Smart people are [a dime a dozen] a wonderful thing, but just the same, smart doesn't mean too much. Intelligence is just a tool [and one used without a whole lot of skill by most (IMO)].Terrapin Station wrote: ↑January 5th, 2021, 12:05 pmI can be pretty arrogant, but the discrepancy we're talking about in this thread doesn't bother me. Maybe it's that I can be so arrogant that I have no expectation that other people will agree with me, and it usually doesn't matter enough to me if they follow my preferences.impermanence wrote: ↑January 5th, 2021, 11:39 am
Let me simplify.
If you believe that somehow you are smarter than most everybody else, please reconsider.
On the other hand, I realize that if I were smart enough I could much better figure out how to manipulate people to go along with me anyway. So I don't think I'm smart enough in that regard . . . or at least I'm too lazy to bother with it.
And on the third hand, I sincerely like most people. I just like to harass other people who seem to think they're smarter than everyone else, which is thankfully not how most people in the world come across most of the time.
I have always been surrounded by highly intelligent people but I can tell you that the most functional providers [the ones that help people the most] draw on their compassion, not their intelligence to effect superior care. Knowing what you're doing is just the first step. Understanding what others need defines the rest of the path.
I have met and spent time with well over 100,000 patients in my years in practice and all but a few were pretty darn smart if you get to know them.