keeping up appearances

[flamingjune07]

This thing reminds me of this thing. It also makes me wonder if perhaps it isn't a little problematic to view the Harvard kid as an exceptional case, constitutionally a criminal whereas all the rest of us are perfectly normal, with all our ethical integrity intact. Certainly, it's probably not a bad idea to try to "seem smart" in addition to

Comments

[flamingjune07]

Hahaha, you are absolutely right-on with that. I find that philosophy blogs in general are usually pretty rife with "seeming smart" key phrases, which is sort of eh, what can you do.

[flamingjune07]

What blows me away is that apparently this kid claimed to have co-authored some books and actually taught some classes and so forth as an undergrad. I mean, how long did he get away with that lie? Were there people who read that and went "Wow, what a brilliant kid he obviously is"?? I'd be willing to believe perfect SAT scores and grades from Harvard -- such people do exist -- but this kid just keeps piling it on until it becomes so implausible that I can't imagine anyone believing it.

[scentedwoods]

I credit 50% of my career with my ability to "seem smart" and keep up social appearances. On days of self-loathing, I credit 100%.

[flamingjune07]

I worry about it too (see also this). I'm slowly becoming able to stave it off, though, as I start doing things that at least seem like they ought to be legitimately difficult (e.g. getting an A in a grad-level Wittgenstein course), where it seems almost more impudent of me to pretend like the people involved (e.g. my professors) are foolish enough to be "tricked" into something like that by a random kid like me :)

[dxmachina1111]

I don't understand. The Harvard student didn't "seem smart" in the sense intended by Schwitzgebel; he forged letters of recommendation & just plain lied about his accomplishments (as you've noted above, to the point of absurdity).

Is my ethical integrity really in jeopardy because I like to use semicolons & occasionally break out some Latin?

[flamingjune07]

I guess what I meant to imply is that I imagine the Harvard student wouldn't have been able to get away with it for nearly so long if he didn't know how to give off an impression of all those things being plausible, and it's this ability to suggest smartness as plausible that seems key for what Schwitzgebel is talking about.

And, no, your ethical integrity is obviously not in jeopardy because of those things. The whole "seeming smart" thing seems like a much more complex, global kind of social-maneuvering than just having a few overeducated tics ;)

Really what the "seeming smart" discussion is meant to highlight, I think, isn't so much where the line is drawn for "legitimate" vs. "manipulative" usage of things like semicolons or Latin, but just to point out that there is such a thing as "seeming smart" that does not entail actually being smart (or being smart to quite the extent suggested by the "seeming"). Two important points can be made about this

[flamingjune07]

A little OT, but:

All kids tell lies. They tell you they ate those $6 organic strawberries you put in their lunch, when they really tossed them in the trash. They tell you they didn't break your grandmother's china tea pot, when you saw them drop it.

First: gee [author], thanks for so thoroughly situating your article socioeconomically right from the outset! It's nice to have a little transparency when it comes to biases.

But secondly -- what kind of idiot is this person's kid? Who didn't like strawberries when they were a kid? And, maybe I was just an especially perceptive kid, but aren't the kid-rules of getting away with lying that you're supposed to turn up the puppy-dog eyes and sorrily accept your guilt when someone sees you, so that you can get away with the stuff they don't see? Not that I ever did anything like that...

[flamingjune07]

Also:

parents should pause children in the moment before they suspect a lie may be coming and say, "You make me really happy if you tell me the truth," Bronson recommended in an interview with NPR.

Wow, way to teach your kids that acceptable behavior is totally contingent upon how to get the greatest reward out of the immediate situation (in this case, parental approval/love). Yikes.

In general, I find it unsurprising that there would be a correlation with lying and cognitive development, for the reasons the article alludes to -- but of course, just because your kid being a liar means they're smart enough to lie doesn't at all make it a good thing. Weird.