How to Think Like The SMARTEST Person In The Room

Intelligence isn't what they told you it was.

Society has it completely backward.

The person flaunting their Harvard degree?

Dropping complex words?

Dominating conversations?

Probably not the smartest person in the room.

The biggest tragedy is that most people are looking for intelligence in all the wrong places. This misunderstanding has been INTENTIONALLY engineered by institutions that benefit from cliche definitions of what makes someone "smart."

When I finally met people with REAL intelligence, they looked nothing like what I expected.

Here’s what I learned:

The Hidden Patterns of REAL Intelligence

Most people confuse intelligence with knowledge accumulation. They equate it with credentials, test scores, and how many books they've read.

Plain and simple.

But the most intellectually alive people I know aren't information hoarders. They're explorers. Pattern-spotters.

I wish I learned sooner that intelligence isn't about knowing more than everyone else. It's about approaching knowledge differently.

I spent 6 years chasing the wrong definition.

I used big words to intimidate rather than communicate.

I turned learning into a competition rather than an exploration.

Eventually, my arrogance hit a wall when I found myself unable to solve real-world problems despite all my theoretical knowledge.

At rock bottom, I realized the people I most admired most…the ones making ACTUAL impact, approached knowledge with humility. Not arrogance.

They asked better questions than anyone else.

They considered viewpoints I would have dismissed.

They connected dots across disciplines I had artificially separated.

The mental shifts I made along the way led to my own breakthrough. I'll tell you what those are, but they involve:

I am going to give you a condensed intelligence masterclass so you can finally recognize and develop the type of intelligence that actually matters.

1) Your goal isn't to know everything. Your goal is to know nothing.

Most people build their identity around appearing knowledgeable at all costs.

They panic at not having an answer.

They interrupt to demonstrate expertise.

They defend outdated positions rather than update their thinking.

And in doing so, they literally block their own intelligence from developing.

True intelligence begins with intellectual humility. It’s the recognition that what you DON’T know vastly exceeds what you do.

When you embrace "knowing nothing," you say "I never thought of it that way" without ego. You're genuinely ecstatic when proven wrong because it means you've expanded your understanding.

The most brilliant people I have met are simultaneously the most humble because they're extremely hyper aware of the vastness of human knowledge and the limitations of individual perception.

The next time you feel the urge to demonstrate how much you know, try asking a genuine question instead. You’ll appear way smarter.

The paradox is that acknowledging your limitations makes you exponentially more intellectually capable.

2) You make strangers feel like a million dollars.

Social intelligence isn't a separate category of intelligence.

It's a HUGE aspect that most "smart" people completely miss.

The truly intelligent can:

• Notice subtle shifts in someone's energy when discussing different topics

• Remember small details that reveal what matters to a person

• Ask questions that help others articulate thoughts they've never expressed

• Create spaces where people feel intellectually safe to explore ideas

When you make someone feel seen, you're not just being nice. You're using advanced cognitive abilities:

1. Pattern recognition

2. Emotional attunement

3. The integration of verbal and non-verbal information.

I've watched people with average IQs but extreme social intelligence run circles around the nerdy people in real world settings.

They build stronger networks, have more diverse knowledge, and ultimately make better decisions.

3) You can get a "higher-status" person to see you as an equal.

Status hierarchies are invisible prisons that limit intellectual exchange.

Most people either:

• Become intimidated around "important" people and diminish their ideas

• Overcompensate by trying to impress, which creates resistance

• Accept the hierarchy and miss opportunities for genuine connection

Highly intelligent people naturally dissolve these barriers through authentic communication. They aren't trying to impress or compete. They're just focused on the exchange of ideas.

This ability comes from what psychologists call "secure attachment":

A deep sense that your value doesn't come from external validation. You don't need the approval of high-status people because you're comfortable with who you are.

When you engage from this place, something freaking magical happens:

Status differentials naturally fade away. The CEO, the celebrity, or the expert stops seeing you through the lens of personal hierarchy and starts relating to you as a thought partner.

This is the most natural expression of intellectual sovereignty.

4) You're lazy until something catches your heart.

Society has sold us the most stupid lie ever: that productivity equals intelligence.

The "hustle culture" approach to intellectual development like consuming endless podcasts, books, and courses without discrimination is actually anti-intelligence.

It creates the illusion of growth while preventing the deep processing necessary for actual understanding.

I was such a victim of this. It wasn’t until I realized that TRULY intelligent people are selectively lazy. They conserve cognitive resources for what matters.

They might appear disengaged or unmotivated in contexts they find meaningless. But when something aligns with their deeper interests? They become unstoppable.

So if you notice you have selective engagement, don’t label it as a character flaw. It's intentional energy allocation.

Your mind is continuously making calculations about where to invest your limited cognitive resources. Having high standards for what deserves your full attention takes some serious discernment.

Stay that way.

5) You have multiple personalities. You change how you act in different situations.

There’s this term called code-switching. It’s basically the ability to modulate your communication style across contexts.

And it’s a HUGE sign of social and emotional intelligence.

• You use technical language with colleagues who share your expertise

• You simplify complex ideas when speaking with non-specialists

• You engage playfully in social settings while maintaining depth in intellectual ones

The most brilliant communicators I know can explain the same concept to a five-year-old, a PHD expert, or a skeptical audience. They adjust not just their vocabulary but their entire communication framework.

This requires a serious level of cognitive empathy.

You constantly have to put your shoes in the eyes of the listener so that you can build bridges between your mind and theirs.

Book recommendation: Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks

6) You don't argue. You ask questions.

Look at any social media comment section. What do you see?

People desperately trying to prove they're right without first understanding why others think they're wrong.

Low-Intelligence Debate Tactics

• Strawman arguments (misrepresenting someone's position to make it easier to attack):

  • "So what you're saying is that we should just let everyone do whatever they want with no consequences."

  • "Your argument basically means you think the government should control every aspect of our lives."

• Ad hominem attacks (attacking the person rather than addressing their ideas):

  • "Why should we listen to you when you've been wrong about everything else?"

  • "That's exactly the kind of naive thinking I'd expect from someone your age."

• False dichotomies (reducing complex issues to oversimplified either/or choices):

  • "You can either focus on your career or have a family. You can't do both successfully."

  • "Either we build this pipeline or we destroy our economy. There's no middle ground."

Highly intelligent people take a completely different approach. They use the Socratic method. They ask sequential questions that help reveal inconsistencies or unexamined assumptions.

Some powerful Socratic questions include:

• "I'm curious about your perspective. What experiences shaped that viewpoint?"

• "What would you consider the strongest counterargument to your position?"

• "If we were to test this idea, what would successful validation look like?"

• "How might this principle apply in [different context]?"

When someone presents a viewpoint you disagree with, try asking: "That's interesting. How did you arrive at that conclusion?" or "What evidence would change your mind about this?"

These questions are genuine attempts to understand the decision-making fallacies of someone else's thinking. They show respect while creating space for mutual reconsideration.

Your goal isn't to win. It's to collectively move closer to truth.

7) Your mind both exhausts and excites you.

The gift and curse of unusual intelligence is an active mind that doesn't come with an off switch.

You might experience:

• Racing thoughts that keep you awake at night

• Difficulty with small talk because your mind jumps to deeper implications

• Mental connections that others find strange or random

• Periods of mental burnout from prolonged cognitive exertion

This isn't necessarily ADHD or anxiety (though it can coexist with those conditions). It's the natural consequence of a highly associative mind that constantly processes information at multiple levels.

What distinguishes this from mental illness is that while it can be exhausting, it's also deeply rewarding. The same mental activity that sometimes overwhelms you also produces your most valuable insights and creative breakthroughs.

Learning to manage this mental intensity whether through meditation, time in nature, movement practices, or creative expression, becomes a very important priority for the unusually intelligent.

8) You're a pattern spotter. When they see random events, you see connections.

The foundation of intelligence is pattern recognition.

When people around you see isolated facts or events, you naturally detect:

• Recurring themes across different situations

• Underlying principles that explain surface-level phenomena

• Connections between seemingly unrelated fields

This is the result of curiosity that extends beyond siloed domains. You read widely. You ask unusual questions. You pay attention to details others dismiss as irrelevant.

You notice the link between an evolutionary psychology concept and a marketing trend. You see how architectural principles might apply to organizational design. You recognize historical patterns repeating in current events.

At first, these connections might seem strange to others. But over time, as your pattern-matching proves valuable, people start coming to you specifically for your unique perspective.

The practical application of this skill is so damn powerful. We live in a world drowning in information but starving for insight.

So pattern-spotters become invaluable sense-makers.

9) You value truth over popularity.

We live in an age of performative consensus where many people:

• Express opinions that will be rewarded by their social group

• Avoid questions that might lead to uncomfortable conclusions

• Adjust their beliefs to match prevailing narratives

The social pressure to conform comes from both ends of the political spectrum. It’s literally infected within academic, corporate, and social spaces.

But genuinely intelligent people maintain a stubborn commitment to following evidence wherever it leads, even when doing so risks social rejection.

It doesn’t mean you have to be contrarian for its own sake. It's just about intellectual integrity.

You recognize when you're tempted to self-censor for safety or acceptance. You notice the subtle pressure to adopt group beliefs without examination. And while you understand the social consequences of this, you value truth more than temporary comfort.

This creates periods of deep loneliness but also attracts others with similar commitments to intellectual honesty.

Over time, you build relationships based on mutual respect for independent thinking rather than ideological conformity.

Intelligence Isn't What You Know—It's How You Think

The greatest misconception about intelligence is that it's about having answers.

True intelligence is about having questions.

It's about approaching knowledge with humility, curiosity, and discernment.

These traits aren't fixed at birth.

They're practices you can strengthen through intentional choices:

• Choose curiosity over certainty

• Choose understanding over winning

• Choose depth over breadth

• Choose truth over comfort

I've watched people with average academic credentials develop deep intelligence by simply making these choices. And I've seen brilliant PHD’s stagnate by doing the opposite.

The path is available to anyone willing to prioritize understanding over ego.

This was fun to write. Hope you learned something new.

Talk soon,

Simi