"S-M-R-T, I mean S-M-A-R-T"

Here's a rule of thumb I use: if someone says he or she is smart, he or she is probably not very smart.

I have never met someone of high intelligence who would ever describe himself or herself that way. I suspect there are a few reasons. First, intelligent people tend to very aware of what they do NOT know and that there are lots of folks out there smarter than themselves. Second, they have enough confidence in themselves that they have no need to tell anyone about it. Finally, they also know how insufferably arrogant it is to describe themselves that way.

What brought this up? I have been an eHarmony subcriber for a few months, and it's breathtaking how many of these women say that "intelligent" is a word their friends would use to describe them. It runs around 2/3, and I suspect that most of those who don't use it are the type of people I describe above (meaning they actually ARE intelligent). It's like eHarmony is mostly populated with women from Lake Wobegon. Clearly, this self-esteem crap they get from Cosmo or whatnot is out of control.