Is Instant Judgement Genius—or Self-Deception?

B.O. once said, “Don’t let anyone make you feel like you don’t belong in the room. At Harvard, when I talk to people, some are smart and some are not. It’s the same at the G7 Summit.” At first glance, this statement seems to emphasize both humility and confidence, but beneath it lies a peculiar sense of self-assurance. Obama suggests that through just a few conversations at Harvard, he could gauge the intellectual depth of others. It is as if he possessed a miraculous ability to instantly discern someone’s academic or technical mastery. But is this truly keen insight, or merely self-deception? If “being smart” simply means parroting political correctness and producing empty signifiers, then the world is in a sorry state indeed. Hector, not Achilles, is remembered as the braver warrior because he knew fear and overcame it. By contrast, what do we make of those who, without truly knowing the abilities of others, still carry themselves with pride? Is that confidence—or is it narrow-minded self-consolation?