People Are Revealing "Subtle Signs" They Notice Right Away That Indicate Someone Is Incredibly Intelligent

Even though there are various ways for someone to be intelligent, there can be a few signs that indicate someone is smarter than others. So when Reddit user u/Occyz asked : "What’s a subtle sign that someone is very intelligent?" a lot of people had thoughts on the matter. Here's what they said below.

1. "How often they're confident in saying 'I don't know.'"

2. "They're very good at problem-solving. Even if it's something they have no experience with, they always approach the problem from the right angle."

— u/ElegantFable

"I'll add to this by saying they know when they don't know. And because of that, they will take the opportunity to learn so that they do know, rather than continuing to bumblefuck their way through a problem, which sometimes is the right angle to start with by learning what is what first.

The know-it-all pretenders will just continue slamming that square peg into a round hole until it fits. Then the next time someone opens a control cabinet, it's a fucking mess of bodies and sometimes even bypassed safeties."

— u/illogictc

3. "Understanding and appreciating nuance."

4. "When being taught to do something new, they care just as much, if not more, about why it should be done a certain way as they do about what needs to be done."

— u/frygod

"This is why I hate those assholes who get offended at this. I had a teacher in high school get irrationally angry because I asked why we were doing something a certain way, and they screamed, 'Do not question my authority.' How else am I supposed to learn??"

– u/rockthrowing

5. "They can adapt their communication style — vocabulary, tone, content, etc. — to fit the situation and people they’re talking to, and it seems completely natural."

6. "They are okay with being perceived as 'stupid' by asking questions — if we hold back in fear, we'll never truly learn. Plus, it's a good way to show others it's okay to question things if you don't understand. We're better off if we're on the same page instead of hoping things work out without being informed."

— u/G-T-R-F-R-E-A-K-1-7

7. "My freshman college roommate was a mechanical engineer. One of the first nights we were in the dorms, we had pizza delivered. We didn't eat it all, but the pizza box didn't fit inside the dorm fridge. He went all out origami and transformed the box into a smaller, perfectly square box that fitted inside the fridge... in about 12 seconds. I'm pretty good at math, but not necessarily geometry. My mind was blown. I spent 35 years in academia between my student/teacher years, and he's still one of the three smartest people I've ever met. His ability to 'just do it' is dumbfounding to me. His retirement project is transforming his father's 1963 Mercedes convertible into a 'hybrid' that has a small diesel engine that runs on vegetable oil along with a totaled Tesla Model S battery pack."

8. "I consider someone intelligent if they're able to explain something incredibly complicated in simpler and more readily understood terms."

— u/SylasDevale

9. "Honestly, after reading their work, debates, talks, podcasts, discussions, arguing, etc, I noticed they often use conditions in their sentences that are not absolute. There's also this saying: 'Only a fool talks in absolute.' They use: 'I think, many times, often times, usually, it's possible, it could be IF.' So it appears they talk as if 'I can be wrong' or 'based on what we know.' If you compare sentences so known unintelligent people, they lack these conditions and voices absolutes only."

— u/Crystalline-Luck

10. "They ask really good questions and listen more than they talk."

11. "Someone who can understand someone’s opposing view without having to agree with it or get angry over it."

— u/WhimsyWhisperr_

12. "They feel challenged rather than threatened by new things, problems, ideas."

13. And finally, "They don't continually need to tell people how intelligent they are."

— u/cruiserman_80

Are there other signs that indicate someone is incredibly smart? Tell us what they are and why in the comments below.

Some entries may have been edited for length/clarity.