[enraged_camel]

>>paul graham has a phd in computer science. he is a successful startup founder and vc. that is the extent of what i'm interested in his opinion on.

Smart people are much more likely to believe that they have intelligent and well-informed opinions on areas outside their expertise. PG himself is no exception.

[clairity]

intelligence is correlated with (and arguably defined by) insight, so that's a reasonable, if fallible, belief.

intelligence doesn't guarantee insights in areas outside expertise, but it's certainly more promising in that regard.

what's baffling are the high expectations in the populace for the general opinions of famous but not demonstrably intelligent people, e.g., many actors, tv personalities, singers, etc. (comedians are a notable exception, as insight is integral to their craft).

[throwlaplace]

of course but why is that other people indulge them (or even are taken in)