Stupid Things Smart People Do

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

It turns out that smart people are also prone to doing stupid things, they just do not pay attention to it and suffer the consequences themselves.

Are smart people so ideal and insured against stupid actions? In fact, it makes no difference how educated you are, because even the smartest person has a whole list of stupid things that he regularly does in his life.

Sawhorse founder LeeSemel shared his list of stupid things smart people tend to do.

Ignoring the importance of design and style

When the iPod was released, technicians complained about the lack of features and the overpricing. Meanwhile, users were lining up for a novelty because of the convenience and ease of use of this particular player.

Pride in using terrible tools

This is most common among programmers who pride themselves on using programming languages and text editors without a hint of design or updates since the 1970s. They believe super-complex teams and processes are a matter of pride, not a waste of time. I will not highlight specific programming languages and tools here, so as not to provoke meaningless discussions and disputes.

Follow and copy

Often, many smart people become followers without thinking that they could create something new and unique. Probably due to the fact that they spent a lot of time and effort achieving academic success in an already established environment. The best graduates of top schools try to get jobs in the same areas where they were successful during their studies, because they believe that they should achieve what others expect of them, regardless of their own desires.

Failure to develop social skills

Often, smart people focus on a narrow circle of their own interests and will never understand that the most important thing is always accomplished through connections with other people. They never try to improve their communication skills, do not learn to network, do not know how to sell themselves, and often criticize those who excel in their field for their success.

Focusing on your own righteousness

Many smart people act as if being right is the trump card they have, and if others find out they are wrong, they will treat them differently. They also often believe that they can change the minds of other people through arguments, ignoring the fact how irrational people behave when it comes to making decisions.

Overconfidence

Sometimes smart people think that if they are experts in their field, they automatically become so in other areas in which they know nothing. The result is often disastrous. For example, doctors turn out to be bad investors.

Underestimating effort and practice

Smart people come across many things easily and effortlessly. They are used to being praised for whatever they do well, and it is because of this that they often deliberately avoid things where they may not achieve praiseworthy results. As a result, they believe that if something doesn't work out, it means “it's not yours,” and they just throw it in the dustbin. Over time, the likelihood that these people lag behind their colleagues increases, as they do not develop natural talent and do not learn new things.

Overcompetition

Each market has many smart people worthy of high awards. However, only a few of them can reach the highest ranks, make the list of the best CEOs, or become a professor of the humanities. And as a result of this, they simply compete with each other, not noticing other areas where they can also succeed. It is difficult for them to go beyond and be flexible. And all that remains is a fierce struggle.

Comparing your achievements with those of others

Smart people tend to compare their successes with the successes of colleagues, friends, or even strangers from a related field or the same age. And often this comparison and desire to be no worse than others comes to absurdity. For example, tormenting myself with questions, "If I didn't become successful in my 20s, can I ever be successful in my life?" or “Am I considered a failure if I didn't become a billionaire in my 30s? And at 40?"

Exaggerating the value of information

Often times, smart people love to read and can digest a huge amount of information on any subject. They read absolutely everything that catches their eye on a topic of interest to them, without missing a sentence. Of course, there is a lot of valuable and useful information that you should pay attention to, but at the same time, viewing a huge amount of information on the network can be a waste of time. This turns into a collection of information, without any action.

Elitism

Smart people often consider education and wit as the main value of a person. As a result, they do not understand people who are different from them. Like when a Yale professor couldn't find anything to talk to his plumber about.