[jongjong]

This article resonates with me. I think it may also explain why some very smart people are not appreciated; they say things which are far too nuanced for most people to understand; others often won't understand the depth of the argument being made. Most people assume that because everyone is at a similar rank and salary range within a company (or in the industry), they are all operating at the same level and communicate with the same level or nuance. It's not the case.

That's why it's important (especially for those in leadership positions) to assume that the people around you are smarter than you (at least for some time). If you assume that someone is dumber than you, you will miss any nuance and signs of deep domain expertise hidden within.

I find that very clever ideas from very clever people don't provide an instant 'Aha' moment; it takes a bit longer to see the brilliance. It's not obvious at all, that's why it's brilliant.

[sammalloy]

> I think it may also explain why some very smart people are not appreciated; they say things which are far too nuanced for most people to understand; others often won't understand the depth of the argument being made.

Smart people are often wrong; this has little to do with intelligence. The problem is that most people lack vision and can’t see beyond their narrow reality tunnels. It takes extraordinary minds (not necessarily smart ones) to be able to see beyond tomorrow and take what might seem like stupid risks to get there. Very smart people will often be risk averse and stay the course.

[droopyEyelids]

funny... I wonder if your comment is an example of the principle we're discussing in action

[sammalloy]

"High-IQ populations are more patient and more risk averse than low-IQ populations".

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01651...

[_yb2s]

I think you are correct, but this just doesn't feel right, I can't quite put my finger on why.

It's almost like people categorically reject the possibility of greater levels of nuance existing. If they didn't they'd be looking for it carefully, because that is always where deeper insight comes in, right?

If you look at, for example, popular news and political discourse- it is lacking nuance to the point where it's meaningless nonsense, which also lacking any humility, insight, or open-ness to the possibility that more nuance may be possible.

[jongjong]

Could it be because a lot of big, important decisions by influential people are often made based on superficial factors (or gut feelings) and this skews outcomes? I guess sometimes dumb ideas do seem to win; especially in the short term. "The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent."

I think outside of markets and finance, there are areas where nuanced thinking delivers results, even if it's not necessarily rewarded appropriately by management. In tech, it might lead to a feature being implemented in a way which some users will really appreciate (without understanding why).