Do you sometimes wonder why a lot of people seem to be misinformed about you… why they seem to miss your stellar wit, your rapier sharp intellect and your incisive problem solving skills; mistaking your obviously high IQ for stupidity? Yes, sure other people are just that stupid sometimes; but you want to also take a glance at some of these telltale signs of stupidity… which may cause people to (mistakenly) hold certain opinions of you?
Talking too much
You know what they say, it’s better to be quiet and let them think you’re stupid rather than speak and remove all doubt. I don’t recommend not speaking at all; you can shout for help if you’re drowning and so on.
Using words you don’t know the meaning of
Talisman is a lovely word. So is egregious. Pasquinade is lovely too. By all means use them in a sentence. If required. And if you have the foggiest notion about their meaning. Otherwise cease and desist. The same goes for jargon – it isn’t impressive; merely embarrassing. For you… because one day you may meet this guy:
Asking too many questions
It is of course very good to be inquiring and to be eager to learn new things. Just don’t ask the sort of questions that betray the depth of your ignorance about things that most six year olds are fairly familiar with.
Saying “I Know”
You know how many moons Jupiter has? Excellent! If you’re GK is superlative, good for you, but do check your facts before opening your mouth won’t you? Problem is, they keep finding new moons of planets and keep reducing full fledged planets to dwarf planets these days.
Not reading the warnings
If you think that you can ignore the rules and the warnings because you’re that strong/wise/smart/experienced, you will like live a short and brutish life. Recklessness is not a sign of intelligence. The warnings were made so that stupid people get to pretend to be smart. Take advantage of them.
Telling people about TV shows you watch
If you tell people that you love bizarre reality TV shows or that Emotional Atyachaar is actually an incisive critique on the human condition and interpersonal relationships; or that you cannot be bothered to ever watch the news or the discovery/ nat geo channels, they will judge you. People can be really awful and snobbish like that! Best to pretend that you don’t watch any TV at all… people will think you’re really, really smart then!
Because there is an equal chance that the person you’re speaking to is stupid too!
