11 Concrete Signs He’s A Pseudo Intellectual

Just because someone wants you to think they’re smart doesn’t mean that’s actually the case. Be careful, because here are some signs the guy who has been pursuing you is only a pseudo intellectual and not the real deal:

“Pseudo-intellectuals often overstate their level of intellect; genuine intellectuals continually question their intellect and seek to improve it.” — TLMoore93

“They like to ‘debate’ but shut down and get angry the second they get an unexpected question or have to think about their answer.” — Luststising

“Thinking that watching a certain movie or listening to certain music automatically makes them smarter. Like if you were the director or you were in the band fine but all you did was press play, how are you smart?” — Dozinggreen66

“Being Mean. We’ve all seen Sherlock and other shows that portray intelligent people as boorish, cruel, hyper-logical, etc. And that is stupid. Studies have shown that higher intelligence is correlated instead with increased cognitive empathy – meaning a better ability to parse what someone is experiencing even without any relating experiences to draw on. Logical and intelligent people realize that humans are social animals and that any individual stands a better chance at survival if the species as a whole does well.” — SparrowLikeBird

“To me, a big one is using overly technical or complicated wording when simpler wording would work as well or better. I actually appreciate complex vocabulary, but I don’t think it’s always necessary. If you need to be very precise, then often a more complex word is better. But a lot of communication doesn’t need to be that precise. It’s a nuanced issue though, because a lot of genuinely smart people actually do think in more complex vocabulary than average people. So just because someone occasionally drops a more technical or flowery word doesn’t necessarily mean they were doing so for appearances. Sometimes, that is just how they naturally think and speak. But you can often tell when someone is speaking in public and it seems like they are constantly searching for the most ornate, complicated phrasing to make every single point that they’re probably doing it to signal their supposed intelligence rather than to just communicate effectively. On the other hand, sometimes people who are genuinely smart and ‘intellectual’ will make a conscious effort to appear that way (even if they probably don’t need to). It’s not like ‘real intellectuals’ are immune from narcissism, pride, insecurity, etc.” — kellykebab

“Wanting to argue, debate, etc.– but without an openness to learn, and more importantly, without an openness to change one’s views. We should want to know the truth. Fuck our own views and ideas.” — WalrusCello

“A pseudo intellectual will have the ‘answer’ to extremely nuanced multi-faceted problems. A genuine intellectual will admit that it’s far too complex for them to give you an answer or that no answer is a one size fits all.” — BruceBannerscucumber

“Judginess. Correcting spelling and grammar errors online is annoying, not classy. Pointing out how stupid someone is doesn’t make you look smart.” — SparrowLikeBird

“Disregard for serious scientific research based on their opinion and/or untested/discredited hypotheses. Additionally, referring to a scientific theory as just a theory.” — no_lemom_no_melon

“Projection of intellectual insecurity. E.g. by calling you things like arrogant or pretentious when all you’ve done is state facts.” — Erophysia

“Referencing IQ. IQ scores are well known to be pseudoscience, heavily influenced by language, culture, age, and easily studied for. (I scored 174 because of some intense targeted study sessions in early elementary school – all while being unable to tie my shoes, still believing in magic, etc). The number is meaningless.” — SparrowLikeBird