The topic of smart

On the topic of being smart, the only thing I've clearly noticed is that it's a lot easier to sound smart than be smart.

There are people I know who sound incredibly smart -- almost like they've got it all figured out. Then you talk to them in person and they themselves will admit that they often don't have a clue what they are doing. It reminds me of when I saw a classmate last year and I was told "it's a lot easier to make decisions in case studies than when you have to make them on your own."

If you didn't know these folks, you just might think they're brilliant.

Maybe it's that sounding smart means you are not in the situation and aren't clouded by the facts, because you are "above the situation." Maybe being smart is tough because everything is personal, everything is ambiguous, and you care about the result because you have real skin in the game. Whatever it is, "being smart" is more nuanced than I first imagined.

Copycats

"Copying someone can tell you what to do, but it can't tell you why you're doing it, and you're probably not going to do something well if you don't know why you're doing it." -Paul Graham