9 things people who aren’t very smart tend to think are clever

Ever met someone who was absolutely, 100% confident… and 100% wrong? Of course, you have. We all have. It turns out, this isn’t just a random annoyance; it’s a well-documented glitch in our human software.

Psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger first put a name to it in 1999. In their groundbreaking study, they found that people who performed the worst on tests of logic and grammar were also the most likely to overestimate their own abilities. How much? Participants scoring in the bottom quartile—around the 12th percentile—confidently rated their own performance at the 62nd percentile on average.

They called this the “dual burden” of incompetence: not only do people make mistakes, but their lack of skill also robs them of the ability to even recognize their own errors.

True intelligence isn’t about looking smart; it’s about understanding the limits of your own knowledge. So, let’s examine the common traps people fall into when trying to project cleverness they don’t quite possess.

Using big words to sound smart

You know the type. The person who uses “utilize” instead of “use,” or drops “capricious” into a casual chat about weekend plans. They think a complex vocabulary makes them sound like a genius.

But here’s the punchline: it doesn’t work. A Princeton University study with the wonderfully ironic title, “Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity,” found that using long words needlessly actually makes people judge you as less intelligent.

Why? Because it signals insecurity and makes your message harder to understand.

Dominating the conversation

We’ve all been in a meeting with that person who constantly interrupts, talks over others, and treats every conversation like a monologue. They might think they’re demonstrating quick thinking and leadership.

Psychology suggests it’s more likely a display of dominance, insecurity, or a simple lack of empathy. According to psychotherapist Amy Morin, LCSW, chronic interrupters are asserting their power and sending a clear message: “What I have to say is more important than what you have to say”.

This isn’t just rude; it’s counterproductive. Research shows that people who talk more are perceived by themselves and others as more dominant; however, this perception has little to do with actual intelligence or the quality of their ideas.

Being absolutely certain about everything

In a world full of complexity and nuance, the person who has a simple, black-and-white answer for everything can seem refreshingly confident. But this unwavering certainty is often a red flag.

Genuinely intelligent people are more aware of what they don’t know. They understand that “certainty should decrease as complexity increases.” Their confidence is tempered by humility and a respect for the nuances of a topic.

This goes back to the Dunning-Kruger effect. A little bit of knowledge can feel like a lot, creating an illusion of expertise. As David Dunning himself wrote, “the skills you need to produce a right answer are exactly the skills you need to recognize what a right answer is.” Without that expertise, it’s easy to be certain because you can’t even see the complexities you’re missing.

Dismissing experts and “doing their own research”

This has become a modern classic. Someone spends a few hours on Google and YouTube and suddenly feels qualified to debate scientists who have dedicated their entire lives to a subject.

This is the Dunning-Kruger effect playing out in real-time. David Dunning calls this behavior “epistemic trespassing“—stepping into the territory of an expert without the proper credentials and not knowing what you don’t know.

This attitude is often rooted in a broader cultural trend of anti-intellectualism, which historian Richard Hofstadter defined as a “resentment and suspicion of the life of the mind.” It allows people to comfortably endorse misinformation that aligns with their existing beliefs while dismissing expert consensus as biased or corrupt.

True research involves challenging your own biases, not just seeking information that confirms them. The smartest people don’t dismiss experts; they learn from them.

Bragging about not reading books

“I don’t have time for books.” “I’m more of a doer than a reader.” Have you ever heard someone say this as if it’s a badge of honor? This form of proud anti-intellectualism suggests that reading is an impractical, elitist activity for people who aren’t busy in the “real world.”

The statistics, however, paint a grim picture of what this attitude is doing to our country. A 2025 study from the University of Florida and University College London found that daily reading for pleasure in the U.S. has dropped by more than 40% over the last two decades.

Even more shocking, a staggering 42% of college graduates never read another book after they finish their education. Bragging about not reading isn’t a sign of being practical; it’s a sign of willfully cutting yourself off from the accumulated wisdom of human history.

Memorizing facts instead of understanding concepts

We all know someone who is a walking encyclopedia of trivia. They can recite historical dates, sports statistics, or movie quotes on command. While a good memory is useful, mistaking it for intelligence is a classic error.

Today’s employers don’t need human hard drives; they have computers for that. They need people with critical thinking skills who can solve problems, not just regurgitate information. Someone who can only tell you what happened, but not why it happened or what it means, is demonstrating memory, not intelligence.

Playing devil’s advocate just to be contrarian

In any group discussion, there’s often one person who reflexively argues against every idea presented. They see themselves as a sharp, critical thinker who is testing the group’s assumptions.

While true devil’s advocacy can be a powerful tool against groupthink, there’s a big difference between thoughtful critique and performative contrarianism. The first is about finding the best answer; the second is about looking smart.

This behavior isn’t just annoying; it can be genuinely destructive. A study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that being the target of a devil’s advocate’s critique led to threats to one’s feelings of self-esteem, belonging, and even meaningful existence.

It creates a hostile environment that shuts down creativity. A truly intelligent person knows how to challenge ideas constructively without making it personal, fostering collaboration instead of conflict.

Complicating simple ideas

If using big words is one side of the coin, the other is taking a perfectly simple idea and wrapping it in layers of unnecessary jargon and convoluted theory. This person thinks they’re demonstrating a profound depth of knowledge.

In reality, they’re often just creating confusion. This violates a fundamental principle of logic known as Occam’s Razor, which states that the simplest explanation is usually the right one.

True mastery lies in the ability to make the complex simple. It’s a sign that you understand a topic so deeply that you can distill it to its essence.

Often, unnecessary complexity is just a smokescreen. It’s used to “camouflage intellectual poverty with verbal extravagance” and make knowledge seem inaccessible to others.

Being overly critical of others’ work

The person who is quick to find fault in everything—a movie, a restaurant, a colleague’s project—is often seen as having high standards and a sharp, analytical mind. But chronic criticism can be a clever way to avoid ever having to create anything yourself.

It’s easy to be a critic. It’s much harder to be the one in the arena. By pointing out the flaws in others’ work, you can feel superior without ever taking the risk of putting your own work out there to be judged.

Theodore Roosevelt captured this perfectly in his famous “The Man in the Arena” speech, reminding us that credit belongs not to the critic, but to the person “who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood”.

Being relentlessly critical isn’t a sign of superior intellect; it’s often a sign of fear. It’s safer to tear things down than to build them up.

Key Takeaway

Ultimately, these behaviors all stem from the same fundamental error: confusing the performance of intelligence with the real thing. Genuine intelligence isn’t loud, certain, or critical. It’s marked by humility, curiosity, and a quiet confidence that comes from knowing what you don’t know. With only 10-15% of people being truly self-aware, we all have blind spots, and the smartest thing we can do is try to find our own.

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