
What I've Learned About Smart People. - tmacwilliam
http://tmac721.tumblr.com/post/17500383225/what-ive-learned-about-smart-people
======
kevinalexbrown
What the article doesn't mention is that the smartest of people perpetually
ask _themselves_ questions regarding what they believe they understand. It is
remarkably easy to convince yourself you understand something - a mathematical
proof, the Halting Problem, advantages of some programming
framework/style/language, when you're really just going through the motions
and remembering what others have said, kind of memorizing the proof rather
than reproducing it. "Of course I understand how genetics work, there are
genes and codons and RNA, and DNA helicase, etc" - I can say that, without any
ounce of extra understanding. Often I see this in mathematically oriented
people who know how to perform X data mining trick, but have no idea how it
works. That's perfectly fine - you don't always need to understand everything
to use it - but sometimes it breeds an arrogance. When people have a lot of
success without knowing the inner workings, they'll sometimes view questions
about them as pedantic at best.

But the article does hit dead on that smart people don't just ask questions
about things they don't understand themselves. They ask questions that
challenge what the world believes to be settled, 'obvious' and extremely
clear.

My favorite _How-To-Be-A-Smart-Person-By-Asking-Questions_ story, about
Wittgenstein, from Bertrand Russell:

 _When I was still doubtful as to his ability, I asked G. E. Moore for his
opinion. Moore replied, ‘I think very well of him indeed.’ When I enquired the
reason for his opinion, he said that it was because Wittgenstein was the only
man who looked puzzled at his lectures._ [1]

Incidentally, on the same page, I found perhaps my favorite genius quotation:

 _The genius is always puzzled by answers, it is the fool who is satisfied by
them._

[1]
[http://readingmarksonreading.tumblr.com/post/2565799967/pg-4...](http://readingmarksonreading.tumblr.com/post/2565799967/pg-40-of-
david-marksons-copy-of-fly-and-the)

~~~
GuiA
Richard Feynman said something to the effect of your first paragraph which
stuck with me:

 _"You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when
you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So
let's look at the bird and see what it's doing — that's what counts. I learned
very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing
something."_

~~~
thewisedude
Why is it that knowing what bird does is the only thing that counts? Maybe
sometimes knowing the name of the bird in a different language could help -
say if you go to a different country and have to communicate in the local
language.

I also think its important to question the statements made by smart people.
Times changes, what was applicable when the statement was made might not be
valid anymore!

------
kenjackson
A lot also has to do with comfort. If I'm the smartest person in the class I
feel a lot more comfortable asking questions. I know that if I have a question
then a good percentage of other people do too.

But if I'm not the smartest in the class (or simply not familiar with the
material) I may be more inclined to look on Google or follow-up afterwards
with the presenter. I don't know if the question I have is worth the time of
the 20 or 200 other people in the room. I just don't have the context to know.

So to me it's unclear if smart people ask questions because they're
comfortable or because that's what they naturally do. A good experiment --
take these same Turning Award winners to a basketball court and have them run
through some plays. See if they start asking questions like, "OK, I go left
here, but what if someone is setting a pick, should I switch?" or do they nod
their head...

~~~
samirahmed
what you say is very true. Asking questions in an environment of peers tends
to depend on confidence.

Questioning everything and asking questions are often different things in a
classroom environment.

A key premise of the Khan Academy is that students learning in the intimacy of
their own space enables slower students to learn and excel

~~~
ZeroGravitas
In Sal Khan's TED talk he displays a graph and claims they repeatedly saw
"slower" students catch up and excel. He then asked himself whether he (and
the audience) had benefited not by being better than their classmates but more
by luck that they didn't misunderstand (or simply miss) some early lesson and
then get left behind as the class moved on before they had a chance to grasp
it.

------
espeed
Humility is the key to understanding, but hubris often prevents people from
growing because they believe their understanding is right from the beginning.

For a while I have understood that people see the world in fundamentally
different ways, but about two years ago I had an epiphany that really
crystallized it for me. Now I see people existing in either one of two camps:

    
    
      1. Those who believe the world is the way they see it.
      2. Those who realize how limited their perspective is.
    

Alan Kay
([http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/alan_kay_shares_a_powerful...](http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/alan_kay_shares_a_powerful_idea_about_ideas.html))
has a developed a similar view. He often quotes the Talmud saying, "We see
things not as they are, but as we are.” And he often says, "We can't learn to
see until we admit we are blind".

When Jim Collins was doing his research for "How the Mighty Fall", he
identified hubris as being the first stage of decline for great enterprises
(<http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10565>). This is the concept of
"pride goes before the fall," and I believe one of the reasons for this is
because we stop asking questions and begin to "lean on our own understanding."

We become complacent with our picture of the world and continue on whatever
trajectory we were on when we stopped recalibrating. Unless we were right from
the start (which almost never happens in a dynamically changing world), we'll
veer farther off course.

A better way to go is to constantly be asking questions -- continually adding
to your perspective, refining it, and recalibrating your path based on what
you learn. As the saying goes, "you don't know what you don't know".

This seems so simple, but admitting you don't know everything and continually
asking questions requires humility.

~~~
itmag
Some things that hammered home this understanding for me (in order of
reputability): LessWrong.com, Myers-Briggs Type Indicators, Neuro-Linguistic
Programming, PUA.

These days, I mostly understand that there are always many perspectives and
try to see wisdom as the art of picking between perspectives. But sometimes I
get stuck in my old ways and search in vain for the "right"
opinion/perspective/paradigm/whatever. This no-one-true-perspective meta-
perspective means that life experience and hard-earned wisdom become much more
important factors for the good life.

~~~
vectorpush
_But sometimes I get stuck in my old ways and search in vain for the "right"
opinion/perspective/paradigm/whatever._

Then again, those who are convinced their way is the "right" way are often the
ones who have the biggest impact on the world (for better or worse).

~~~
olliesaunders
One of the things I’ve noticed in Einstein’s writings is that he had a
remarkable self-confidence and sense of certainty. Compare this with Darwin
who, when he initially conceived of natural selection, annotated the note
describing it with “I think” and proceeded to spend years gathering evidence
before mentioning it to anyone. Perhaps the comparison isn’t fair because
Darwin knew his idea would be highly controversial but, if it is, I think this
might suggest that there is no single correct stance on confidence versus
humility.

I’ve noticed in my programming that when I make errors that prevent me from
reaching a solution or lead to a cumbersome design my natural tendency is to
become more conservative with my ideas, thinking that it might have been
arrogance that caused the error. But, if I feel like I understand the error
well, I force myself to remain bold in the knowledge that my continued
boldness will be manifest in a completely different way with my new knowledge
and I will be successful much sooner than had I become timid. I don’t know who
said this, but it is a quote I like: _the solution to bad decisions is not to
stop making decisions; it’s to make better decisions._

------
j45
Truly smart people have always come across to me as not needing to prove how
smart they are

Smart people don't care to convert me to their way of seeing the world. Be it
using Ruby, Apple, or not, they are able to see a bigger, wider picture where
everything is possible with the right amount of understanding and well placed
effort.

Smart people see the patterns and similarities in everything that unite,
instead of the differences and exceptions that divide.

Smart people aren't righteous. They don't seek external validation /
conversion to fuel their own beliefs.

Smart people don't add to a situation if they're merely replacing one set of
confusing concepts with another (theirs). They are driven by clarity.

Smart people are genuinely, insatiably curious about everything.

Smart people know how to take the good from everything, and deeply understand
little knowledge is new, or truly unique.

Smart people I've met live in a mindset of possibility, not doubt or
skepticism. One fuels creativity, and the other douses.

~~~
VMG
> Smart people see the patterns and similarities in everything that unite,
> instead of the differences and exceptions that divide.

Smart people know that their brain recognizes patterns where there aren't any.
They know that they should not fool themselves.

> Smart people I've met live in a mindset of possibility, not doubt or
> skepticism. One fuels creativity, and the other douses.

Then they are the opposite of what the article is describing. Smart people I
know constantly question their own beliefs.

~~~
j45
Agreed all around.

I didn't say I agreed with the article, haha. ;)

Constantly questioning your beliefs can lead to constantly doubting
everything. Over time there is risk of only believing in doubts.

Developing a healthy curiosity that tests, clarifies and strengthens your
current understanding is that.

If there's one thing I would have added to the post above, it would be that
Smart people know that developing a correct mindset for the journey of
learning is far more important than the destination of feeling that they have
"arrived" with their level of understanding.

Too many people, think they're done once they arrive at their conclusions, or
hang onto them so dearly and fanatically based on all the work they've done.
Smart people, for me, are ready to piss everything they've believed into the
wind every day because of possibility.

------
ryanwhitney
Reminded my of this, from Gladwell's _Outliers_ :

"The way you were raised, namely with wealthy or less fortunate parents, also
plays a role. Gladwell explains that when wealthy parents drive their children
to the doctor, they tell their children things like, “Johnny, now if you have
any questions, be sure to ask the doctor. This is your opportunity to talk to
him about any health problems you’re having….” And so on.

In contrast, the children of poor parents may feel less entitled to this same
questioning. Instead, they accept what the doctor tells them straight out,
without surfacing concerns or criticisms. Gladwell then uses Chris Langan, a
genius with a 195 IQ who wasn’t able to succeed in college, as an example.
Langan failed to get a PhD (his goal) not because he lacked intelligence, but
because he had a mentality to passively accept the conditions and limitations
others imposed on him. Langan ended up dropping out of college because he
couldn’t convince his teachers to accommodate a simple change in his schedule
(a change he needed because his truck broke and he could no longer get to
campus early in the morning)."

~~~
redschell
Slightly off-topic, but I'm curious to hear more of what HN thinks about
Gladwell. Some writers and scientists I respect, perhaps most notably Steven
Pinker, have been vocally opposed to the "shoddy scholarship" of Gladwell's
work, while others, including many bloggers I've encountered here, have quoted
him with great enthusiasm (I believe Peter Norvig references his "10,000 hours
to expertise" figure from Outliers in his famous essay on becoming a
programmer in 10 years).

~~~
celoyd
I don’t think of myself as the HN mainstream, but probably few do.

I synthesize these positions on Gladwell.

#1, he’s not a scientist and not a science journalist. He doesn’t apply any
rigor to speak of: at best, he’s telling suggestive and insightful stories,
not proving or really getting to the bottom of anything. He leaves out huge
amounts of important information, especially when it would get in the way of
making a catchy point. This is extremely irritating when it’s implied –
usually by his readers, not by him – that he’s doing something more.

But #2, he’s good at what he does. If you approach it as engaging stories that
highlight quirky research, it’s entertaining and thought-provoking. I’ve
learned very little from Gladwell per se, but I’ve learned a lot from
following up on the actual science that he refers to. That’s valuable.

So I think it’s fair to say that Gladwell’s scholarship is shoddy, and his
writing is shallow and over-popularized and mostly anecdotal. But if you take
him as a good storyteller rather than a bad scientist, it can still be worth
reading.

If you want to like Gladwell but don’t, you might prefer John McPhee. He’s a
little more on the hard journalism side of the science popularizer spectrum.

------
mmaunder
Asking questions and knowing what you don't know and being honest about it is
super important. But so is moving forward, getting things done and leadership
and sometimes constantly questioning your world with fresh eyes every morning
can mess with these things. It's also exhausting.

I find folks who have been surrounded by extremely smart hands-on analytical
types most of their lives are slow moving and not great leaders because they
question absolutely everything. It's a reflex that develops because if you're
working with 20 other engineers building a rocket you don't want to be the guy
who said "lets just assume" or "screw it, lets just get it out the door".

Sometimes though, it's useful to have an arrogant ass around that makes a few
assumptions and keeps kicking the can down the road. Steve Jobs comes to mind.

~~~
lightcatcher
I completely agree with this sentiment. I think this blog post mostly
described the characteristics of a skeptic, and many "smart" people are
skeptics. However, I don't necessarily correlate skeptics with getting lots of
things done, like Steve Jobs did.

Ideally, there is some balance between making assumptions and asking questions
that leads to great leadership and innovation. I think this balance occurs
when one questions everything within a certain domain they wish to control
(for instance, Apple and how people interact with computers), but then just
accepts the common views for topics outside of their domain.

~~~
itmag
The people who get things done in this world are often, but not always,
cocksure bastards who never second-guess themselves. They may live their
entire lives in epistemological error but they don't give a rat's ass since
they succeed at laying wenches, closing sales, advancing up the corpolitical
greasepole, etc. Hell, they don't even actively not-care about the truth. The
thought that they may be wrong doesn't even enter their minds in the first
place. They are at philosophical unconscious incompetence. They just don't
care.

We can learn from this. Smart people should be winning! at life, after all.
Maybe a combo of strategical luminosity and tactical cocksurity can be found?
:)

As a matter of fact, this struggle to avoid the extremes of reckless delusion
on one hand and self-sabotage on the other, is one of my major life motifs.

------
edw519
_Going to Harvard means I have the very unique opportunity to be around a lot
of smart people._

Good for you. Even better for you is the fact that you recognize your
opportunity. How sad that so many people in your situation never do until it's
too late.

 _Now, when I say “smart people,” I don’t mean that guy who always wins trivia
night. I mean, blazingly intelligent individuals who are regarded as the pre-
eminent scholars in their field._

There are many vectors of smartness in both magnitude and direction. Some of
the smartest people I've ever known never went to college. You don't have to
be a "pre-eminent scholar" to be smart and there's nothing wrong with winning
trivia night.

 _It’s pretty amazing to pass by Turing Award winners and leading political
science scholars grabbing a sandwich._

The smarter you get the less amazing that will feel.

 _Before I go anywhere, let me make one thing clear: I am not one of these
smart people._

Hmmm, not sure I like the sound of that. Where are you going with this?

 _This is perhaps the biggest lesson I’ve learned after 3 years here._

Then it's a good thing you have one more year. Hopefully you'll learn a bigger
lesson. (Read on...)

 _There is an absolutely incredible number of smart people in the world, and I
can name a whole bunch of students and professors alike who I know for a fact
I will never ever ever be as smart as, no matter how hard I try._

How sad to hear you say that...

The purpose of college is not to become a greater repository of data.

The purpose of college is not to become a better accumulator of data.

The purpose of college is not to become better than anyone or anything else.

The purpose of college is to _see the possibilities_ and put yourself in
position to go after them.

You may not believe me now, but you are probably a whole lot smarter than many
people, including the smart ones you cite, at _something_ , perhaps _many
things_. And once you put yourself on the shoulders of giants, including your
own, you can geometrically catapult yourself into much higher spheres of
measure, including "smartness". But even then, so what?

It's now how smart you are, you rich you are, or even you good you are, it's
what you can imagine doing with all those "assets" and how you can positively
affect the lives of others. If you learn nothing else in college, I sincerely
hope that you come away with this mindset.

 _...but I have noticed one overarching theme among smart people: they ask
questions._

Wow. It sounds like you learned something in college that I didn't learn until
years later. And I thought I was so smart.

 _After all, I don’t want this person to think I’m a moron._

Smart people don't care about that.

 _The intonation of the question and the intensity with which the professor
listened to the response definitively suggested that the professor’s question
was genuine, and that the answer was of great importance._

What a great lesson. Which reminds me that two of the smartest things you can
ever do is keep learning _and_ keep teaching. Thank you.

 _Smart people challenge the very limit of human understanding, and push the
envelope of what’s possible farther than many people would argue it’s meant to
be pushed. Smart people don’t take claims at face value, and smart people
don’t rest until they find an explanation they’re comfortable accepting and
understanding._

Therefore, you become smarter simply by claiming that you're smarter, right?
(Notice this is the opposite of "I know for a fact I will never ever ever be
as smart as, no matter how hard I try.".)

 _Smart people challenge everything._

Hmmm, I wonder if "challenge everything" = "see the possibilities". I think
I've learned something.

 _(You know who taught me that? A smart person.)_

That's great, but please don't overlook all that you can learn from people
that may not seem so smart.

 _Maybe someday, people will call me a smart person._

The smartest thing you can ever do is stop caring how smart others think you
are.

 _For now, I’m going to keep asking them questions._

I take back what I said before. It sounds like you've already learned more in
3 years than many learn in a lifetime. But you probably already knew that,
being as smart as you are.

Thanks for the great post and the chance for interesting discussion. I feel
smarter already.

[EDIT: Any notion that I was making fun or teasing OP was most definitely
unintended. This was a great post! (Sounds like I now need a <NoSarcasm>
tag.)]

~~~
larrys
"please don't overlook all that you can learn from people that may not seem so
smart."

I love that you said this. One of the things that smart people do is learn
something from anyone they can about anything they can.

I met a bellhop once in Florida. He had moved his entire family to Orlando. I
think he came from some less desirable place up north. But he had enough
smarts to realize that if he was going to cart bags for a living it might as
well be in a nice warm place instead of a cold city area.

I learned a few valuable theories that I've used for years of giving estimates
from an electrician as a child. (I'm not suggesting that an electrician isn't
smart only that they don't usually get picked as "pre-eminent scholars" that
the OP is writing about.)

~~~
JamesNelson
Could I ask what those valuable theories you learnt are?

~~~
larrys
When someone asks you a price for a repair, quote that single repair only.
Resist the temptation to quote other jobs that they ask of shiny ball fashion.

The reason for this he explained (and what I later found to be true) was that
if the cost of everything asked for was to high many times the customer ended
up doing _nothing_.

So you get the first job locked up. Once you have that work started or the
price agreed to only then do you quote additional work.

------
tnicola
Asking questions is not only a trait of smart people, but it is quite possibly
the simplest most effective tool that can set you appart in many things.

Think about the last time you bought something where you had a great sales
experience. How many questions did the sales person ask? Think about last time
you were on a great date? Did the person ask questions about you.

Asking questions is a sign of validated learning and active listening and
those two concepts are the way we better ourselves and our surroundings.

~~~
uuilly
Agreed. I think asking questions is more a trait of successful people. Most of
the very high IQ people I've worked with have been much more likely to make
bad decisions by not asking questions than lower IQ people. When I interview
people I don't look for intelligence as much as I look for awareness of the
the limits of a person's intelligence. Intelligence will not cure hubris. And
from what I've experienced, intelligence and hubris are highly correlated. I'm
glad to hear that the author of this article has had a different experience.
There is nothing more delightful than working with a person with a high
horsepower brain who is good at steering it.

------
csomar
Is there a difference (or some way to differentiate) a smart person from a
very skilled professional?

I'm asking this question to see if a Smart Person is the byproduct of getting
skilled in a different set of areas, and getting very professional and focused
in one or two.

I'm certainly not as smart as some fellow HNers here. But, few minutes ago, I
have been reading blog posts and emails I wrote 6 years ago. "What a retard I
was!"

~~~
rokhayakebe
>I'm certainly not as smart as some fellow HNers here.

I tell the following to my roommate weekly: "These guys (referring to HN) are
'wicked smart'". HN certainly makes me humble about what I think of myself.

>What a retard I was

No, you've grown a lot. I got back to my writings of even 1 year ago and I can
see the difference.

------
daviddaviddavid
It's worthy asking "Why do smart people ask questions?"

I think the answer is that when they don't fully understand something there is
some sort of mental itch that just has to get scratched. Things just don't
feel right until all of their questions are answered.

Also, I can't help but note how much these endlessly inquisitive smart people
sound like the old gadfly Socrates. If philosophy has anything going for it,
it is that it teaches one to ask questions about matters that are typically
taken for granted.

~~~
larrys
"It's worthy asking "Why do smart people ask questions?""

Smart people also are secure in what they know and what they don't know and
aren't afraid to show it.

If you asked PG, Fred Wilson or Steve Blank about a company - if they had
heard of it - they wouldn't feel self conscious if they hadn't. They would
probably assume it just wasn't well known at that point.

If you asked the same question to a "newbie" on HN I'm not sure they would be
so secure to admit the same because they wouldn't know how ubiquitous the
company was. And they would be afraid of showing how clueless they were.

I mean if you are in a meeting and are an expert on the subject matter you
feel pretty secure that if you have a question it's not a dumb question.
Nobody likes to ask the dumb question.

I've notice with customers that call us that an overwhelming number of (at
least smart sounding) people start the conversation with "this might be a dumb
question". It's like laying down with your belly exposed to acknowledge what
you don't know.

~~~
tnicola
> If you asked the same question to a "newbie" on HN I'm not sure they would
> be so secure to admit the same because they wouldn't know how ubiquitous the
> company was. And they would be afraid of showing how clueless they were.

This would only hold true if they were conditioned to fear the reaction of
them not knowing. If someone had never heard of Google and they admitted that,
if someone simply said 'it's a commonly used search engine' without much
negative connotation, they will not be afraid to admit not knowing something
similar in the future.

However, if you laugh, point, call them a 'newbie' and make them leave the
room with their heads hung in shame, then yes, they may be more careful next
time.

It boils down to respect. If you respect people, even if they don't know the
obvious, then they will have an opportunity to learn and thrive.

If PG acted immaturely every time someone admitted they did not know something
that was obvious to him, he quite possibly would not be able to do what he
does.

------
75c84fb8
So do they ask questions because they're smart, or are they smart because they
ask questions?

~~~
epscylonb
I don't think the author implied anything other than correlation, but
interesting question none the less.

~~~
codeonfire
The author is also implying that all 'smart' people ask questions, people who
don't ask questions are not smart, and that dumb people don't ask questions.
And without any controls, claims that 'smartness' fully explains why questions
are asked. He even refers to some anonymous "research and findings" which he
forgot to cite.

------
c0riander
Smart people ask questions because they have enough confidence that they are
smart to expose their ignorance.

Acting like you know everything doesn't come from a place of intelligence - it
comes from a place of fear, that the other person knows more than you, that
they will judge you, that a "smart person" would know what you don't know.
I've forced myself to ask questions many times in meetings when I thought the
answer was probably obvious to everyone else - only to discover that others
had been wondering the same thing.

------
gbhn
Another thing I've learned about smart people is that they're basically always
willing to tell you what they know. This is super-encouraging to me as someone
who is nowhere near as smart as them.

Another way to think about this: the smart people are happy to tell me what I
need to know to succeed, so I don't have to be disadvantaged by not being as
smart. I do, however, have to be humble enough to be a good listener, and have
some discernment to know who to listen to.

------
codeonfire
I think you have to be careful about making blanket statements and whether you
are saying that smart people ask questions or are trying to imply that people
that ask questions are smart.

It is in the interest of the speaker to claim that audience members who ask
questions are in some way smarter. Being asked a question implies that the
speaker has knowledge that the audience doesn't. So of course the speaker is
going to claim those people are smart.

It is also not a good thing to presume that audience members are not asking
questions simply to draw attention to themselves and to impress other audience
members. People with awards are more probably than not to be smart, but they
needed a lot of visibility to get those awards.

An important question would be to ask, "which non famous person is asking lots
of questions, and is that person smart?" Since the author seems to define
smart as having won awards and being well known in a field, this question
fails immediately.

Personally, unless it is unpublished research, I can get most of my questions
answered immediately by surfing along while listening and without disrupting
the talk. It's also funny when I pull up wikipedia and it either turns out to
have the same content as the talk, or directly contradicts the talk.

------
jarrett
It's not so meaningful to compare the relative intelligence of people within
the upper echelons of intelligence--which is where you appear to be, along
with those award-winners you mention. Which is not to disagree with any of
your points. Rather, I'm just saying you don't need to worry about being less
smart than all those eminent Harvard professors, because you're already in a
league where such comparisons don't work.

What defines this league, and how _can_ people in it be compared?

I think its boundaries have something to do with a general ability and desire
to learn, and a breadth and depth of knowledge about important things in the
world at large. (The knowledge criterion has to take into account age. You
know less now than you will at 50, but that's obviously not a mark against
you.)

Amongst such people, the only meaningful comparisons are far more specific
than "more smart" and "less smart" can capture. You can meaningfully talk
about, say, one's ability to solve an electrical engineering dilemma, or to
pleasingly arrange the samples in a hip-hop song. But not relative smartness,
not in this league.

This is one case where the truth is actually more comfortable than the myths
we tell ourselves.

------
omerta
I think the author of the article is pretty inaccurate in his analysis of
students at Harvard. I think the article reflects poorly on Harvard, to be
honest. The author is about as smart as my shoe.

Usually, the ones who continually ask questions and run their mouths in class
are the ones who are extremely interested in their respective field of study.
Interest creates curiosity and excitement, and both are required for someone
to continually want to ask questions and learn more about whatever subject.

The other students who do not continually ask questions are either shy or are
just going through the motions at college, so they do not really care.

If you are a student at Harvard, you probably have above-average fluid-
intelligence, regardless of what you accomplish with it. The more you ask
questions and the more interest you have in a subject, the more knowledge you
will gain in that said subject (crystallized intelligence). But it doesn't
mean people who do not continually ask questions have any less fluid
intelligence.

------
zeynalov
I think it's a paradox. What does smart mean? Smart = knowing as much
information as possible (or knowing how and where to get information when it's
needed) + gifted with normal logic. So if smart knows best, why does he/she
need to ask? If he's smart enough, doesn't it mean that he/she must be least
asking one?!

Edit: I remembered something. There was a man called Said Nursi in Ottoman
Empire in 20th century. He is recognized as one of smartest people ever. When
he was in his 20s, after graduating 4 universities he opened a bureau in
Istanbul and wrote on it's door "Here will be all questions answered and no
questions asked" After answering most paradoxal questions ever he was already
famous in Europe. In first days of Turkish republic people invited him to
parliament, and then to be the president of Turkey. He rejected and started to
write his famous books. Nowadays there are 300 millions of his students
calling themselves "Nurcular" in turkish.

------
davidf18
IMHO much of asking questions is largely cultural. For instance, at the
Passover Seder the youngest child asks (with prior coaching from their
parents) the "four questions."

My father is a prof at a "top university" and in my family we were always
encourage to ask questions and discuss issues. My friends grew up in similar
households. But I don't think these were typical households. My perception is
that in some Asian cultures the children are less likely to be encouraged to
question than the environment that I grew up in. Also, many women are more shy
than men and perhaps less likely to ask a question that was on their mind.

Regarding hiring decisions, the one thing I look for is whether people will
argue with me or not. I look for the people that question and argue with
passion.

------
jczhang
So what do you do if you're in an environment that discourages asking dumb
questions you might have?

~~~
tnicola
If there truly is an enviromnment that discourages asking questions because
they deem them as 'dumb', then you need to work to improve such environment.

In my experience, the only time questions were discouraged (and almost always
in the interest of time) was because it was otherwise possible to get an
answer to your questions.

Can you give an example of the environment you would be talking about?

~~~
neilparikh
One big one is high school. (I'm in high school right now) If I ask one or two
questions, it's fine, but if I ask more questions, all of which are serious
questions that I truly want to know the answer for, the teacher usually gets
annoyed. It probably is due to the fact that there isn't much time in the
class to cover all the material and answer questions, but it irritates me
nonetheless.

~~~
tnicola
In high school (and I truly hate to be the one to tell you this), it is quite
possble that your teacher doesn't know the answer, so he is annoyed at you for
asking questions so that you do not expose his/her shortcomings.

A lot of high school teachers know little past what they are actually teaching
and even that not in a lot of depth. This is for a lot of reasons, some of
them not their fault, but it is a sad fact.

So, keep asking and keep annoying them. Try going and asking during their
office hours, but don't be surprised if you do not get a satisfactory answer
and if it does not seem satisfactory, I would question its validity.

~~~
neilparikh
Thanks for that advice. Also, what do you mean by "office hours"? I've heard
that phrase used, but never really knew what it meant.

~~~
tnicola
'Office hours' are a college term. It's the time that teachers or professor
allot for students to go get extra help. A place where your teacher keeps
their purse (sort to speak). It's away from the teaching environment where
teachers can focus on your lack of knowledge or desire to expand it.

Keep in mind though. High school teachers are mostly overworked. Even the ones
that know what they are talking about (some don't - we established that
already), so do cut them some slack and be curteous. But keep asking
questions. And if they don't answer, ask anyone who will. Read, explore and
keep learning. It's what keeps us alive and what - at least according to this
post - keeps us smart.

Good luck and you are on the right track to greatness.

~~~
lurker17
> It's away from the teaching environment

Interesting choice of words. Office hours _are_ the "teaching environment".
The classroom is the (increasingly obsolete) bulk information transfer
environment.

~~~
tnicola
Yes, you're right. However, given I said it's a place you can expand your
knowledge, it's clear that by saying away from teaching environment, that I
meant classical teaching (lecturing literally). Sheesh!

------
Confusion

      Smart people challenge everything.
    

I don't understand why that is offered as the take-away, because the article
does not support it. It supports the take-away that smart people _ask
questions_. The examples do not mention questions that challenge what has been
said, but rather questions that result in a better understanding of what has
been said.

Challenging people is not always the optimal way of exchanging information.
When you think someone is wrong, asking questions to understand why they think
something will work or is correct is sometimes much more constructive. This is
in cases when it leads you to discover a different underlying assumption, a
different main goal, a piece of information you missed, ...

~~~
cj
I disagree. Asking questions is most often a way of challenging something.

For example, in the lecture hall example the students thought they understood
the guest lecture and the only person to ask a genuine question was the
tenured professor. The way I interpreted it was that the students accepted
their understanding of the subject as "good enough" while the professor wanted
to be 100% certain he understood the subject correctly. _The professor
challenged his own understanding_.

------
aDemoUzer
The article made a good point and I agree with it. In most of my classes, I
was usually one of the or the only person who would either ask questions or
attempt to give an answer. Equally important trait of a smart person is the
willingness to answer a question - even when you are not fully sure. It is a
great mean to understand new concepts.

1\. If I am right, it validates my understanding of the concept.

2\. If I am wrong, it bring misinformation to surface and gives me a reason to
go over previously discussed material. If I never had experience where I was
wrong, it puts me in the cycle of "I know everything, so I don't need to
study."

3\. It keeps me awake in class because asking and answering questions requires
paying attention in class.

------
afterburner
"After all, I don’t want this person to think I’m a moron."

Kudos for him recognizing that in himself. It is the single most problematic
and annoying aspect of most middle and upper managers. Fear of looking dumb
feeds on itself.

------
kmfrk
Don't get caught writing "very unique" at Harvard. Being unique is binary. :)

I don't like words like "smart" - and "stupid" - but I can recognize some of
the qualities associated with them. One of the biggest is to know what you
don't know, to not be complacent and arrogant. The people I respect the most
are humble people, and I think it comes down to this.

I don't know what the definition of "smart" is, but I think you sound like a
smart person for knowing that you don't have it all figured out - and want to
fill in the gaps, even though it means telling other people.

~~~
gallamine
> Being unique is binary

What is the probability of being unique?

~~~
mturmon
You can layer a probability on almost any property, and that has nothing to do
with whether it is a yes-or-no proposition.

A coin being heads-up is a binary property, yet it could be associated with a
probability.

------
stretchwithme
Another reason to answer every question your child asks and reward them with
useful information no matter how probing the question might be.

And also take care that schools reward this to, to the extent possible.

------
iskander
I would like to ban the word smart from common discourse. It _looks_ like it
describes something, but actually masks the reality of the how someone can
look 'smart' in a situation.

------
analyst74
While I agree to the notion that asking question is important to get smarter
knowledge-wise, I think we programmers tend to over-estimate the importance of
intelligence in real life.

For example, when you need to convince others (need high confidence in
whatever you believe in), to gain trust(depends on your audience), to increase
social ranking (asking lot of question is sign of being a good protege), to
hide weakness (sometimes you don't want the other party to know how much you
know/don't know), etc etc

------
saulrh
So far I've been one of those smart people (though I'm finally finding people
that are smarter than I am, and it's a great feeling), and I have my parents
to thank for it. As far as I can tell, one of the big things they did was
answer my questions. Without fail. Even through the entire "why?" stage, I
cannot consciously remember a single instance in which my parents didn't at
least provide at least a hook that I could use to keep looking on my own.

------
ramses
One point the author may be missing, is that smart people do not learn to ask
question. Instead, asking questions is a side-effect of being extremely
curious, which is a core characteristic of smart people.

Similarly, how can someone learn to ask questions without being sufficiently
curious, or at least sufficiently motivated to learn about a particular
subject? I guess the answer is: with a lot of work.

------
arvind_bhat1
There was a similar post posted on Friday I think which spoke of the concept
of 'Flow'(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)>) and how to
achieve. It also referenced Gladwell's 10000 hours theory.

Does anyone remember what the link was? Please post it here if you do. Thanks
:)

------
thewisedude
Somebody told me once, if you ask a question - you may appear to be a fool for
a minute. If you dont ask the question, you are a fool for the rest of your
life. Of course, this saying cant be taken too literally, but I think the idea
is: to learn something new, keep your ego aside, ask questions and improve
your understanding!

------
wisty
I think it's a hasty generalization to say "smart people ask questions". It's
more general to say "smart people get to the bottom of things, unless it's
obviously an intellectual tarpit (hello postmodernists)."

That's why they ask questions. Even if they hate doing it, they have to find
out, at just about any cost.

------
lurker17
> Going to Harvard means I have the very unique opportunity to be around a lot
> of smart people.

My high school English teacher mocked Harvard students who used term "very
unique". "uniqueness" is a binary (not continuous/leveled) attribute (and
"very" is a near-meaningless word).

------
stretchwithme
Knowledge is built from the ground up. The more knowledge (and experience) you
integrate into your brain, the smarter it is.

There is an innate ability to do this integration and some people do it more
easily.

But those who use their abilities most often and without fear build their
brains faster.

------
makronized
Not asking questions may also mean that we're losing our contact with teachers
(in this case specifically), not meant as those trying to teach you how to do
something, but as people who can teach something that's not written inside a
book.

------
jroseattle
In thinking about "smart" in the abstract sense or in relation to others, I
draw on the logic of Forrest Gump: smart is as smart does. (Forrest said
"stupid is as stupid does", but same corollary applies.)

------
MrJagil
The one quote that has led me on to _greater smartness_ is that of (i believe)
Socrates:

"The only thing I know, is that I don't know anything."

Remind yourself of that whenever you feel smart, and you will soon feel your
mind expanding.

------
UK-Al05
I think this mostly comes with age. Older people tend to sceptical and
challenge everything anyway. Probably because they have been screwed over a
few times in their life and ask questions.

------
yason
I don't necessarily want to be around smart people but around wise people.
However, there's no specific place to go. They're both all around but also in
very small quantities.

------
sagantio
How are intelligence and knowledge related? I perceive that for many people
intelligence depends on how much do you know about something.

------
Joss451
I've noticed the pseudo-smart are quite annoyed by questions. RTFM, they
reply. That's pseudo-smart for "I don't know".

~~~
westicle
Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish for himself and
he'll have fish for the rest of his life.

There is a time and a place for asking questions, and if you regularly need to
ask questions to which you can easily find an accurate/complete answer to
without help you'll probably learn more from "learning to fish".

------
juiceandjuice
Smart people ask questions because they are smart enough to know what they
don't know.

You can't know until you don't know.

------
jcdietrich
What did you learn about smart people?

------
Mordor
Unfortunately, this also means 'stupid' people accept everything they're given
:-(

------
hnmember
smart people may or may not ask questions, that depends on the situation.
professors, however, usually do ask questions; most of the time just to
announce their presence and attract attention.

------
mangoman
I ask questions...

if only correlation implied causation...

------
Craiggybear
Sigh. Define "smart people".

A lot of people I've seen described as smart are either a) actually good at
making money (not necessarily legally) or b) good at manipulating people to
get what they want. I describe this as cunning, rather than smart. Although
they _may_ be smart, too -- but that's quite rare in my experience.

But, yes, smart people tend not take anything at face value or believe
everything they are told by the media.

Going to institutions like Harvard is not in itself a measure of smart,
necessarily. All it usually represents is a disposable income.

~~~
Gustomaximus
People also confuse "smart" with ability to memorise. I've had this when I
read some history book and the topic comes up and you suddenly have loads of
information on an obscure topic. People will say how smart you are. But IMO
this has nothing to do with smart. My definition of smart is more a brains
ability to ad insight to facts with thought, not just recall them by rote.

------
FredBrach
"The important thing is to not stop questionning" - Albert Einstein

------
zinnaglism
I agree and I've written about this in 2012:
<http://lukas.zinnagl.com/2010/12/asking-questions/>

------
drstrangevibes
if correlation does not imply causation, then asking questions will not
necessarily make you any smarter, no?

------
vacri
Smart people also:

\- don't use low-contrast text, which obfuscates their message

\- have a comments section for feedback, rather than a 'reblogged' section for
desperate popularity

