When my older brother was teaching at Cal State Northridge…back in the 20th century…he had an office mate who was famous for his Kentucky wisdom. One thing he said a lot was, “If you want someone to think you’re smart, tell them you think they’re smart.”

When I first heard it, I thought it was just an ism from a glad-hander. But over the years, I’ve seen it work. And work. And work.

And, there’s a flip side. If you know you’re going to have to come up with a plausible support for the claim that somebody is smart, you start looking for reasons why people are smart. Before you know it, you start to think highly of those around you, as you begin to observe all the smart things they say and do.

Now, I don’t know everyone who will read this post. But I do know that you’re smart. I can be sure of this based on your reading habits.