3 Things the Most Intelligent People I Know ALL Do

Welcome to Inner Circle, where Kevin Dahlstrom and I, Mike Brown, have the conversations that we'd be having anyway. Today, rolling in hot with a tweet from our mutual friend, Sahil Bloom. He posted, I'm increasingly convinced that the willingness to change your mind is the ultimate sign of intelligence. Most impressive people I know change their minds often in response to new information. It's like a software update. The goal isn't to be right. It's to find the truth. Kevin has a hot take. So why don't we dive in and go from there?

Yeah. So this is one of those things that Mike, you and I, um, started a discussion via text and we're like, well, why don't we just make this the next episode? Because this is, um, this, this idea that changing your mind is a sign of intelligence. It's a great soundbite and it's, it's really popular to say, but it's also, to me, it's one of those things that actually, if you think about it a little bit, I'm not sure I agree. So, so here's my contrarian, maybe somewhat contrarian take on, on this is, you know, there's nothing inherently virtuous about changing your mind. You know, it, it could mean that you just have a lot of bad takes, so you change your mind a lot. It could mean that you just have ill-formed positions on a lot of issues. And so you learn and change your mind a lot. I'm not sure that's a sign of intelligence, but it is a sign that you're a truth seeker. Right. And so I think the, the upstream thing that is the signal of intelligence is the fact that you seek truth. And I, as I started thinking about this, I actually wrote down, you know, 3 things that I admire in the smart people that I know and, and I'm gonna use you as, in, as a story in one of them. So you'll be maybe flattered. So this is my rant is I think smart people do 3 things. Number 1, they seek truth above all else. You know, I was at a dinner party at your house the other night and your lovely wife said that the moment she fell in love with you was when you said that you love to have your mind changed. And I don't think Claire said that because she loves people who flip-flop on issues. She said that because she knows that you care about truth and justice. So like you're a truth seeker. That's, that's the sign of intelligence. That's what a lot of us admire in others. So, you know, seeking truth above all others. The second thing that I admire in smart people is they have well-formed opinions. So they know what their values are. They've thought deeply about issues and, you know, the problem, and especially this is especially true on, on X or Twitter. Is most people simply haven't thought deeply about issues, so they shoot from the hip and then they say, well, you know, look how smart I am because I, I'm willing to change my mind. Well, the truth is you just had a bad take. And, you know, I call— there's a lot of people on X in particular that I call experts on everything. Yeah, they've got an opinion on everything and most of them are wrong. Um, so, you know, I think smart people are actually fairly resistant to changing their mind because they have thought about issues deeply. And so That's number 2. The third one, and this is the most important one to me, and this is where we could all do a better job. I'm even pointing at myself here, is smart people stay in their lane. And what I mean by that is like they don't have half-cocked opinions about things they don't understand or frankly don't care about. So the example is, you know, I have, if you want to talk about rock climbing, I'm going to have some hot takes for you. Like I have opinions, they're pretty well formed. I'm probably right. Because I've been climbing for, you know, 25+ years seriously. If you want to debate economic tariffs, I mean, I could probably pontificate on it. I'm certainly not an expert on it. And so I'm not going to, you know, say that I have the definitive answer. And so that's how I avoid actually having to even change my mind because I don't really have an opinion to begin with. So anyway, I'll pause there. I'll repeat the 3 things that I admire because I was pretty proud of this list. Number 1, smart people seek truth above all else. Number 2, they have well-formed opinions, but when they don't, number 3, they stay in their lane and they don't tend to pop off on things they don't understand.

I, I love it. I mean, it, this starts with, you don't have to have an opinion on everything. In fact, right? I mean, really the sign of intelligence is going, I don't know enough to actually have a well-formed opinion. Yeah. What I think all three of these hint at is absence of ego, or at least a diminished ego, because I think it's incredibly egoic to have an opinion on everything, right? If you, if you, if you haven't done the research or you haven't built a really solid case for your opinion, then it isn't worth much. You're right. But when I think about Changing my mind. I agree that truth-seeking is truly, I think, one of my highest values. And when I told Claire my favorite feeling in the world is having my mind changed, it's not because it's easy. It's exactly because it's so difficult to change my mind because I have built over years a very intense researched opinion. And I'll give you a great example. A few years ago, I met this guy Floyd Marinescu, who's a Canadian entrepreneur. He's kind of the Canadian Andrew Yang. He's a big proponent of UBI. And I've always been libertarian leaning. I've always really been against socialism and I had heard about UBI before, but I thought it was just a new form of socialism and a new wrapper. But he went through and explained why he thinks UBI makes sense from a libertarian perspective, that it increases freedom because is it gives people optionality. And he used the example of his mother who was married to an abusive man, but she couldn't leave because she was afraid she'd be living under a bridge. She had nowhere to go. And his position was that if she had had like a $2,000 a month safety net, she could have fled that abusive marriage into safety. It just clicked for me. I was like, man, that makes sense. And I have long stood on this hill, died on this hill that UBI is socialism. But in that moment I was like, no, You're right. I, and that's better information than I had before. Right. So I think it's really, was my information complete and presented with new information? Am I willing to update my information?

Well, you know, there's another angle to this. I like that you said, you know, cause I said, look, upstream from changing your mind is seeking truth. And you said upstream from seeking truth is letting go of ego. And I think what goes along with letting go of ego. Is being able to listen to viewpoints that you maybe initially at least don't agree with. Back to that dinner party we had at your house, you remember we had a pretty intense discussion about some, some hot political issues. It was super like, uh, like nobody got worked up. We talked about it. We didn't all have the same view, but you know, it spurs thinking and that's been lost, Mike, man. It's like, it's so sad that like my parents used to have I would have people over for dinner when I was a kid who had dramatically different views than they did, and they would have these like vigorous debates over dinner and then they'd hug and go their separate ways. Like what's happened to us, man? Yeah.

Well, I do think without going too far down the political lane, there has been, I think the primary downside of social media is an increase in tribalism. Totally. Because, you know, for the most part, you and I both know that nuance is not necessarily rewarded by the algorithm, right? Definitive and sometimes simplistic opinions went out when really the reality is most of these issues are complex. Healthcare is complex. Immigration is complex. And anybody who says they have a definitive right answer is probably leaving out nuance. Like the reality is I don't know what the solution is to some of these big problems. I have my proclivities. I have my ideas. I have my opinions, but I can't like to to your earlier point, like, I can't— I don't have the time to go so deep on one of these opinions. I think you'd have to dedicate your career to it.

I think what you said is correct. Like, I have, um, you know, I lean certain ways on issues, but I think you have to have the humility to know, like, I don't have the answer, and at least the definitive answer. And I think there's a difference here between— so I don't change my mind or change my position very often, But I'm shaping my views all the time. And I think like one of the reasons, like we started this podcast was the iron shaping iron thing. I think we've both experienced that because you and I come from different backgrounds. We have, we have a lot of the same views, but also different views. And I like having my views shaped. It doesn't mean that I change my fundamental position, but I take the edges off, you know, a little bit.

Yeah, that's, it's, it's, it's less changing my mind, but constantly updating my opinion. So. When we start from first principles, it's what are my values, right? And, and back to that UBI example, well, my values include freedom and human flourishing. You know, my previous opinion was that, that this UBI would, would take away from freedom because it would be, you know, taxation through coercion. And then I saw that it actually aligned better with my values. So I think you have to have that baseline rubric. What are my values?

Yeah.

And then I'm And then I'm comparing my positions to my values and updating them when I get better information.

Really important call out for our listeners. You know, I would say maybe if anybody I know, there's nobody who has been more deliberate about, you know, defining their values than you. And I would say, if you're gonna, like, the starting point is have a clear understanding of what your values are. Like, I'm a huge believer in Like when you write things down, it just hits different. It causes you to think at a deeper level. Like, in fact, I'm not even sure I've done this recently. Like literally write down your 4 or 5 core values and wrestle with it a little bit. That's, that's like the foundation of being able to develop a cogent position on any issue because our views on any issue are shaped by our values. That's the core principle.

Yeah, they have to be. And you and I are obsessed really with one question. What makes a great life?

Yes.

And I think upstream of that is my values, right? If I get clear on my values first, now I can start shaping a great life around those values. But if I'm unclear on my values, it's going to be really hard to even do your ideal end state exercise, right? Because if I haven't gotten clear on What do I value? Then I don't actually have a clear path to, well, how do I want to live? And you're right. I think it's wildly valuable, much like our word of the year exercise, to define your values and then constantly stress test them. Go, hey, does this still fit? And I've actually updated my values over the last 3 years, but it's to words that are an evolution of the originals, not a new value. I didn't pull something completely new out of thin air. It just goes, hey, actually, this fits a little bit better in this version of my life than this old word.

Well, cool. I think that's a great place to kind of wrap this one. It'll keep this one short and sweet. I did write down one thing that I wanted to, uh, to close with because the starting proposition of this was this, uh, idea that, you know, the best signal of intelligence is changing your mind. And I actually don't think that's the best signal. The best signal, and I'm gonna steal this from Naval, he says the only real test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life. And back to like our core mission, you and I, we share, which is trying to figure out and help people, you know, what makes a great life and how do you get there? That's really the only test of intelligence that matters. You know, you can be, there's a lot of really people with incredible cognition out there who are not happy.

Yeah. In fact, in some ways, high intelligence can actually be a barrier to happiness because you're more aware of humanity's problems, the world's problems. You're more aware of your own problems. You're more aware of your own limitations. So, self-awareness can often stand in the way of actual happiness. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. It just means there's a bigger job at hand. Seeking truth and seeking clarity. I do agree. It's, it's okay. Well, what am I solving for here?

Well, yes. And, um, as, uh, you often say, like getting what you want out of life isn't a destination that you reach. It's a state of being. That's why, like my ideal end state exercise, I describe it. It's not a bucket list. It's a state of being like, it's a way of living that's ever-changing. Um, and it, and you know, I think at the core of that is what we talked about, which is, um, seeking truth, letting go of the ego.

Yeah. I love it, man. I mean, that's, that's, I think the ultimate hack is, uh, to, to recognize, uh, when, uh, you, you know, a quote that I love also, like, would you rather be right or would you rather be happy? And, uh, you know, oftentimes it, it means, uh, walking away from arguments that aren't serving you in the first place.

Yeah. One of my friends from X, Mike Girdley, he has this great line that I steal from time to time, which is, I've had to get really comfortable with other people being wrong. Just let them be wrong.

That's it. I love it, man.

All right, brother.

As always.

Enjoyed it.