- Hello, Psych2Goers.
Welcome back.
Have you ever met someone who could fake their
intelligence to fool everyone?
They dazzle others with big words
and lofty ideas convincing everyone
of their vast brain power,
but in the end it all turns out to be a ruse,
leaving you, confused.
People like this are pseudo intellectuals,
pseudo, meaning false,
and intellectual meaning an intelligent person.
But how can we spot pseudo intellectuals
before we get sucked into their false persona.
To learn more about this, here are five signs
someone is faking their intelligence.
Number one, they overuse and misuse advanced vocabulary.
Are they like a walking thesaurus?
Pseudo intellectuals tend to always feel the need
to inject the longest words
and most advanced phrases into every conversation.
Even when it's unnecessary.
Instead of inviting you to lunch,
they entreat you to partake
in their midday sustenance ritual.
They use language as a tool for intimidation and self gain.
So when you ask them to explain, they can respond
with a self-satisfied smirk or personal insult.
Even worse, they often use the wrong pronunciation
or meaning for their advanced phrases
because they care more about showing
off than really understanding what they're saying.
On the other hand,
people with genuine intelligence
will value clear communication.
This means using advanced vocabulary
only when it's appropriate and being open to explaining
things when others don't understand.
Number two,
they brag about their intelligence all the time.
Do you know someone who won't stop talking
about their own intelligence?
Their self-proclaimed genius is the only part
of their personal identity.
And they don't hesitate to let everyone know
about it all the time.
They constantly brag
about their intellectual hobbies for no reason,
complain about how their high intelligence is somehow
a curse or accuse all of society
of being ignorant and tasteless.
They take every opportunity to compare themselves to others
and proclaim how they are mentally superior.
But people with genuine intelligence, won't be like this.
Instead, they're comfortable with their mental abilities
and won't need to or want to waste their time
convincing people of how smart they are.
Number three, they always repeat profound quotes.
Are they constantly speaking in quotes?
For every occasion,
they can cite a profound saying from a high level thinker.
Talk about family and they cite Confucius,
about school detention and they cite Kafka.
And for pop music, they'll cite Adorno.
It sounds quite intelligent at first,
but upon deeper examination, you may come to realize
that the quotes aren't valuable or even relevant
to the conversation.
Ultimately, pseudo intellectuals
will exploit the credentials
of past thinkers as a smoke screen to appear knowledgeable,
rather than having any original ideas of their own.
On the flip side, people with genuine intelligence
will say a quote only when it contributes
real value to the discussion,
rather than just to show off the big names they know.
Number four, they derail conversations
with pointless intellectual questions.
Can they stick to the point of a conversation
without turning it into some grand intellectual argument?
No matter how casual a discussion is,
a pseudo intellectual will always find a way to hijack
by asking provocative, but pointless questions.
Highly abstract questions that nobody can answer
or pedantic questions to undermine you.
So if you say that you had a good day,
they may respond with,
what does it really mean to enjoy life?
People would genuine intelligence,
on the other hand, will ask deep questions
to make a meaningful contribution, indulge their curiosity
and to further the main point
of the discussion and number five,
they act like they have everything figured out.
Are they always on about knowing how the world works?
Pseudo intellectuals often have very rigid beliefs
about society, politics, religion, and so on.
They're not open to genuine discussion.
And when faced with a difference in opinion,
they'll simply state that you're wrong,
insult your intelligence,
inflate their own credentials and claim
that their viewpoint is just too obvious to explain.
This stands in stark contrast to people
with genuine intelligence who are open-minded
and who understand that the world has no simple answers.
Do you relate to any of the traits we've mentioned?
If you've made it to the end,
drop an emoji in the comments below
and let us know what you think.
Also, don't forget to like and share this
if you think it will help someone else.
Thanks so much for watching and see you in the next video.