One of my high school teachers used to say, “It’s not what you know, but what people think you know that counts in life.” This always triggered in me a cognitive conflict, because I believed I was studying mathematics and physics to become smarter, not merely to appear smarter.
Over the years, I came to realize that there are some professions in which it was, indeed, an advantage to be seen as smarter than you really are. In one case it was a lawyer who was widely acknowledged at the best lawyer in a city where I lived. That reputation won him all the high profile clients. Wealthy people who were charged with serious crimes were prepared to pay him a large retainer just to have him take their case. That lawyer lost many cases, because he often took on cases that were considered “hopeless.” In spite of his poor win-loss record, his high-profile cases won him a lot of media coverage that, in turn, sustained the impression that he was brilliant. There were probably many lawyers who were smarter, but made less money, because they were not perceived to be as smart as the high-profile lawyer.
Consulting is another profession in which there is benefit in having people think you’re smarter than you actually are. People will pay for advice on designing their homes, streamlining their businesses and investing their money. The amount they are prepared to pay will often depend on the reputation of the consultant. The smarter the consultant is perceived to be, the more the client is prepared to pay. Investment gurus who are believed to have special insights into the markets can demand substantial fees to manage a client’s money. It’s all about perception.
However, there is a potential downside to creating a false impression of your intellectual acuity; when the truth is revealed, you may suffer a disastrous fall from grace. Bernie Madoff, who made off with mega dollars of client money was able to scam many wealthy people, because he was believed to be a brilliant investor with special insights into the market. When his Ponzi scheme collapsed, he was issued multiple life sentences and died in prison on April 14, 2021, a disgraced and broken man.
The moral of the story is that it can be beneficial to be thought of as brilliant, but it’s also important to strive to build your intelligence up to your perceived level of intelligence.
