Why You Should Pretend to Be Less Intelligent than You Are

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In his book How to Use Your Enemies, the Spanish philosopher, Baltasur Grassian wrote,

know how to appear the fool.

The wisest sometimes play this card, and there are times when the greatest knowledge consists in appearing to lack knowledge.

You mustn't be ignorant, just thane ignorance.

While many people openly flaunt possessions such as wealth, status, beauty, and power,

when it comes to the greatest human good, wisdom, those who possess the most of it are careful to conceal it.

In his book Beyond Good and Evil, the great 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote,

every profound spirit needs a mask, moreover, around every profound spirit a mask is continually

growing thanks to the constantly false, that is, shallow interpretation of every word, every step,

every sign of life he gives.

Now and then, even foolishness is a mask.

In this video, we examine some of the benefits of concealing wisdom beneath the appearance of foolishness.

The philosophers who advocated for this strategy did not mean that we should behave stupidly,

but rather that we should appear less intelligent and insightful, or wise, than we are.

Whereas Montesquieu, the 18th century French judge in philosopher wrote,

I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear like a fool, but be wise.

The first reason for concealing our wisdom is that many people are uncomfortable around those who

can see through the illusions, deceptions, and distractions that capture others.

In the work of fiction, flowers for Algonon, a novel scientific experiment transforms

an intellectually handicapped man into a genius, and this leads him to the following observation.

I'm beginning to think that with intelligence you don't just see more, you see through things,

and that makes people uncomfortable.

One of the reasons superior wisdom makes people uncomfortable is because it exposes the

superficiality and limits of their understanding. To show your intelligence and discernment

is only an indirect way of reproaching other people for being dull and incapable,

intellectual superiority offends by its very existence, without any desire to do so.

Brought the 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer,

and because most people believe themselves intellectually competent and derive much of their

self-worth from this belief, being confronted with the naivety of their own thinking wounds

their vanity and awakens feelings of inferiority. As a result, wise people often evoke the resentment

and hostility of those with more mediocre minds, and as Schopenhauer continues,

there is nothing of which a man is prouder than of intellectual ability. For it is this that gives him

his commanding place in the animal world, it is an exceedingly rash thing to let anyone see that

you are decidedly superior to him in intelligence and wisdom, and to let other people see it too,

because he will then thirst for vengeance. As the wise understand how their wisdom can threaten

the self-esteem of others, they often downplay or conceal their superior insight behind simplicity,

modesty, humor, or silence. They also understand that people rarely change their opinions when confronted

by superior ideas. More often, they become defensive and hostile, thus little is gained by openly

displaying our wisdom, with fools being wise counts for little, wrote Baltic Argrassian.

Friedrich Nietzsche, one of the profoundest thinkers in history, advised the superior mind to

disguise itself beneath an appearance of mediocrity, or as he wrote in an aphorism titled

mediocrity as a mask, mediocrity as the happiest mask which the superior mind can wear.

Because it does not lead to the great majority, that is, the mediocre, to think that there is any

disguise, yet the superior mind assumes the mask just for their sake, so as not to irritate them,

nay, often from a feeling of pity and kindness. In addition to avoiding resentment and hostility,

and unintentionally wounding the vanity of smaller minds, there are practical reasons for

concealing the profound depths of our understanding. When attempting to influence people or gain their

favor, it can be counterproductive to appear too insightful or profound. For be it in business,

politics, academia, a career, or social life, most people are more inclined to cooperate with

than favor those who they perceive to be intellectually inferior, or as Arthur Schopenhauer wrote,

for just as warmth is agreeable to the body, so it does the mind good to feel its superiority,

and a man will seek company likely to give him this feeling as instinctively as he will approach

the fireplace or walk in the sun if he wants to get warm, but this means that he will be disliked

on account of his superiority, and if a man is to be liked, he must really be inferior in point

of intellect. When interacting with those who occupy positions of authority and power, individuals

who can open doors for us and advance our ambitions, it can be prudent to veil at least a some degree

our superior insight. For openly outshining people whose favor we seek can stimulate their

insecurity and be counterproductive to our goals. This does not mean we should pretend to be stupid,

for we must display competence if we wish to attract the attention in respect of those above us,

but we should be careful not to appear wiser, more perceptive, or more insightful than they are.

Avoid outdoing your superior, wrote Baltasar Grassian. All triumphs are despised,

in triumphing over your superior is either stupid or fatal. Superiority has always been

detested, especially by our superiors. In his book Power, Why Some People Have It and Others

Don't, Jeffrey Feffer, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford University,

points to studies which show that job performance plays far less of a role in career advancement

than is often assumed. Promotions are determined more by one's likeability and one's

relationship with superiors, and part of being likeable involves flattering the ego of those

in positions of authority by making them feel as if we depend on and value their superior guidance,

wisdom, and insight. As Jeffrey Feffer writes, so great to job performance by itself is insufficient,

and may not even be necessary for getting and holding positions of power. You need to be noticed,

influence the dimensions used to measure your accomplishments, and mostly make sure you are

effective at managing those in power, which requires the ability to enhance the ego of those above you.

Or as Robert Green echoes in the 48 laws of power, always make those above you feel comfortably

superior, in your desire to please and impress them do not go too far in displaying your talents

for you might accomplish the opposite and inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear

more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power. Some may argue that truly

wise individuals should not care about the opinions of others, for the height of wisdom is to

cultivate independence from society and an indifference to what others think. This argument is valid in

the case of the individual who is cultivated enough self-sufficiency that he depends on no one

for advancement, favors or support. Yet the fact is that most of us remain dependent to some degree

upon the cooperation and goodwill of other people. Yet even for the completely self-sufficient

wise men, the remains another reason to occasionally play the fool. It serves as an exercise in humility,

reminding him that, like all human beings, he too is ultimately a fool. For in the presence of

the great mysteries of life, even great heights of human knowledge in wisdom are trivial. When it comes

to the big questions of life and death, we are all equally ignorant. This admission of ignorance is

a central component of wisdom. In fact, one of history's wisest men, Socrates, did not even consider

himself to be wise. In Plato's apology Socrates' friend, Cheraphon, visits the Oracle at Delphi where

the priestess Pithia declares that no man is wiser than Socrates. But when Cheraphon reports this to

Socrates, he is confused, or as he states, what is the interpretation of this riddle? For I know that I

have no wisdom, smaller, great. Unsettled by the Oracle's words, Socrates sets out in search of

men he assumes to be wiser than himself. Politicians, poets and craftsmen renowned for their

intelligence and expertise. Yet he discovers that while these men believe themselves wise,

their wisdom does not hold up under questioning. Beneath their supposed knowledge lies confusion,

contradiction, ignorance, and unexamined assumptions. As Socrates explains, I went to one who had the

reputation of wisdom and the result was as follows. When I began to talk with him, I could not help

thinking that he was not really wise, although he was thought wise by many, and wiser still by himself.

It eventually dawns on Socrates that the Oracle pronounced him the wisest man in Athens not because

he possessed a lot of knowledge, but because, unlike others, he recognized the limits of his understanding.

While other people mistake their opinions for truth, Socrates alone was conscious of his great ignorance.

Whereas Plato wrote, this man, Omen of Athens, is wisest, who, like Socrates, knows that his wisdom

is in truth worth nothing. By exposing the ignorance of people who had the reputation of being wise,

Socrates made many enemies, eventually he was charged with corrupting the youth in impiety

and sentenced to death. This is a powerful reminder that it can be rash and even at times dangerous

to publicly expose our superior wisdom and insight. Reflecting on the events that led to his

sentencing, Socrates explained, I went and tried to explain to the one who had the reputation of wisdom

that he thought himself wise, but was not really wise, and the consequence was that he hated me,

and his enmity was shared by several who were present and heard me. This investigation has led

to my having many enemies of the worst and dangerous kind. Or as Arthur Schopenhauer observed,

a man may be as humble as possible in his demeanor, and yet hardly ever get people to overlook his

crime and standing intellectually above them. As there is little to gain and much to lose, by openly

displaying superior wisdom, it is wise to strategically wear the mask of foolishness to avoid the

envy and hostility of others, ingratiate ourselves with those whose favor may help us achieve our

goals, and most importantly, to remind ourselves that genuine wisdom begins with wonder and the

recognition of how little we truly know. The wisest of all, in my opinion, is he who can, if only once

a month, call himself a fool, a faculty unheard of nowadays, wrote Fyodor Dostoevsky, or as William

Shakespeare observed, the fool Doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.

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