r/unpopularopinion • u/akksshat • 1d ago
Being able to put your biases aside is a bigger sign of intelligence than having high IQ
I think being able to give other unbiased opinions and advice is one of the biggest sign of intelligence
It's very easy to defend what you already believe in, but the ability to recognize someone you dislike is right, recognize when you are wrong and even give advice without letting your personal feelings interfere with the advice.
You can be very knowledgeable and still have your ego and your biases be the control of your judgment.
To me, intelligence is not about how much you know. I don't think that's what it should be about ever. In one way, it's also about how do you react when your own lifelong beliefs and judgments are challenged.
Also, I believe this is something that unlocks tremendous amounts of growth if you can be one such.
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u/Aerographic 1d ago
Just being able to recognize they exist is a sign of intellect, you don't need to have the humility necessary to put them aside.
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u/lesowa 1d ago
Agreed, being humble and being clever can be different. You can recognize someone else is right and maliciously mislead the conversation if you're smart.
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u/Material-Command-854 1d ago
Or you could also not care if you're biased and not care about the truth
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u/plants11235813 1d ago
You could try to put them aside, but that just leads to another bias: thinking you need to remove biases and not just recognize them.
Sorry, im biased.
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u/Will564339 1d ago
I think that's why I like to distinguish between the ideas of "intellect" and "wisdom". Someone can be very intellectual, but their emotions can distort their use of that intellect. To me that's where the humility piece comes in.
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u/powerofdeathx 17h ago
what you described isn't intelligence but rather wisdom, so whole post is kinda moot
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u/PyrotechnikGeoguessr 17h ago
Yeah intelligence is a social construct, and it can mean whatever you define it as. Saying person X is more intelligent than person Y can mean anything and is entirely meaningless
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u/theonewhothro123 13h ago
By the broad definition of social construct almost everything is a social construct including the idea of social construct. That does not make all of human society meaningless.
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u/PyrotechnikGeoguessr 13h ago
What I mean is that it's useless to debate over what intelligence means or who is more intelligent because there's no unified answer.
Even in psychology alone, there's dozens of different definitions that each highlight different aspects. Let alone non-scientific definitions that people come up with on their own
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u/EvilSnack 1d ago
As a high-IQ person, I am here to tell you that a high IQ absolutely does NOT come with a filter against false ideas.
As long as the ideas that are already in your head don't object, any idea, whether true or false, can come waltzing in and make itself at home.
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u/behemothard 1d ago
That is what happens when intelligence is conflated with wisdom.
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u/Crumpets_online 19h ago
Some intelligent people often have a big ego that stops them from questioning their own beliefs because they think they're always right
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u/FlyingPotionsFactory 1d ago
I think it's helpful to acknowledge that "intelligence" is too broad of a term to define by a single mean. Putting your bias aside is a great sign of social intelligence, IQ (as dumb as the tests are) can be an indication logical/linguistical intelligence.
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u/Royal_Mewtwo 1d ago
This is basically “A demonstrable consequence of having intelligence is a better indicator of intelligence than a paper test of intelligence.” Cool.
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u/effyochicken 1d ago
lol is this also about Musk and his flying car?
Why are all the posts right now about trying to convince people to accept him and call him so cool?
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u/Kool-AidFreshman 1d ago
A smart person becomes good at recognizing their flaws. But if they are willing to put them aside depends on their own ego, motifs, etc
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u/RandomThoughts-677 23h ago
By stating what you've stated in depth, OP, I can tell that there are certain aspects to IQ that you are not aware of that already take this ability into account.
Unfortunately, the ideas of "bias", as you are describing, are widely used in anti-intellectual arguments as well. That's why your point is wrong.
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u/RaZee1214 19h ago
Doesnt IQ have a lot to do with perspectives and patterns?
It might directly relate to being able to comprehend the perspective of your opposing view which makes it easier to set your bias aside? (I got poo brain)
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u/Gullible_Process6391 19h ago
This is actually wrong , agreeing with me on niche issues is the only confirmed method to determine high IQ.
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u/MartyTheMovieHound 18h ago
They somewhat goes together, however I am unaware of any correlation between ego and intelligence, which seems to be the central argument of your post.
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u/vanilla_joker 13h ago
I don't know how to tell you this. But IQ isn't really a determination or measure of intelligence. It's a diagnostic tool more than anything.
Have a low QI is effectively the same as having a low white cell count. Sort of
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u/DetectiveStock1340 1d ago
Being smart and having a high IQ are two different things. Saying “I don’t know” is smarter than any “high IQ” person making an argument out of thin air.
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