A person wants to appear better than he is. Habits of stupid people who want to appear smart

You will be surprised to learn that some of the people around you who seem smart to you are actually not so at all.

Intelligence is an important marker in our society. We study people's behavior to gauge how smart they are compared to us and others. As we get older, intelligence is more respected, and we tend to listen more to those we consider smarter than ourselves.

However, there are plenty of ways people can just pretend to be smart to get more attention and speak their mind. To help you see the difference between the really smart and the pretenders to such behavior, we will describe the five main types of behavior that many people use to make us believe in the power of their intelligence.

Wearing glasses

One of the most common ways to look smarter is to wear glasses. Well, that's probably something you've already heard about. Even psychologists agree that those with glasses look much smarter, and even more correct in the eyes of employers. But why do glasses produce such an effect?

It is actually a tool that we use to correct our eyesight. They are especially important for those who read literature and focus on writing texts for long periods of time. Glasses make people believe that your vision is worse than others, that you need to focus for a long time on certain intellectual tasks. All this together leads to the idea that you have a higher level of intelligence than the average person.

Nowadays, even if you don't need glasses, you can easily buy a pair with a set of false lenses, giving the illusion of having a high level of intelligence. So watch out for those around you. For example, a newcomer to the office may not be as smart as they seem.

Boasting the results of individual exams, interviews

What is great way make people think you're smart? Just tell them it's true. Showing off your exam results, some achievement, is a great way to get others to congratulate you on this, make you believe that you are smarter than you really are. Watch out for people who constantly say how well they did it.

Pride is not bad, but bragging is completely different. In the latter case, a person deliberately tells someone how smart he is, constantly reminds of this.

Just bragging about random good grades can be another telltale sign that all is not what it seems. Most highly intelligent people get consistently high grades. And they likely won't feel the need to brag, unless they just say so if asked. If a person keeps using the same example to tell you how smart they are, they are probably just pretending to be.

Poor acceptance of habits and interests

Intellectually developed people are inclined towards more "proper" entertainment and interests, such as classical music and advanced literature. Individuals who only want you to believe in their mental abilities are simply trying to show affection for these habits in order to look solid and smart. It's one thing to really get into something, but people who pretend to be smart can't even fully understand what they're talking about.

There is no need to test them on all issues, to find out specifically how well they understand classical music. But pay attention to what they miss when they talk about famous artists and writers, for example. Someone who is really interested in this is more likely to point out not only well-known facts about some abstract artists, he knows a lot about what they liked, what they were fond of, what they were in life.

Constantly complaining about stupid people

A comprehensively developed person, as a rule, is always polite and amiable. Just because someone isn't as smart as you doesn't make you better than them, and it doesn't make them worse than you. Real smart people know and welcome the fact that others can't fully understand some of the concepts that others can understand. People who pretend to be smart don't accept it.

Loud utterances and complaints about trivial mistakes or the stupidity of others are a telltale sign that someone is unsure of their own intelligence. Suppressing others and humiliating them, such individuals feel better, they are sure that others see in them a higher intelligence than they really are.

Don't be fooled if someone fixes trivial bugs. Most likely, this person is just pretending to be smart, and is not really so.

Using unnecessarily long words

Long words are the personification of intelligence. If you use them, it means that you have a good vocabulary, which is replenished through reading and writing. Most people, even smart ones, will not feel the need to use too long and abstruse words in casual or friendly conversations.

People who pretend to be smart tend to throw them where they are not needed. This may be a single event or it may be recurring too often. Look out for unnecessary long words. Some personalities may seem smart, but this may be a simple ploy.

Conclusion

Intelligence is always a desirable trait, so there are many reasons to pretend that you are smarter than you really are. So to speak, artificially increasing your intelligence can help in interviews and in formal situations. But if someone is constantly pretending, it will be tiresome for others. Hopefully, now you will be able to distinguish a smart person from a pretender.

People are like wine - if they get better with age, then they are of very high quality.

Many people are afraid to say what they want. And that's why they don't get it.

I think about death more than other people, probably because I love life more than they do.

It is better to keep quiet and seem like a fool than to open your mouth and completely dispel doubts.

Such are the people. The more afraid they are, the more stupid they become. Fear shrinks the brain.

Don't try to be better than you are. Don't try to be worse than you are. After all, those who seem not to exist at all.

They [people] do not want to create their own happiness, they only want to reduce unhappiness.

You lie to seem better than you really are, forgetting that the best thing in a person is honesty.

There is nothing worse than indecision. Better worst decision than hesitation or inaction. You can't get back a lost moment.

Do not try to seem to people better than you really are - you won’t stand on tiptoe for a long time, but don’t try to seem worse than you are - you won’t sit on your haunches for a long time either. ALWAYS STAY YOURSELF!

But after a while it is completely impossible to understand what is “I”, and what is just another mask that “I” has pulled over itself out of the best intentions.

Man has been collecting these masks all his life. And one day he realized that time was running out, but someone else lived instead of him. After all, the true "I" was never revealed to the world. He was afraid and hid what really mattered. He did not allow himself to manifest himself for what he was born for. He threw a veil of fear of rejection over his soul. And now he suffers, because in fact he has neither friends nor enemies ...

Which is easier: to be or to seem?

What pushes us to invent image after image for ourselves, what makes us give up our essence? A person has only himself, so why and for what does he try to forget it?

They say it's easier to seem than to be. But is it? How much energy do we expend to maintain a certain halo?

An insecure guy tries to hide his insecurity and chooses a mask that is opposite to his quality. However, if there is a vulnerability in a person, trying to solve this problem in this way looks ridiculous and stupid. Our true strengths and weaknesses come from within. People seem to exude confidence, charm, intelligence, success.

When an insecure guy wants to deceive everyone around, he has to grimace in order to support the desired image with external behavior. And he begins to behave frankly rude and defiant. He does not know what real confidence is, because he does not feel it. Then he simply puts on a mask of the other extreme, replaces uncertainty with excessive self-confidence. One asocial quality covers another.

The result of such a substitution, obviously, will not bring good results. After all, this clowning can not look natural. Our insecure guy makes arrogant and impudent statements, trying to arouse fear and respect, but receives aggression and misunderstanding in response.

When a person plays a role, his outward behavior contradicts internal state, and this leads to nervous tension. The subconscious always knows the truth and cannot be deceived or silenced. Thus, when faced with an undesirable reaction from the game of self-confidence, a person receives a double dose of stress. So maybe it's better to be who you are and not try to be better?

How do we convince ourselves of a lie?

Sometimes we flirt so much that we ourselves begin to believe in our image. Then the thread leading to the true cause of our unnatural behavior breaks, and a new complex is formed. Therefore, so often low self-esteem often lives in one person next to a feeling of inflated importance, cruelty next to vulnerability, arrogance next to insecurity.

We can convince ourselves of anything, but only for a while. If the internal conflict is not resolved, it will return sooner or later. And we will have to make a choice again: start unraveling the tangle of our complexes or come up with a few more protective patterns of behavior for ourselves in order to postpone the moment of awareness of our imperfection at least for a while.

Man walks the road of life. When for some reason he gets hurt, he invents an image for himself. And this image helps him to move on. So, when faced with condemnation, he puts on a mask. Perhaps it will be a mask of a rebel, perhaps an indifference, or perhaps a moralist. In any case, this is an attempt to seem, but not to be. A person has come up with an algorithm of behavior that is most suitable for protection from the outside world. But how can a person think through everything? Time will pass and something will remind him of the pain of rejection. Someone will find his morality imperfect, someone will ridicule his rebel nature, and the mask of indifference will be useless when the one who is important to him does not accept and share his views. What can a person do? Hide under another dragon skin? Or maybe still not reject your essence and help yourself?

Be

It seems to us that we are strong and independent, but why do we get depressed from the fact that people do not understand us? We scream our freethinking, but why do we care what others think? We declare our uniqueness and originality, but do we ourselves see any idea in our work?

In a fierce struggle with myself, I have been looking for the answer for years, "who you need to be." And if it is more correct to be yourself, then who is “I”? Sometimes, we are so afraid to show ourselves to the world. We are afraid that we will not be accepted, and this fear makes us distort and deform our own individuality.

When a person accepts himself, he accepts the whole world. And for him there is no more rejection. For the one who chooses to be and not to seem, pride and hatred are alien. Vices do not exist where there is no comparison.

Now I understand that being yourself is easier than being someone else. And now I only do what comes from my soul. There is no point in being ashamed, there is no point in suffering from judgmental looks when you are you. You still can't fool yourself, but there's no reason to. Man is beautiful and unique. And everything that comes from its depths is filled with meaning and beauty. And the one who looks condemningly simply does not understand this, he just did not take off his masks.

This topic involuntarily arises when you notice that it has become fashionable to be “bad” these days.
Bad - not only in the literal sense of the word, and it will be clear further what is meant here.

Now it has become very fashionable to be, say, a sociophobe, a misanthrope, and hang other “diagnoses” on yourself that emphasize your separation from society, from other people, raising loneliness and “individuality” into a cult.

This happens for many reasons, one of which is dissatisfaction with oneself, and ordinary fear. A person immures his energy, forbidding it to function normally, tries to be unsociable, shy away from other people ... and, possibly, communicates only with the "chosen" circle, considering only him worthy of communication and friendship.
It all sounds rather exaggerated, but in fact, now this happens all the time.

In the Internet space, many communities are being created, with the loud names "Cynics", "Misanthrope", "Sociophobes" and so on. People join them to show the rest that they are not simpletons, but mysterious loners who do not recognize the "crowd".

In childhood, many fairy tales show us that good: weak, obedient, resigned ... it always suffers troubles.
Yes, at the end of the tale it almost always wins, but that's not the point....
But evil, although it is defeated at the end of stories, for how charismatic, how cunning!

So, in our days, many began to do everything possible to close themselves from people. To seem "bad", unsociable, "impudent" ... a kind of lone wolves.

It is good if a person does not get used to his image, and still takes off this mask, under which he is white and fluffy.
But for many, this way of thinking and living becomes their norm.
And there are a million such sociophobes and misanthropes walking around the world, who invented this for themselves, and who, in fact, are not the happiest people.

It's easier to be bad. There is no hope for you in the first place. You can't disappoint anyone because you're already bad. This is a kind of protection from others, the fear of being accepted by someone.

Such people simply "freeze" their energy, preventing it from functioning, their bodies begin to suffer.
Anger, hostility, envy and other similar things - make a person "rot". After a while, his health begins to suffer.

Therefore, playing in such an image does not lead to anything good, forcing a person to suffer not only mentally, but also physically.

The growth of wisdom can be accurately measured by the degree of decrease in malice.

Said the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

And there is truth in this. spiritually rich, wise people, are always kind, bright. They can be strict, but there is no anger or aggression, envy and other things in them.

Therefore, if you notice in yourself the desire to be such a “loner”, not recognizing the people around you, if you want to be bad, find the reason, the fear that pushes you to this, and try to get rid of it once and for all.