Intelligence Signals

Who is the most intelligent person you know?

Is it a friend? A parent? An old college professor? Your coworker? Or, perhaps, you have the audacity to say it’s yourself.

Regardless of who you choose, my next question is: Why?

There’s a good chance you selected someone who's book-smart. Someone who was at the top of their class in school or studied a field you perceive as difficult.

It’s natural to think that way.

I did the same for a while. But my perspective recently shifted.

The Merrian Webster Dictionary defines intelligence as:

The ability to learn or understand things or to deal with new or difficult situations.

This aligns with the way we understand intelligence in an academic environment. People who learn well and understand new things earn the highest GPAs. So, we declare them to be the most intelligent.

But in the post-college world, we don’t place great weight on how one did in school.

Instead, we place more value on how people think, decide, and act in real situations.

So, I no longer like the textbook definition of intelligence. Instead, I prefer to define it as Naval Ravikant does:

The only true test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life.

There are two parts to his idea.

The first is that you know how to get what you want and actually get it. The second part is that you know what you want in the first place and want the right thing.

This frame makes you realize that intelligence isn’t about IQ.

There exist countless successful individuals—whether they succeed financially, physically, socially, or in their careers—who don’t boast high IQs. Yet then win and are the best at what they do. So, they deserve to be called intelligent, right?

That’s why I like to view intelligence as one’s ability to get what they want.

Following this way of thinking, when I search for intelligent people, I look for these 11 signals.

1: Strong Communication Skills

You don’t get what you want in life alone. It’s possible in some circumstances, but for the most part, you rely on support from others.

That means you need to be able to sell yourself and your ideas to others.

Communicating with concision, clarity, and engagement matters.

And intelligent people do it well.

2: Avid Learners

School forces you to learn. But no one demands the same of you after college. You can coast through life hardly consuming new information.

But intelligent people learn for the fun of it.

New ideas interest them, and they seek out to understand as much as possible.

3: Obsessive Mindsets

When intelligent people know what they want, they obsess over it. They dedicate their time to acquiring what they want and don’t stop until they attain it.

4: Self-Confidence

Intelligent people are confident in themselves, their skills, and their knowledge.

They don’t let self-depricating thoughts or the opinions of others hold them back.

5: Adaptivity

Uncontrollable forces get in everyone’s way.

Non-intelligent people give up when their plans veer off course. But intelligent people don’t do that. They pivot and modify their approach.

They get what they want in spite of unexpected events.

6: Highly Sociable

Again, you get what you want in life with the help of others.

Intelligent people are social animals. They can effortlessly talk to anyone—whether it be friends, acquaintances, or strangers. They know how to meet people and build relationships that drive them closer to what they want.

7: Great Time Management Skills

Intelligent people don’t waste time.

Their schedules are as packed as ours, but they understand how to allocate time and prioritize what brings them closer to their goals.

8: Breaking Rules

Even if you want something others have achieved, your journey is unique. You can’t copy their path and expect the same results.

Intelligent people make unorthodox decisions to adapt to their own circumstances.

They break rules that don’t serve their goals and go against the status quo when necessary.

9: Knowing How to Say “No”

We have the same 24-hour days as intelligent people.

However, what we choose to do with our time differs.

Intelligent people understand which tasks or opportunities don’t bring them closer to what they want. And what separates them from non-intelligent folks is their ability to say “no” to these things.

10: Humor

I can’t justify why humor matters. But when I see someone who knows how to make people laugh, I can’t help but feel they are intelligent.

I trust my instinct, so I stand by this signal.

11: Bias Toward Action

Intelligent people don’t overthink.

They make decisions and act on them. Even if the decisions turn out to be wrong, they recalculate and choose a new course of action.

What matters is that they don’t delay action. They act fast and deal with the repercussions later.

When I look for these signals in people, I understand most won’t have all 11. How many signals one needs for me to deem them intelligent is subjective. But if I notice at least half of these signals, it’s a strong indicator.

You may or may not agree with my intelligence signals.

That’s fine.

This is what I look for. It’s personal to me. You have the freedom to pick the signals that matter to you. And that’s what you should do.

Choose which definition of intelligence you believe in and select the signals you want to look for.

After you do that, answer this question once more: Who is the most intelligent person you know?

Is your answer the same?