---
title: "Smart people don't think others are stupid"
slug: smart-people-dont-think-others-are-stupid
url: https://listedarticles.com/articles/smart-people-dont-think-others-are-stupid
canonical_url: https://sive.rs/ss
content_type: essay
language: en
published_at: 2012-05-16T00:00:00.000Z
updated_at: 2026-10-15T08:16:19.814Z
author: "Derek Sivers"
authored_by: human
publisher: "Derek Sivers"
publisher_url: https://sive.rs/
topics: ["Opinion", "Culture", "Writing"]
license: all-rights-reserved
word_count: 169
reading_minutes: 1
citation: "Derek Sivers, Derek Sivers. \"Smart people don't think others are stupid.\" 16 May 2012. https://sive.rs/ss (all-rights-reserved)"
---

# Smart people don't think others are stupid

> Derek Sivers argues that calling others stupid is itself unsmart: there are no smart or stupid people, only people being smart or stupid, and being smart means thinking things through and trying to find the real reasons people behave as they do.

The woman seemed to be making some pretty good points until she stopped with, “Ugh! Those people are just so stupid!!”

She could have said Southerners, Northerners, Liberals, Conservatives, Chinese, or Americans.
It doesn’t matter.
She just proved that she wasn’t being smart.

There are no smart people or stupid people, just people being smart or being stupid.

**Being smart means thinking things through.**
It means trying to find the real answer, not the easiest answer.

**Being stupid means avoiding thinking by jumping to conclusions.**
Jumping to a conclusion is like quitting a game.
You lose by default.

That’s why saying “I don’t know” is usually smart — because it’s refusing to jump to a conclusion.

**So when someone says, “They’re so stupid!” it means they’ve stopped thinking.**
They say it because it’s satisfying to jump to that conclusion.

So if you decide someone is stupid, it means you’re not thinking, which is not being smart.

Therefore, smart people don’t think others are stupid.

© [Derek Sivers](https://sive.rs/)

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