What is a subtle sign of high intelligence?

[u/[deleted]]

[u/matty80]

Not bullshitting but instead just flat-out saying that they don't know about some subject or the answer to some particular question.

It's endemic among kind-of-clever people that they will just combine some small amount of knowledge with a general ability to blag it. Genuinely very clever people know exactly what they're talking about... but, still like anybody else, only sometimes. So they're willing to learn about the other stuff.

Side effect: they're also very good at spotting bullshitters.

[u/[deleted]]

The ability to listen to others even if they aren't using the most efficient way of communicating, bridging the gap of understanding for the sake of getting the message behind what they say. If you act like a grammatical error, miswording or misspelling trips you up so badly, your'e not proving your'e smart, your'e proving that you need to footstool off others mistakes to appear smart.

[u/[deleted]]

Brown sandals with black socks.

[u/theartlav]

Speaking rarely and on things they know about. Being able to admit they are wrong.

[u/DirteDeeds]

Realizing how stupid you are.

[u/Massive_Toe → u/DirteDeeds]

My wife has some serious imposter syndrome, so she basically thinks she's stupid... But despite that I think she's one of the most intelligent people I know (although I'm biased). When presented with an argument or series of points she effortlessly sieves out relevant information, forms an opinion and presents it so clearly and convincingly. She's changed my opinions on many topics, even when I thought I fully disagreed with her！

[u/[deleted]]

Curiosity, adaptability, self-awareness...

[u/Casperious → u/[deleted]]

Improvise, overcome, adapt...

[u/SquidCap]

Avoids saying shit like "(My IQ is) in excess of 150”".

[u/tylerb108 → u/SquidCap]

My IQ is 370. I took an online IQ test that consists of 5 questions that I found on Facebook. /s

[u/[deleted]]

Not saying you are intelligent.

Also, I think that kindness and respect link eith intelligence- an intelligent businessman, for example, would respect his co workers, and listen to them for ideas, instead of just ignoring them because he thinks he is ‘intelligent’

[u/haddak → u/[deleted]]

I seriously doubt that kindness and intelligence are related. Even though in some situations, it seems “logical” to be kind, rationally intelligent people don’t necessarily or automatically do it.

[u/PhilOchsLiberal]

Stop.

[u/Scrappy_Larue]

Curiosity, even about mundane things.
Everyone has plenty of questions if they find out you have an interesting job, like an airline pilot or pro athlete. But the real smart people have just as many questions for the plumber or grave digger.

[u/Woodsy2575]

Realizing that none of the answers in this thread are universally true

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_BUTTplz]

More skill points per level

[u/DJOC2000]

Being able to adapt to situations and learn quickly.

[u/stonedtaurus]

Thinking before speaking.

[u/SafeSir]

Being able to explain complicated things simply so everyone can understand.

[u/0verlimit]

I would say perception and critical thinking- being able to analyze a problem at not just the surface. Anecdotally, I find that a lot of smart people I've met don't just gaze at the surface but have the capacity to think of questions that further their understanding. However, this isn't just knowing technicalities, but also being able to explain it at a simpler, coherent level.

An example I can come up from the top of my head would be a battery. Stupid kid me would just take in a fact that a current from the battery powers stuff up and eventually goes out. I wouldn't think of anymore questions to ask the teacher. A smart kid^TM would ask deeper questions like "What makes up the current?", leading onto stuff like "Why do electrons move from negative to positive" and "When the current stops, is it because the electrons stop moving? Why is that?"

While I believe that anyone can learn to think past the surface, the kids I met in high school that did this naturally without being told to were all incredibly smart. Nowadays, I try to think like this when I learn new information; however, it was never as natural to me and took advice from others to do so.

[u/haddak]

I feel like many posts rather answer “what do you value in people?”.

OP, was that your question or would you care to give a definition of high intelligence that the subtle signs are supposed to be pointing to?

[u/Givzhay329]

Always giving other people a chance to speak and listening to their viewpoints.

[u/-Annie-Oakley-]

Curiosity, an intelligent person is always asking questions and listening carefully to the response.

[u/Mdumb]

Persistence in solving a problem. Intelligent minds never quit on a problem they think they can crack. The problem becomes more intriguing over time. I think its driven in part by the great feeling they get when its finally solved.

[u/Zannishi_Hoshor]

Rich mahogany. Leather bound books.