‘What is incorrectly perceived as a sign of intelligence?’ – 23 most relatable responses

There’s no end of people who are more intelligent than us, obviously. Nearly everyone, in fact.

But there are also lots of people who are perceived to be intelligent because of what they do or because of a particular character trait, when in fact they are nothing of the sort.

We only say this after Redditor Indianfattie asked this.

“What is incorrectly perceived as a sign of intelligence?”

And the answers came in thick and fast.

We’ve read them all – well, quite a few of them – so you don’t have to, and here are the 23 most likely to have you shouting ‘YES! THAT!’

1.

‘Being in charge.’
Ifyouhav2ask

2.

‘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

3.

‘Arrogance portrayed as confidence.’
athnme

4.

‘Wealth.’
richardec

5.

‘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

6.

‘Being able to memorise. Having a good memory is definitely helpful and often shows intelligence but just being able to spout facts does not mean you understand them or can think about things critically.’
potatoes4chipies

7.

‘Age.’
mseopswife

8.

‘Talking fast even if you’re saying the dumbest shit.’
WorkIsCool

9.

‘Having an opinion on literally everything. Especially having the need to share the opinions with everyone they encounter.’
TheMightySweater

10.

‘Grades.’
AllTheSmoke77

11.

‘Solving a Rubik’s cube.’
mindlessfrenchfry

12.

‘Cornering people in arguments with bullying tactics and acting like it means they “won”.’
RoboKraken3