Somewhat related to polarbear's post, I tell my DD about these statements:
- I am good-looking.
- I am funny.
- I am smart.
In survey after survey, each of those statements enjoys a large majority of agreement, which is not mathematically possible, because the majority cannot be better than average. This highlights the fact that people are generally bad at forming an objectively accurate sense of self.
So if my DD tells someone, "I am smart," she has told the person nothing of value, because nearly everybody thinks they're smart. The listener will just shrug and think, "So am I. What's your point?"
When someone is truly smart, they never have to say anything about it. Just through the course of normal interaction, it will be displayed, and will people notice.... and they'll usually say so, too.
That's true for beauty and humor, too.
