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i've always thought americans using the word smart referring to educated people is based on some sort of elitism. at least a result of the elite tricking people into thinking like this.
i think this is why people felt the need to come up with the phrases "street smart" and "book smart". because some people are obviously very clever but they haven't been in the path of the academy. they have amazing problem solving skills, they understand complex concepts with ease but we can't call them smart. well we gotta call them something.
so, i totally agree. if the word smart indicates some kind of talent, street smart people definitely have it. they show the ability to learn and apply. they'd be book smart too if it was books what they dealt with in life.
book smart people are not necessarily smart though. they might just have a very good memory which would be another talent. maybe they have rich parents and all they needed to be was not dumb and fairly healthy. especially in america where capitalism is in the center of how things work. you can and need to buy the means to be book smart. not so much the case with street smart
This is a friendly reminder to read our rules.
Remember, /r/Showerthoughts is for showerthoughts, not "thoughts had in the shower!"
(For an explanation of what a "showerthought" is, please read this page.)
Rule-breaking posts may result in bans. >

Psychology says there’s two types of intelligence: (1) crystallised - our knowledge we have gained, and (2) fluid - our ability to learn and understand new and various information >

It’s so funny to me when peoples shower thoughts are just known scientific theories >

Which highlights the importance of sharing knowledge. It's one of the things that separates (most of) us from apes. They don't understand another ape can know something they don't. 
I'm not smart, it's just my crystalized knowledge leaking. >

Its hard to say, but probably not the case with apes
They teach their young things all the time, and new behaviors are recorded to be taught when exposed to a group (liking washing fruits etc) 
The leap to suggesting they may know that other apes know things they don't isn't too far 
I think the issue is moreso their inability to abstractly communicate through language 
The amount of info you can pass on is severely limited if you can't talk >

Ape see ape do 🗿🦍🗿 >

I have been absolutely appalled as an adult by the number of times my peers have told me that they're afraid to ask questions because they don't want to look dumb.   
How is anyone supposed to not look dumb if they never ask any questions?  There's an infinite amount of knowledge in the world, so everyone is infinitely far from understanding everything.   Ask questions, seek perspectives, postulate answers with those around you when no hard answers can be found.   Thinking is fun, and as a social species we're supposed to do it together.  Never be embarrassed for having curiosity that exceeds your knowledge.  It just means the world still fascinates you. >

There’s questions and then there’s dumb questions.
Trust me, there is a difference. In school I had a somewhat hard time paying attention, so I often would ask the teacher to further explain a subject so I could (in my words) understand it properly. Which is great, had it not been for the rest of the class lamenting it because they’d already understood it because the teacher had already explained it while I wasn’t paying attention.
It didnt happen that often and thankfully didnt scar me to the point where i was afraid of asking questions, but I am empathetic to people with similar experiences being afraid of asking questions. >

As Mr Garrison so eloquently put it:
"Remember, kids, there are no stupid questions, just stupid people!"
Although it was meant as a kind of insult, what with it being South Park and all, it does make sense -- if you don't ask questions you will remain a stupid person. >

"a t rex knows what a door is but a raptor knows how to open it." --my 6-year old cousin playing with his dinosaur toys >

Someone's been scarring their children with Jurassic Park. >

I love how that word works with or without the extra “r”. >

I had to read it a few times before I understood what you were talking about...childrren? Jurrassic? Parrk? >

Which is it? 
Oh, scar[r]ing. >

I always think it's annoying when in movies they show a character is smart by letting him state a fact that someone else doesn't know. Especially if it's in a college class and the teacher asks an obscure quastion that the class just hasn't learned yet. Just because someone studied ahead doesn't mean they are a super genius. >


Just because someone studied ahead doesn't mean they are a super genius

Super genius? Surely not. Smarter than other students? Probably. Pre-studying for a class is amazing way to take much more out of it >

Just because they know more on that topic than the other student does not mean they are smarter than the other students overall, just that they are currently smarter on that one subject area. >

No no, it's the sole act of preparing before a lecture that makes them smarter than other students in the class. It's small effort that results in better understanding of the topic and increased knowledge retention.
So yea, it's smart to prepare. Unless you don't care about the class at all, but then why are you even there? >

People have different methods of learning, some people learn fast if they prepare well before a lecture and others learn well during or even after the lecture. For me, preparing a lot during before a lecture is not very effective, because I learn fastest if someone is explaining it directy to me and I can efficiently use that knowledge afterwards. 
Having a different learning method does not make you smarter than others. >

No offense but you don't sound very smart. >

What you do with information is wisdom
Knowing a tomato is a fruit is knowledge.
Knowing it doesn't belong in a fruit salad is wisdom. >

But what if it can be in a fruit salad? Just need the right combo of fruit… >

Downvotes incoming >

For every Einstein we have, i.e every clever person who stands out and makes a change, there are thousands just as smart as them.
Having a genius level iq means nothing, if you don't use it for anything good. >

And that, my friend, is wisdom. Knowing that having such a level of intelligence is a gift and can be used for something great. >

So true. I’m not a smart man but I have a reservoir of useless information and it allows me to make people think I’m way smarter than I am. The minute someone recognizes it’s just my useless information that is impressive is the minute I know they are smarter than me. >

I am really, really banking on my capacity for retaining information to get me through school because I know that I am not a smart person in regard to practical knowledge or common sense. >

Yesterday I heard someone saying that you can know things and still be stupid. I agree 100% >

“Intelligence is the accumulation and recollection of information, wisdom is the utilization of the information.” >

The thing is, “being smart” however you like you define it, is not an independent thing from being knowledgeable. 
In general, knowledgeable people have developed a habit of learning and have honed the skill of dissecting new information into vital parts and process them quickly. Learning new things takes practice. This means that the more you’ve already learned, the faster you can learn new information.
Many of the most innovative solutions to modern problems were ideas borrowed from established solutions in other domains. There were countless technologies including aircraft designs that mimic animal biomechanics. A huge part of problem solving involves studying existing solutions to another problem. Human beings learn best from examples, the more examples you know of someone solving a similar problem, the more equipped you will be solving your own. The more pieces of information you own, the more ways you can combine them to invent your own ideas; you will get better at using knowledge as you gain knowledge.
You can’t really have a complete view of intelligence if you take knowledge out of the equation. >

Education is knowing information, intelligence is knowing how to use information, and wisdom is know when to use information. All of these are forms of IQ in their own way. There are very wise people that are not very educated, intelligent people that are not very wise, and educated people that are not very intelligent. You can have 1, 2, or all three traits. >

Wisdom is not usually measured in IQ tests, at least not in the one I had to take to be diagnosed with Asperger’s. But I agree, however I’d say that wisdom is just experience at the end of the day. >

It's like when I was small I loved helping people.. so I studied and certified for human services... 
Thin 1/2 threw university, I realised I hate people >

There was a Bones episode where there was a shooter (I think) and booth yelled at Bones and Zach “you two are the smartest people I know - what is he going to do?” (Or something like that)
Bones responds with “intelligence doesn’t improve what you know, it improves how effective you are doing it - so as a sniper, what would YOU do?” >

Yeah but you have to retain information to process it, compare and analyze it don’t you? I think knowing is part of intelligence. >

The ability to retain information is memorising which is debatably a part of intelligence. >

Don't babies and children learn things quicker and easier than adults? >

That’s just a matter of brain processing power which is why school starts at such a young age and not later in life. >

Yeah the straightforward interpretation of the old adage “knowledge is power” turned out to be pretty false. Every single person now has in their pocket a small device containing the accumulated totality of Human Knowledge and … what? Cat videos. Obviously knowledge alone - knowledge without intelligence and insight - is worthless. >

As an IT system engineer, I seldom solve problems by answering questions. I solve problems by asking them. >

Yes, we educated our kids at home and spent an enormous amount of time teaching them to how to learn new things and that they could teach themselves almost anything with an open mind. >

I agree that people teach their kids the fundamentals of how to be a person and how to better themselves so that they may learn and grow their experiences easier than if they didn’t. >

So we only get dumber with age then because as you get older you have a harder time absorbing information, remembering said information and having the energy to put it to use. 🤔
Definitely a shower thought. >

That's not exactly true. Learning new things isn't an innate ability, it's a practiced skill. A lot of older people don't act like that, though - they don't try to learn new things because they think they know enough, and as a result their ability to learn new things grows weaker and might atrophy. It's just like exercising the body - maybe it gets more difficult as you get older, but it gets a lot more difficult if you stop trying for awhile and then suddenly have to use that brain muscle you've let get all flabby. >

i mean yeah isnt that like the whole reason people dont like the grade system schools use since u cant gauche a persons intellegince by testing how long they can sit still behind a book and study >

*gauge... sorry "gauche" is something else. >

In my head I pronounced it as gwa-sh >

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad