聪明：你怎么知道一个人是聪明人

How do I know if someone is smart or not?Hugo Ferreira Garcia, works at FuturesLabUpdated Jul 10Imagine this situation:2 individuals are having a conversation. One of them is talking very confidently about a certain topic with a complex vocabulary, making curious relations that the other seems to be missing.the other is just there listening and making a huge effort to understand. Every now and then, he makes a question and asks the explainer about something he said, or he rephrases or reframes what he heard to see if he is understanding correctly. He might even ask how did the explainer come to that conclusion?The explainer might smile with a condescending look, throw a few new words, and recall his experience or titles. He will probably use expressions like “can you understand?”.He might also throw some historical facts or political positions in the middle, and conclude ideas with a “trust me. I Know”.And the listener, keeps going back and forward on what he says trying to make sense.Now, let me be very clear. The explainer is an idiot repeating some ideas that he heard in college or read on Facebook. Every idiot can sound smart, just by saying something smart.Smart people, on the other hand are always trying to learn something new. They weren’t born smart, they are just addicted to learning. Being smart is the ability to learn, question and structure knowledge in way to create even more knowledge.So, it´s harder do detect smartness than the lack of it. But if you ask a smart person something about his field in a way he is not expecting, he will be entertained by the challenged and will try to explain in your language.This doesn’t mean there aren’t complex words. A medical doctor will know a lot of complex names for bacterias, virus, bocy components and processes, but a smart doctor will be able to break everything down in schematics, and answer your questions in a clear way.On the other hand, an idiot when confronted with questions will avoid, laugh or even burst into anger.When you see someone breaking knowledge apart, questioning, reframing and reformulating his or other’s ideas, that is when you know someone is really smart.