Is there a difference between being smart and acting smart?

Although intelligence is one of the most consistent and important predictors of real-life success, the connection is by no means perfect. This explains why we all know people who we consider “smart” in a traditional sense (e.g., knowledgeable, bookish, geeky, and mathematically sharp), but who seem to malfunction in everyday life. In fact, decades of scientific research show that intellectual and emotional intelligence are only marginally related, so the ability to function well in interpersonal or social situations is not necessarily a strength for individuals known for admirable mental horsepower or abstract reasoning capacity. To be sure, there’s no shortage of fictional examples of high-IQ people who struggle with basic interpersonal challenges. For example, Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory, Sherlock Holmes, and Mark Zuckerberg as portrayed in The Social Network all combine formidable intellectual ability with a striking inability to navigate ordinary human interactions. At times, this disconnect between highly advanced cognitive capabilities and relatively limited emotional or interpersonal skills is attributed to empathy deficits and neuroatypical patterns along the lin…