Smartness is cunningness? - Page 2

Originally posted by: simtara

The way I've been taught smart is different from intelligent. Smart is in regards to life. It means having common sense, being aware of your surroundings, knowing the ways of life, etc. Intelligent is book-related. It is learned understanding of various topics.

Cunning is negative by definition. It is the use of a skill to deceive or achieve your means.

As Rutu said, to be cunning you must be smart, but to be smart you do not have to be cunning.

There are limits to all things. When you cross a limit, you approach a newly defined stage. You can be smart and survive, but when you breach the limits and use the "smartness" for deceptive purposes, you approach cunning.

I might be in the minority here, but I don't think being cunning is neccesarily all that "bad." With so much "evil" and "bad" out there, it is sometimes more prudent to be cunning. For example, the situation presented in the movie Khosla Ka Ghosla. Such incidents are all too real and frequent. In India, to beat such an event through legal means is not only lengthy and costly, it is often impossible. In such cases, a little cunning by the victim party would be more beneficial to them. Certainly harmful to the perpetrator, but that person as well used cunning to do something wrong.

Agree sweet Smi. I think having good Street smartness is very important.

Originally posted by: simtara

I might be in the minority here, but I don't think being cunning is neccesarily all that "bad." With so much "evil" and "bad" out there, it is sometimes more prudent to be cunning. For example, the situation presented in the movie Khosla Ka Ghosla. Such incidents are all too real and frequent. In India, to beat such an event through legal means is not only lengthy and costly, it is often impossible. In such cases, a little cunning by the victim party would be more beneficial to them. Certainly harmful to the perpetrator, but that person as well used cunning to do something wrong.

I am totally with you on this, Simi!

That movie, Khosla ka Ghosla, was so touching. Movies usually don't make me emotional as they are so larger than life and all but this one made my eyes watery. There are so many Anupam Khers out there today anf if they remain that way, God save them! A little bit of cunningness here and there is a necessity today!

@ DB - Which kinda "chalu" do you mean? the flirty kind or the ones that are capable of working (chalti hui cheeze) ? 😕

Originally posted by: rutumodi915

I am totally with you on this, Simi!

That movie, Khosla ka Ghosla, was so touching. Movies usually don't make me emotional as they are so larger than life and all but this one made my eyes watery. There are so many Anupam Khers out there today anf if they remain that way, God save them! A little bit of cunningness here and there is a necessity today!

@ DB - Which kinda "chalu" do you mean? the flirty kind or the ones that are capable of working (chalti hui cheeze) ? 😕

A friend of the family is going through the Khosla Ka Ghosla nightmare ... and living in the US makes it that much harder to do it either the legal or the cunning way. We're at a loss as to how to help them 😕

Originally posted by: rutumodi915

I am totally with you on this, Simi!

That movie, Khosla ka Ghosla, was so touching. Movies usually don't make me emotional as they are so larger than life and all but this one made my eyes watery. There are so many Anupam Khers out there today anf if they remain that way, God save them! A little bit of cunningness here and there is a necessity today!

@ DB - Which kinda "chalu" do you mean? the flirty kind or the ones that are capable of working (chalti hui cheeze) ? 😕

Are Chalu not in flirting way but chalu in chalta purja means street smart 😆 Sorry dear for Kunfusion 😳

I agree to the fact that all smart people are not cunning. But in corporate world and some other field and sometimes in real life as well as virtual😉 one needs to be shrewd. I would say that as being insightful and not cunning.

firstly, great topic ....... haven't been that active lately but couldn't resist when i saw this😆 ..... follow the colours please😳 ..... the first three points are sort of random but i've tied them together at the end😆

Originally posted by: raj5000

Well people are termed as being smart if they are outward and tactfull. Its great to be smart. Well isn't being tactfull displays some level of cunningness. Arn't people playing tacts on you cunning and otherwise smart individuals.Can smartness be equated as being cunning in broader sense?

in my opinion .... yes it is ...... but that's not to say that it is necessarily a bad thing ....... technically a synonmym for cunning is finesse ...... which has a positive ring to it ....... so if i were to say that being tactful or diplomatic displays some level of finesse ........ wouldn't that sound more positive? ......

so a person who is tactful and uses this quality on you can be considered to be a cunning individual ...... but it comes down to the tone you apply to the word ......

in my opinion ..... yes smartness can be equated with cunningness ....... if you look up the origins of the word smart you'll find that it comes from words that mean sharp, causing pain, biting, stinging etc ...... while cunning comes from words that mean learned ....... i recently took a greek mythology class and it was there that it became concrete in my mind that cunning is a form of intelligence since "cunning intelligence" is a central theme of many greek works ........

now let me just bring these points together coherently😆 ....

i really think that this debate is the way it is since people often use words in the english language in very different and contrasting ways ....... cunning is a form of intelligence while smart refers to being alert (like you would be if you were stung by something - hence the connection to "stinging") ....... over time these words have taken on different tones and hence we're debating whether or not smart can be equated with cunning when really both words have both positive and negative conotations but over time one has earned a slightly more positive one and the other a more negative one ......... so saying that it is great to be smart is an opinion based on the idea that being smart is positive ......... but say to someone who is more fimilar with old english that being smart is a great thing ...... they might take it to mean that you feel that being cunning is a good thing ........ for me its purely a word game ......... and as far as cunning intelligence goes - i'm all for it since it is a form of intelligence ........ and its a form loved by the gods - both greek and hindu😉😆

okay, disclaimer😳:

i am not an english teacher or a semanticist (and i don't play either one on tv😆) ...... i just like learning about word origins ...... i love learning languages and it helps to be able to relate words that way ......... this is only my opinion ...... so please don't take it too seriously ....... and please don't take my line about gods loving cunning intelligence to be my undermining of holy teachings in any way ........ its just that having taken greek mythology i have learned that cunning intelligence is a necessity ....... and again my main point here was that the entire debate is only due to the fact that over time we have developed tones for words in the english language that may not necessarily be true ......... also ..... all definitions and origins are courtesy dictionary-dot-com

side note😆:

as i was writing this long reply (which i apologize for btw) it occurred to me ........ "cunning intelligence" could be considered a part of "more scholarly intelligence" as well if we were to go by the common tones of words ......... think about it ........... math - a manipulation of numbers ........ couldn't you call a manipulative person cunning? - hence mathematicians are manipulative - or cunning - to numbers😛 - yah yah i know its stupid but eh ..... i thought it was funny😆