Quote Originally Posted by Rubicon View Post
I think it does matter whether they were 'playing hero or not' .. makes the difference between an idiot and a genuine person. Looking simply at whether a person's actions is benefiting people seems a cold approach and would make for a cold, fake society. And evaluating every aspect of a person's character at a party on the spur of the moment is hardly feasible.. therefore not the intelligent thing to do - nor is it fun. :-p You're also being way too subjective re your definition of intelligence.
I think what is more cold and fake is thinking you can grasp a person on the spot and pass judgment I mean, I see value in it, I'm not going to soapbox on how this sort of insight is inferior or something. I don't don't agree with this being tied to intelligence, because that's saying is inherently intelligent, and, well, there's a lot to argue that. The intelligence comes in the understanding and application of the information you are observing, not what you observe per se. You can have a very unique but unintelligent observation.

But as I think about it, I think this is an behavior, mostly looking at some comparisons with -egos. I was questioning it at first because I believe myself to have this ability, but as this discussion shows, I don't necessarily put as much weight into it as others. Which would fit, for convenience's sake.