Smartness is a combination of intelligence, knowledge, good soft skills and an attractive personality. , Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
MAll parents lament that their children are not very intelligent. But does talent always pay?
As the competition obviously gets intense, many people also love to watch the brilliant kids of their friends and neighbors fail. Kids feeling the heat of competition feel like no one understands them. Everyone has high expectations from him. They get into the habit of overthinking, overanalyzing and overjudging which blocks all their happiness.
Everyone is brighter than someone else in one way or the other. Remember Albert Einstein’s powerful statement that everyone is a genius and that a fish should not be judged by its ability to climb a tree.
For all the hype leading up to the top rankers, we realize that there are certain pitfalls that come your way. You are informative. You are logical. You know what your talkin about. You can easily spot fallacies in debate and counter them just as easily and effectively. that is great.
But other participants don’t like having their stand questioned, their argument invalidated, and their choices falsified. You can prove yourself as a “know” person, but it can be embarrassing for the other person. On many occasions, brilliant people make the impression that they can do everything on their own without any help.
Genius cannot be a function of the intellect, but merely a device of rote knowledge. But smartness is a combination of intelligence, knowledge, good soft skills and an attractive personality. It is a misconception that being intelligent and brilliant is in itself a superpower to conquer the world. This is a myth largely propagated by the rank holders themselves. There are many more such as emotional intelligence, social outlook, empathy, compassion – all of which should not be underestimated among Centum and Rank.
But is being smart always to your advantage? There are instances where mediocre talent works out better. What do sociologists believe? Critical reflection and shrewdness are definitely positives. But when too many brilliant individuals have too many opinions, work slows down.
Many employers, these days, prefer second class graduates for an unifying effect. Satisfied people in an environment easily form a consensus and that consensus leads to more enthusiasm which leads to more success. Super brilliant minds get depressed when a job doesn’t meet their level of intelligence.
But being generous can keep you stuck in your current job for a long time. Being exceptionally good at a low-level job can prove to be a deterrent. Boss will keep you as an assistant and earn good name and fame by your sweat.
After all, there’s a big difference between acting slow and acting really fast, and acting like you’re just a few cards short of the deck. The trick is not to play dumb, but to learn when to display your intelligence and when to hide it.
You may not feel the urge to be accepted all the time, but you will prove to be a huge success in times to come. Don’t worry about being thought a little slow. A better future lies ahead. By being slow and asking silly questions, especially during negotiations, the opposing side can reveal details they shouldn’t.
This is not to prevent the students from achieving greater heights, but to advise them of the reality of the situation and assess their real worth.
Real smartness is knowing when to look smart and when to act smart. Silence works well if you are smart enough to know when not to show up and act smartly.
Vathsalaj@yahoo.com