I’ve always been attracted to intelligence. I have found myself drawn to people with big…brains! I didn’t know this was a ‘thing’ until I was recently called a “sapiosexual.”

So, how do you identify an intelligent person? I began to dig in and figure out what marks someone as intelligent, learnings in which you can identify smart people with and also takeaways to be one.

Smart people…

Ask you questions.

When you answer, they ask you more.

When you start using big words, they ask for clarification.

When they can’t understand anything you’re saying, they ask for you to explain it to them as if they were a five-year-old.

When you say something intriguing, they write it down in their notebook or phone.

These people are not naturally more intelligent. They’re better learners which makes them more intelligent.

Why do they learn better?

They’re genuinely curious and ask questions from a humble standpoint. I’ve met highly successful people who’ve said, “explain it to me as if I were a five-year-old.”

It comes back to the famous Chinese proverb:

“He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.”

As soon as you stop asking questions, you stop learning.

As soon as you stop writing down ideas, you forget them.

The hardest part of becoming intelligent is not bullshi**ing yourself about what you know; it’s being humble enough to ask questions.