the ability to assimilate and find things funny is evidence of a clear gray mass in the head.

5. Likes to be alone

Researchers at Singapore Management University analyzed data from a large experiment involving 15,000 people aged 18 to 28. People were given IQ tests and found that the result strongly depends on the place of residence and the frequency of communication with friends and other associates. It turned out that people who showed brilliant results prefer to communicate less with people and spend more time alone. What’s more, according to research, socialization doesn’t make them happier. The more endless human flow around them, the less joy. This does not give the right to call all introverts geniuses, God forbid! It just makes it clear that a smart person needs to be alone from time to time.

6. Physically lazy

Found an excuse for your laziness. It is physical laziness. Because many call it one of the deep thinker syndromes. Why go somewhere if you can sit at home, in comfort and warmth, and think about the eternal and lofty. University of Florida staff confirmed the hunch with a study that assessed 60 volunteers with tests, dividing them into "thinkers" and "non-thinkers." They then tracked their physical activity for a week and found that non-thinkers tended to be much more active than thinkers. Simply put, smart people are much more meaningful and will always find where to spend the energy of their thought streams. Not smart enough people get bored, they need some kind of activity. This does not mean that all smart people stick to the chair - sometimes they also want to stretch, but for the most part they understand that this is not so important.

7. Disbelief in God

We want to note that this is not our statement, but a certain Miron Zuckerman from the University of Rochester and more. That is, more than one generation fell under the close scrutiny of science, and everywhere the same indicators: a negative relationship between intelligence and religiosity. 53 out of 63 studies even found the same reason: Smart people are more likely to get what they want and don't need God's help to do it. Research began in 1921 and, in fact, continues to this day. Was interrogated both old and young; both gifted and not so gifted. But the results, as one, say that the fierce believers do not have a big mind.

8. Don't post idiotic social media quotes.

In social networks, we have repeatedly come across thoughtful quotes in the style of “Stars cannot shine without darkness”, mischievous and arrogant - “Of course, I am not a gift, but it’s not a holiday every day” and. What are they talking about? The fact that the owner of the page with intellect is in complete trouble. Of course, this scourge occurs all over the world, so researchers from the University of Waterloo in Ontario asked 845 volunteers to rate the depth of such statements. They chose smarter people in order to get at least a little closer to objectivity. As a result, most of these "quotes" were found to be meaningless. What is characteristic: those who reposted thought differently. But it was only necessary to study their IQ and just talk for everything to fall into place: their heads are not disfigured by the mind. In addition, these citizens firmly believed in conspiracy theories. Green men, Freemasons, evil Zionists and saber-toothed zhidoreptiloidy - for them it is the cause of everyday fear.

9. The first child in his family

It seems nonsense, but, as a rule, whoever was born first in the family is smarter. Differences in IQ are observed already at an early age. I do not want to offend all the younger brothers. To make this statement, we were guided not by Russian folk tales, where the elder is always the "smart kid", but by research from the University of Edinburgh. It was found that all children received the same level of emotional support from their parents, but the first-borns paid more attention to tasks that developed thinking skills. The researchers say the findings could help explain the so-called "birth order effect," in which children who are born first receive better wages and education. The researchers followed 5,000 children from birth to age 14, testing them every two years. What does it say? The fact that the parents are to blame, because there is no system.

However, there are plenty of examples when the youngest in the family pull on themselves both parents and unlucky brothers and sisters who are much sharper with their tongues, but all their attempts to earn money ended in drinking bouts and visiting places not so remote.

Everyone's brain is about the same size, and without major changes like concussions or alcohol obsession, it works pretty much the same. But the mind differs from person to person: there is an almost infinite number of combinations of connections between different parts of the brain. The smarter a person is, the more connections he has in the “neural wiring”. If there are any problems with her, then the chances of going crazy are great. As they say, there is a fine line between genius and insanity.

They know they are smart

A life in which they faced difficult problems - in calculus classes, in chess competitions, or in a literary competition - had already shown them that they were really smart. Such people do not need special recognition and rewards for their intelligence - although they would be pleased to have others talk about their abilities. In any case, they will not ask others about how good they are.

An intelligent person is happy only when he receives his own praise, while a fool is content with the applause of others.

Joseph Addison

They know what they don't know

As for me, this is the main marker that a person is really smart. The more he is able to perceive and evaluate the world, the better he must evaluate his own limits. One person may well have an uneven talent: social awkwardness, a bear in the ear came, problems with the simplest numbers.

The more books you read, the more often you discover that there are still entire libraries ahead that you will never master. All this is comparable to how to look at the starry sky.

We often think of exceptions, people who become geniuses in several fields at once. For example, Neil Gaiman is good at both writing and directing, and basketball genius Michael Jordan has also achieved considerable success in baseball.

On the other hand, the Dunning-Kruger effect also extends to successful people, when people who are not very talented and educated are not able to realize their erroneous conclusions due to their low intelligence.

Ignorance breeds confidence more often than knowledge.

Charles Darwin

They don't have to claim their intelligence

The greats don't need to talk about how smart they are. Meryl Streep sometimes asks: "Have you seen my awards?". More than 40 years of her acting career has passed, and she still knows a role that she could never play. The role of a person who feels great at awards ceremonies.

They don't show off their vocabulary

Yes, sometimes it's tempting to brag about an obscure word, but Princeton did a massive study in 2012 and found that using difficult words often makes people think you're not as smart as you look.

In one of a series of experiments, the researchers chose a sociology dissertation with a lot of “difficult” and obscure words and created a simplified version, replacing them. They then asked 35 Stanford students to read the paper and rate how smart the author was. The results showed that the simplified version was perceived as less complex, and its author seemed smarter. It is not surprising that stand-up artists are now called.

They don't avoid stares

A favorite topic of any researcher is how eye contact affects collaboration. In one experiment, 182 pairs of people were taken, and one partner was assigned the task of appearing smart and competent, while the others were not given any special instructions. The pairs then discussed specific topics for five minutes and rated their partner on intelligence. Those who kept better eye contact were considered smart! And it really correlated with the real IQ of the study participant. Do you want to impress an educated girl? Do not lose contact with the interlocutor.

In an ideal universe, all those with whom we come into contact would be nice, kind, empathetic, insightful, and generous people. They will laugh at our jokes, and we at theirs. Our life will flow in complete harmony with the surrounding world, in which no one will be angry and slander others. But, as you have already understood, the world in which our lives pass is far from ideal.

Some personalities drive us just white-hot, in turn, we ourselves can drive others crazy. We do not like those who are cruel to others, spread rumors, stick their nose into our affairs, or simply do not understand our jokes, but expect us to appreciate their jokes.

Most likely, you had to think about whether it is possible to maintain objectivity in relation to people who annoy you all the time, and to those with whom you would sit down at the same table, and how to learn to maintain a friendly attitude towards everyone you meet. on the path of life.

According to Robert Sutton (Professor at Stanford University), even in an ideal universe, it is impossible to create a group that would include only those people whom you would like to invite to your barbecue. For this reason, smart people often have to contact people who are not particularly pleasant to them.

And here's how they do it:

1. They realize they may not be to everyone's liking.
We often find ourselves in the trap of believing that we are practically flawless and should be liked by everyone we meet. But you won't be able to avoid tough people who will criticize everything you do. Smart people understand this. They also realize that differences in value systems are the cause of conflict situations.

Most likely, the person you do not like is not bad at all. And the reason for your irritation is that you have different life values ​​with him, which creates a misunderstanding. But having understood that not everyone likes you and not everyone likes you because of the difference in value systems, you will be able to assess the situation without emotions. This will allow you to find a common language.

2. They tolerate rather than ignore those they don't like.
Naturally, you can turn a blind eye to a person's regular criticisms, to his flat witticisms and his annoying company, but there is nothing worse in the world than the endless suppression of your irritation. It is clear that an excessive desire to impose one's society leads to an even worse result than if a person did not make such attempts.

But still, a person next to you who has a point of view different from yours is very helpful. These are people who allow us to stand firmly on the ground and not do stupid things. Of course, it is difficult, but they must be endured.

Often they behave defiantly towards us, but it is these people who allow us to expand our worldview. Do not forget that you are not perfect either, but in the meantime, people tolerate you.

3. They are polite to those they don't like.
No matter how you feel about someone, that person will be primarily repelled by your treatment of him and will treat you in exactly the same way. If you allow rudeness in his direction, then he will probably say rudeness to you in response. Remember, if you act respectfully, others will be patient with you as well.

The ability to control your feelings is a very important skill. You must be able to demonstrate at the right time that you highly appreciate his professional qualities and respect him as a person. This will allow you to quickly extinguish conflict situations.

4. They always know what to expect.
People often set too high standards for others. That is, we expect that, under certain circumstances, others will do exactly the same things that we ourselves would do, or say what we ourselves could say. That is what we want to hear. But this is impossible.

Each person has his own character traits, on which their actions and words depend. Expecting the same actions from others means almost 100% disappointment.

If a person causes you the same negative emotions over and over again, then you better reconfigure your expectations. Smart people do this all the time. Therefore, for them, the actions of an unsympathetic person never come as a surprise to them.

5. They focus primarily on themselves.
You and only you can fully understand yourself. You need to be able to control your emotions when you are in contact with a person who annoys you. Instead of obsessing over your feelings of annoyance, try to understand why you are having this reaction.

Often we do not love in others what we do not love in ourselves. Other than that, these people didn't put that button inside you, they just pushed it.

Analyze the motives of your behavior, and then you can control your reaction and even change it. Don't forget: it's easier to change yourself than other people.

6. They stop to take a deep breath.
There are certain things that annoy you all the time. We can talk about an employee who constantly misses deadlines, or a person who jokes flatly. Try to identify what annoys you and who is pushing your buttons so you can be prepared for it.

If you are willing to stop and lower your adrenaline levels and then “turn on your head”, you will be able to negotiate and argue your ideas. By taking a deep breath and stepping back a little, you can get yourself up and running with a cool mind.

7. They express their wishes.
If certain people hurt you all the time, tell them in a restrained tone that their attitude is unacceptable. But just don’t use accusatory phrases for this - it’s better to use the following construction: “When you ..., it seems to me ...”.

For example: "When you are distracted during my speech at a meeting, it seems to me that you do not appreciate my work." Then pause to wait for a response. Maybe this person just misunderstood and thought that you had already finished your presentation.

8. They create distance.
If all the methods used have not yielded results, smart people leave a certain distance between themselves and what annoys them. Apologize and continue on your way. If this is all happening in an office, move to another room or take a seat at the opposite end of the conference table.

Being at a certain distance and having a perspective, you will be able to communicate only with those people who are attractive to you and not worry about relationships with those who annoy you.

Naturally, the situation would be much simpler if you could forever exclude people who are unsympathetic to you from your life. But, unfortunately, life is much more complicated.

If we delve deeper into judgments about stupidity, then many scientists and psychologists agree that stupidity is rather a temporary state of mind with which a person does not live all his life. But the time interval for such a "problem" may be different. A month is enough for one to change his condition and get back into the track of a wise and intelligent person. For others, even five years is not enough.

If we put the question from a slightly different angle and consider stupidity from the point of view of the problems that it brings, then we can definitely say that there are very few positive aspects in stupidity, both for the person himself and for his environment. So how do you recognize a stupid person? Most often, if a person is stupid, then in him you can notice several signs that recognize him.

Signs of a stupid person

There are many superficial reasons to consider a person a fool. But all of them can be combined into the main six signs of a stupid person.

So by what signs can you understand that a person is stupid? Let's figure it out.

Constant monologue

Dialogue is the exchange of useful information between interlocutors. The ability to listen and hear your companion is an important component of communication with people in society. Only a stupid person lacks this component. Anyone who does not understand and does not accept the main factors that contribute to healthy communication between people will find it difficult to find an interlocutor and take a high place in society.

None of the people want to regularly contact a person who constantly uses monologues in speech and is not able to listen to the interlocutor.

Self-righteousness

Stupid people rarely focus on the versatility of the world. They do not take into account other people's opinions and views. Moreover, many of them believe that the planet Earth is absolutely round and does not even have any flattening. Such a view of the world is the highest degree of stupidity.

It is simply impossible to convince stupid people with such thinking of something. Whatever evidence the interlocutor or scientific literature provides them, such people will stand their ground and turn a blind eye to all the arguments of the opposite side.

Indifference to other people's opinions

A person suffering from stupidity is deeply convinced that the interlocutor is interested in his person. He is completely indifferent to the needs and interests of his opponent. The reasons for this behavior lie in the conviction that they are right. The consequence of this is the lack of need for feedback and selfishness.

Separation of good and bad

The sign of a stupid person is also in the one who is able to divide life only into black and white, bad and good. Ignoring shades and nuances can lead a fool into difficult life situations and despondency. Indeed, in a person’s life, sometimes there are more negative moments and situations than positive ones. But even in them it is necessary to highlight the positive aspects and take them into account in the future. But when a person has only negativity in his life (according to his judgment, of course), then you can lead your life into a dead end or even fall into depression.

Life is very multifaceted, and is not divided only into black and white. It all depends on the situation, the worldview of the person and his capabilities.

Gross violation of the rules of etiquette

The basic and most important rules of etiquette are instilled in every person in childhood. But if the rules are also permissible for a child, then an adult educated person is obliged to adhere to them.

A sign of stupidity is the loud behavior of a person in places where it is not allowed: at the workplace, in public transport, in the theater. There are, of course, exceptions in the form of charismatic people with a "loud" disposition. But they also allow themselves such behavior only in places that are permissible for this.

Absence of fear

In our society, we have to deal with people who are absolutely not afraid of anything. Jumping off a cliff, endless fights and deranged behavior? Of course, this is about them. The absence of fear is comparable to the absence of the instinct of self-preservation, and this is not only a sign of stupidity in a person, but also a signal of a serious mental illness. A person in any situation must control his actions and analyze them so as not to harm his body. It is inherent in us by nature itself.

The reverse side of this coin is constant fears that are not based on panic attacks. A person with signs of stupidity is afraid to make a phone call, go out to a crowded place, recite poetry in public, or go to an interview. Such behavior is most often not associated with psychological illnesses, but speaks of a person’s misunderstanding of why he needs it at all. This is necessary to overcome difficulties and gain experience. Without this experience and certain skills, a person will not be able to break through in society and overcome his fears.

Signs of a smart person: interesting facts

What are the fundamental differences between smart and stupid people? In views on life and behavior in society. With smart people, things are a little more complicated. As mentioned above, stupidity is a temporary state of mind. In smart people, the main distinguishing feature is memory, thanks to which a person quickly remembers information, and brain activity, which contributes to the rapid processing of information. The following is a detailed list of signs of an intelligent person.

versatility

In modern society, it is important and necessary to know information not only that which a person needs here and now, but also that which can help in the future. This is one of the main factors by which a person's mind is judged. The point is not only the need to know a large amount of information, but also an interest in many aspects of life.

For example, while working as a teacher of the Russian language, a person is also engaged in the study of foreign languages, anatomy and scientific literature. At the same time, such a hobby is embroidery and shooting classes. This example shows the versatility of an intelligent person who does not focus only on himself or his main job.

Attentiveness

Smart people focus on their interlocutor and his interests. Also, such people like to receive information more than to give it away. A person who is interested in communicating with different people becomes smarter.

moral values

Humiliation and immorality for smart people is considered unacceptable, no matter what the other person is. Such citizens understand that they will not elevate themselves by humiliating or insulting anyone. Also, smart people do not specifically show all their virtues and skills for the sake of recognition by society or any benefit. They will hide their talents until they really need them.

Responsibility

For smart people, attentiveness and responsibility are very important, especially when it comes to work. They are able not only to develop independently, but also to help their colleagues in moving up the career ladder. This is based on the desire to work with smart and educated people in a healthy team. For a smart person, the quality of work comes first, and then the quantity and career ladder.

Education

Today, education is a fundamental fact for a career. Without higher education, it is almost impossible to get a managerial position or a well-paid job. That is why most people believe that getting a higher education is one of the most important aspects in a person's life. But even if smart people have a few crusts, they will not put it on public display, since for a person with intelligence, constant self-education is much more important than a narrow specialty for life.

Optimism

A long time ago, scientists proved that our thoughts are interconnected with the events in our lives. Of course, this does not mean that one has only to want a huge cottage on the Caribbean coast, as tomorrow a person will have the keys to it. Thoughts are material in the sense when a person adjusts his thinking to the desired outcome of an event.

For example, having prepared in advance for a reduction, there is a high probability that a person will indeed be fired. And the point here is far from magic, but the fact that, having learned about the reduction, a person begins to fill all his thoughts with this negativity, while doing nothing in order not to be fired.

Smart people know that the right mindset and optimism helps in life and makes it easier. Positive thoughts contribute to the rapid assimilation of information and the resolution of problems. Even when there are bad moments in the life of smart people, they think ahead and, most likely, already know the ways to overcome the crisis.

How to distinguish a smart person from a fool?

Checking a person's mind is easy enough. One has only to carefully observe his behavior in different situations of life and talk with him. If a person with a mind can be identified easily enough in a short pastime, then a fool needs to be contacted for a longer time. After all, a person's mind is immediately visible, and stupidity may not always manifest itself. But a person does not always have free time to compare smart and stupid people. Yes, and sometimes you want to immediately understand who you are dealing with, and not waste your free time and emotions on fools. So how to distinguish a stupid person from a smart one in a couple of minutes?

  1. The first thing that the interlocutor should pay attention to is the emotions with which the person accepts criticism. A smart person will calmly accept all claims at his own expense and try to listen to someone else's opinion. The fool will reject all negative comments about his personality and will stand his ground.
  2. To tell a person that he is not competent in his specialty and does not have special mental abilities. Stupid people are selfish people who think they are fully versed not only in their job responsibilities, but in many aspects of life. A fool never admits to himself or to others that he is such. Smart people most often believe that they do not know much and do not recognize themselves as gifted people.
  3. For a person with a mind, the main component of life is the constant development and processing of new information. Such people cannot stay long without sources of new information and people. Smart people see society as colossal, they learn from other people and are not afraid to ask them for help. Fools, on the contrary, have a rather narrow outlook, the result of which is the same type of thoughts and standard thinking. Such people do not develop in any way, considering themselves sufficiently educated and gifted.
  4. Smart people don't wallow in illusions and don't wear rose-colored glasses. Only fools are actively involved in this, unable to soberly assess the situation and make the right choice, which is why they constantly sit still or step on the same rake. Smart people are able to quickly analyze the situation, find the right way out of it and see the prospects for their solution.

It is difficult to attribute oneself to any particular category of people, since most often a person does not see himself from the outside. You can ask your family and friends for help. If certain signs of a stupid person were noticed, introspection and constant self-development will help to cope with the problem. You also need to listen to the opinion of your own environment and analyze it. After all, sometimes what seems black at a certain angle becomes colored.