A Response to “Smart”

What does being “smart” or “intelligent” mean? According to Miriam Dictionary, smart means being “very good at learning or thinking about things.” This definition seems inadequate taking into consideration that the word “smart” means different things to many different people.

I will be responding to this video that my colleague, Alex, wrote about in this article. To give a short summary, the video is called “How to Sound Smart” and is a TED talk given by Will Stephen who introduces his talk as “nothing.” He explains to that audience that he will make them feel as if they have learned something even though he himself has not conducted any research or has anything inspiration to say. Stephen claimed that he will create an illusion of intelligence by “using hand gestures, taking long pauses, adjusting his glasses, asking a question, telling a personal and embarrassing anecdote.”

In Alex’s article he describes the new techniques he will use for his own future presentations. He lists techniques such as engaging with the audience, having good posture, building up to a large idea, and many others. I agree with Alex in that these are great persuasive and public speaking skills. However, this was not the biggest take away from the video for me.

What fascinated me about the video was how engaging he was. Stephen’s presentation revolved around a simple idea: nothing. What he said did not fully relate or build on to the previous thought and he did not have anything “inspiration” or “revolutionizing” to see. Yet, he was very entertaining to watch. I kept listening and holding on to every word he was saying, waiting for the possibility that he would say something insightful and thought-provoking. Despite his claim that he was talking about nothing, I felt that his presentation spoke to a larger issue: what it means to be smart.

As defined earlier, smart means being “very good at learning or thinking about things.” Although Stephen is undoubtedly a very intelligent man, it’s interesting how he claimed that he could make himself “sound smart.” How can one “sound smart?” Based off Stephen’s TED talk, it seems that intelligence is linked with physical appearance and delivery. He claimed that he wore the glasses in order to appear smart and that by using hand gestures and asking questions would make him appear as if he knew what he was talking about. It’s puzzling to think that a characteristic can be connected to physical appearance. 

The definition of “smart” is complex. To Western Society, being smart can mean excelling in math and science subjects. To Indigenous nations, intelligence can be defined by the ability to retell traditional stories. And to Hollywood, smart can mean being able to memorize lines and dance routines the quickest.  In short, “smart” means a different things to different groups. However, the addition of physical appearances complicates this idea even further.

Do you think one’s intelligence can be linked with one’s physical appearance? I disagree completely, but we’ll save this debate for another time.

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