Why You're Smarter Than You Think
2/16/20261 hr 34 min
From the time we're schoolchildren, we're ranked and sorted based on how smart we are. But what if our assumptions about intelligence limit our potential? This week, we revisit a favorite 2022 conversation with cognitive scientist Scott Barry Kaufman, who proposes a more expansive notion of what it means to be "smart." Then, in the latest installment of Your Questions Answered, psychologist James Cordova answers listener questions on accepting our romantic partners as they are.
Our next stops on Hidden Brain’s live tour are just weeks away! Join Shankar for an evening of science and storytelling in Philadelphia on March 21 or New York City on March 25. He’ll be sharing seven key psychological insights from his first decade hosting the show. And stayed tuned for more tour stops to be announced later this spring!
If you missed our original series with James Cordova, listen to How to Fix Your Marriage, Part 1 and How to Fix Your Marriage, Part 2.
Episode illustration by ghariza mahavira for Unsplash+
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsShankar Vedantam· Host0:01
This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedantam. [music] Many of us know what it feels like to be overlooked. The school we would love to study at doesn't love us back. We get passed over for a job or a promotion. When we ask to try our hand at something, we're told no. Now, sometimes rejection might be a true reflection of our abilities. We can't run fast enough to make the team or remember all the facts needed to get through medical school. There are other times, however, when rejection is not about our limitations, it's that other people see us as limited. Our concerns over how we are judged are often most acute, most charged, when it comes to the topic of intelligence. Most of us don't just want to be smart, we want to be seen as smart.
Scott Barry Kaufman· Guest0:57
I just remember being taunted and, and being, you know, told things like, like, "Oh, you're too stupid to go on to fourth grade. You idiot." Like, that, that sort of thing. Um, but yeah, it was really, it was really painful.
Shankar Vedantam· Host1:09
This week on Hidden Brain, many of us have knee-jerk conclusions about what intelligence is and how it can be measured. We think we know what intelligence is, but do we really?
Scott Barry Kaufman· Guest1:23
It almost instantly seduced me into loving the science of IQ and intelligence,