THE SECRETS OF INTELLIGENT PEOPLE

This is because they don’t do bullshit. I see this every day. I work in the same hallway as a Nobel Laureate in Theoretical Physics. My former advisor worked extensively with him.

While I don’t work with him anymore, we still pass each other in the hallway. Here is a typical interaction :

•Distant look (oh, fuck, having to interact)

•Hello

•(answers) Hello

(me, forcing a bit) Are you going okay ?

•Yes

Both move away

But when I worked with him, we argued for hours on why our personal idea is better than the other’s, or on how to solve something.

The idea is the same with the large pool of theoretical physicists around, who are all very brilliant people by popular standards.

Oftenmost they (we?) don’t speak because they won’t speak for the sake of it, and are okay with silence. Quite many of the more intelligent people I’ve met are naturally introverts, but I don’t think that this really is the point.

The answer lies, in my opinion, in the fact that we will only say something if we have something interesting to say. We don’t really care to react for the sake of reacting, and are okay with awkward silences.

We are often tired with hearing people speaking constantly just to fill in the blank in their mind. And I believe your observation is correct, the more intelligent someone is, the less he will speak (to say nothing).

But once you hit the spot and ask them a good question, one where they have built a strong opinion over time, or one where they actually feel challenged, then they can start to speak for hours like extroverts.