In your own opinion, what makes someone smart? (page 4)

Princess

I've been told I am smart
My husband is brilliant.

See? I didn't stand a chance. I'm 1/2 brilliant and 1/2 smart.

amac

I think a person that can entertain thoughts they do not agree with is intelligent.

I liken smart people to a carpenter or an auto mechanic who have a full compliment of tools and who are ready/able to solve whatever problem is presented them. While their knowledge is pretty broad (and perhaps deep), they aren't mentally trapped by ideas they already have or experiences they've had. Show them a brand new problem/idea and they will almost always come up with a solution.

p.s. In my experience, there are not many smart people.

Badger

*Badger on top of counter with a Mac-10*

A SMART PERSON WOULD FILL UP THIS BAG WITH $100 BILLS AND STAY THE F$ AWAY FROM THE ALARM!

toreador

p.s. In my experience, there are not many smart people.

How true!

HappyDad

Mulan...............have I been braindead since I joined JWD ...................or are you and Princess related?

HappyDad The Thinker

teejay

As I said above, smart people aren't mentally trapped by ideas they already have or experiences they've had. Show them a brand new problem/idea and they will almost always come up with a solution.

Tonight my daughter had a Happy Meal for dinner. In it was a toy yo-yo. How McDonalds makes money off Happy Meals is a mystery--it was a pretty freakin' cool yo-yo--but I digress.

I showed my daughter how a yo-yo works and then gave it to her. She couldn't work it because the string was too long for her short body and arm. I showed her how high her arm had to be to make it work, and at that height it just wasn't feasible as a toy.

"Don't worry, baby. It's a big kid toy. You'll be able to play with it when you grow up."

"Uh uhhh. I'll make it work."

"Yeah. Whatever." I went back to the game.

Of her own doing (I found this out later) she went to the utility drawer where we keep the scotch tape, wound the string so that it would be the right length for her, and taped the string to the yo-yo. It didn't work, of course, but I was damned impressed. The kid is five. And reasoned out for herself how to make a toy work FOR HER.

Later, she came to me with some silly question. It was 9:30, an hour past her bedtime. (We'd just happened to talk earlier today about 8:30 being her bedtime because she was still sleepy on the way to school this morning.) I told her she was late for bed but she disagreed.

"9:30 comes before 8:30," she said.

"Count to ten"

"One. Two. Three." She counted slowly.

"No, count fast... like you always count."

"No," she giggled, "I'm not going to count fast." I could see her mind working. She wanted to make sure she transposed eight and nine so she'd be right.

That's what I mean when I say someone is smart. They use (sometimes) formidable mental tools to adapt to their world or, better, adapt their world to them.

doodle-v

Teejay, thats a great story thank you for sharing.

-Doodle-V

Mulan

Mulan...............have I been braindead since I joined JWD ...................or are you and Princess related?

Yes we are. She is my daughter. If you saw us in person, there would be no doubt. Everyone tells us we look alike, but she is younger than I am.

Makena1

When I saw your post DoodleV - I also had the same thought that you wrote: There are people who know facts and figures yet don't have much common sense

I knew someone who was a 4.0+ student in HS, great at taking tests, articulate, pleasant to be around.

However, this peson constantly had an overdrawn checking account with high NSF fees, was a pack rat with a messy house - car, lousy personal hygiene etc etc

I guess that's called being eccentric???

In your own opinion, what makes someone smart?

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