3: Notes To Self

Intelligent vs Smart, Charisma, Speed, Enthusiasm, Luck

Author

Luke Clancy
September 01, 2023

Yo!

Here is your weekly dose of 5 things I’m pondering and exploring.

So many banger ideas in this one. Here’s 4 for ya:

  1. On life success: “Intelligent people understand technical details, smart people understand emotional details. Both are important. But there’s a critical difference in how each is valued. Schools are good at teaching and measuring intelligence, so that’s what people tend to value and aspire to. But in almost any field, smarts is what gets rewarded long term. You cannot measure empathy like you can SAT scores, so it’s not surprising that one is given more weight on resumes. But who is more likely to succeed in life – a person whose main skill is memorizing formulas, or someone who can instantly relate to the emotions of coworkers, customers, spouses, and friends?”

  2. On arguments: “Smart people accept that people who have lived different lives than them may want different things and will see the world differently. What looks like debates are often just people with different lived experiences talking over each other.”

  3. On independent thinking: “You’re only thinking independently if your views on certain topics can’t be predicted from your views on other topics. Many views can be predicted, because true independent thinking is so rare. Tell me your views on immigration and I can probably guess your views on abortion. When your views on certain topics can be predicted from unrelated statements, there’s a good chance you’ve outsourced part of your thinking to tribal affiliations. True independent thinking is rare because most people would rather be comfortable than right.”

  4. On storytelling: “The best story wins. Not the best answer. Not the accurate answer. Not the answer people need to hear. The winner is just whoever gets people to pay attention and nod their heads in agreement. If you’re merely intelligent, you might focus all of your effort on finding precise truth. If you’re smart, you’ll focus just as much effort on delivering an effective message around that truth, realizing that the most powerful truth does no good if you can’t get people to pay attention to it.”

Lots of great snippets from this Jakob essay (per usual). 2 parts that stuck out to me:

  • “The only non-negotiable trait of charisma is presence. Every charismatic person signals attentiveness and active involvement to others, making them feel heard, seen, and valued. That’s why eye contact is so important, even when talking to a camera. But it goes deeper than that of course. When people can feel that you genuinely care about them, and understand their struggles, they will perceive you as charismatic. ‘You’re important, I understand what you’re going through, I hear you, and I too care about the things you care about.’”

  • Charisma = presence + authenticity. Become more present through daily meditation. And become more authentic through introspection, self-awareness, and acceptance.

Man did these break my frame for what’s possible in a short amount of time. A few frame breakers:

  • The first fighter jet was designed and delivered in 143 days.

  • On August 9 1968, NASA decided that Apollo 8 should go to the moon. It launched on December 21 1968, 134 days later.

  • The Empire State Building was started and finished in 410 days.

Crazy.

4. “Being enthusiastic is worth 25 IQ points” - Kevin Kelly

Noted! (especially when it comes from a goat like KK)

Two reminders it got me thinking about:

  1. I’m incredibly lucky. My life is the result of millions of people’s hard work. Don’t forget that you stand on the shoulders of giants.

  2. People don’t remember what you said, they remember how you made them feel. How do you make people feel? Insecure or inspired? Cold or comforted? Do you bring joy, passion, & love?

Thanks for wanting to know more today than you did yesterday. I’ll see you next Friday.

Cheers,

Luke