How to be Smart: And Idiot's Guide to Intelligence

You know, come to think of it, a lot of being right is not actually being right. A lot of it is sounding right. I know, I know, this sounds really egotistical. But the way I see it is that you can be three things: be right, sound right, or be wrong. Sometimes when you know the answer, you just know. And that's being right. It's same with being wrong. I won't go into be right or wrong by accident because the only thing that matters is what you think, and if you think you're wrong, even if you're not, you're still doubting yourself and it makes you sound wrong. Sounding is different. It's more like a promise. When you want to convince someone of something, but you're not sure of your facts, the most important thing is to sound right at the time so you get the point across, but you make a secret promise to find out later if you actually are. If you were in fact right, then congratulations, you saved yourself from having to deal with the other person's doubts that sprang your own. If you're not, it's up to you whether or not you want to bring it up again. If it's a slight alteration of the truth, it may not matter, like if the earth is 12 or 13 billion lightyears from some other celestial body. But if it's something that will have serious repercussions because of your error, it will only make you look stupid to ignore. The smartest to do is alert the person of the truth with the most grace as possible. Because certain things go together. Intelligence and grace. Ignorance; almost synonymous with idiocy. Don't be an idiot. Look the part. Be the part.