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Intelligence Trap
The intelligence trap is a psychological idea proposed by Edward de Bono, to rationalize where smart people do not question themselves because they are able to argue their own correctness so effectively. In the latest book of the same name by David Robson, this concept has been illustrated as even though the brightest minds and the most talented organizations could make mistakes, just like everyone does.

Psychologically speaking, even though the most intelligent people are believed to hold risk to become poor thinkers. In particular, when faced with complex and novel situations or circumstances invite bias, people often think poorly than they can. People can get trapped into everyday events, broadly in a range from public to political affairs, and even the academic performance can be affected on a large scale. For example, a job offer missed or dismissed, a university admission opportunity too easily abandoned, a regretful purchase, a decision that is lack of second thoughts.

This phenomenon derives from the fact that intelligence and thinking ability are not the same. High intelligence offers the ability to rapidly assess complexity and gives a seemingly right response quickly, that is literally close to what we say “smart”, which is normally presented in forms like verbal ability and immediate response-ability. However, thinking ability requires evidence in support for the claim and opinions, no cognitive bias is permitted in critical thinking ability including hindsight bias or confirmation bias. Thus, if one who is tagged with “intelligence” or “smart” by the surrounding environment, it doesn’t mean he/she will never make mistakes, he/she could still get caught into the intelligence trap by their cognitive biases.

How people getting into the intelligence trap
People fall into the intelligence trap with a variety of reasons in different circumstances. However, five major reasons have been concluded in light of the past research.

Verbal facility
Raising opinions or thesis with well-articulated verbal expression is often mistaken as more cogitative and persuasive. However, as thinking ability is not directly related to the verbal ability, sometimes people may not feel the intelligent people are making mistakes with cogent speech.

Emotional confidence
An intelligent person intends to defend themselves after they take up a view even there is a lack of a repetitive self-inspection. The overconfidence regarding commonly approval abilities and pride of the ownership of the raised argument stop them to further explore the subject and make errors likely to occur.

Social risks
A sense of superiority developed from the growing environment as a social norm unconsciously affect the ability of judgement and make people suspicious of their rightness in front of the authority. However, due to worries, shame and often accompany anxiety of high social cost to an error made by experts tagged with “right” and “clever”, the intelligent would not challenge the constructive ideas in light of past experience in case of any harm on their social status and self-esteem. Hence, intelligent people sometimes get trapped by intelligence.

Bias toward criticism
Shooting down others' ideas and make them vulnerable to criticism become a favored method to show intelligence and cleverness by intelligent people. The attack is easy and cheap and pays off an immediate achievement easily. But pointing someone’s idea is wrong that does not help with the rightness of the attackers’ claim. In situations like straw man fallacy and ad hominem fallacy, the distortion or misrepresent of refutation argument is utilized to reinforce the attacker’s position, in order to make themselves seemingly right about the subject.

Everest effect
When it comes to analyze and resolve particular problems with proficiency and specificity, favoring methodology and strategy are habitually optioned on the selective list. Most intelligent people prefer to reactive and analytic thinking rather than projective and synthetic thinking because the former makes the intelligent react to the problem in time during the problem terms and thus make themselves seemingly smart. That’s how sometimes intelligent people are caught into the intelligence trap.

However, people habitually applicate from people’s storehouse in order to match the issues immediately and thus puzzle out them, which does not only derive from patterns stored by themselves, but also by their goals, prejudice, and passions.

Motivated reasoning with cognitive bias
When facing a situation that is complex and novel, people are emotionally influenced by intelligence to consider an issue from the one-sided aspect, with biased attitudes. In this process, people unconsciously select any supporting argument that backs up their point of view to suppress any counter evidence and criticisms. Consequently, their intelligence only serves their own beliefs and preconceptions and gets them into an intelligent trap.

Avoid being caught into the intelligence trap
According to numerous studies, compared with when we consider someone else’s problems, the ability of self-consideration and self-analysis has been degraded largely when we confront our own dilemma since such motivated reasoning stops us exploring the truth in just and fair sight. However, such flawed thinking about personal issues can be deliberately arguing by self by a couple of techniques.

Criticism to the intuitive response
Note down the intuitive nut response and consider issues from various aspects, acting like a severe critic who deliberately thinks problems from the opposite side. This helps to determine if you simply refute or reinforce your point of view regarding the preconceptions. Consequently, the event or issue can be considered and evaluated critically in terms of their own virtue by simply criticizing your own argument.

Self-distancing
Stepping out of shoes and talk to yourself in the third person helps to observe the issue from outside view and reconsider the situation on your mind that troubles you. During a calm second thought, this profoundly shapes a balanced mind and reduce the side effect of cognitive bias, and avoids a harebrained and stubbornly decision.

Emotional awareness
The better a person can control his/her feelings, the less impact the emotion reflection could have on the person.

Who am I?
I study OLES2129 at the University of Sydney. This course teaches you how to edit on Wikipedia

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