17 replies to this topic

[1kgcoffee]

Been wondering lately, why it is that dumb people tend to have a glazed over 'stoned' look in their eyes, while the intelligent ones have a very intense look, often accompanied with frequent eye movement. This is a generalization I've found to be mostly true.

Does it have to do with nmda receptor activity or density? More grey matter? A more developed optic nerve thanks to higher levels of NGF?

[sthira]

I've studied two species of birds that are fairly closely related. One bird, Cathartes aura (the turkey vulture) is considered kinda dumb. The other bird, Coragyps atratus (the black vulture) is way brighter, and is even a documented tool user.

Anyway, back to your post, you can "sense" it in both bird's eyes. Look directly into the eyes of a black vulture and an intelligent being looks directly back at you -- hmmm -- almost as if this animal is judging you, considering you, sizing you up, a bird saying to you maybe something like :: "are you gonna eat me or am I gonna eat you?"

Meanwhile, look into the turkey vulture's eyes and the bird immediately looks away, or glazes over, or the bird seems blankly terrified. The turkey vulture doesn't seem to have this ineffable "intelligence" quality in its gaze. What is it about those eyes?

I realize I'm deep in the unicorn forest of anthropomorphism with these words; but nonetheless most of us who look into the eyes of both birds seem to reach similar conclusions: one is a numbskull and the other wants to con you out of $20. Why? How? Intensity of gaze isn't it. It's not eye color or eye shape that tells the difference. There's some intangible quality.

Or could it be that we know a priori that one bird (or human) is "smart" because someone told us? Perhaps we bring in prejudices and see in another's eyes what we want to see?

[Absent]

I believe it has something to do with brain function - to put it simply. People who are focused in the mind will also be focused in the body, and it will reflect in their movements.

This reminds me of a particular experience.... I remember once on a megadose of Piracetam, like 40g with 40g of Fish Oil, I could literally focus my eyesight perfect.... now understand, my eyesight SUCKS. Without contacts/glasses I can't see 2 feet in front of my face and objects are a blur. On that dosage of piracetam I could focus my eyesight perfect, at any distance, without any eye-aid, and most importantly WITHOUT my eyes crossing... it was quite the curiosity. It made me think that perhaps poor-eyesight is related more to brain function than actual eye-deformities. Perhaps the part of my brain that controls eye focus is lacking? Could this lead to a further field in which the majority of eyesight problems could be fixed by stimulating this area of the brain with TDCS or something similar? I honestly believe so.... but back to your question..

Ultimately though to answer your question, it has to do with brain activity. Get drunk/high, feel it, and note your eye activity. Get super relaxed, note your eye activity. Take a bunch of caffeine, be super focused on your task, and note your eye activity. Note the movements, how quick, accurate, definitive, and solid they are. Like any other part of the body, the eye is just an extension of the brain. Pay enough attention to a person, you can get a grasp of their exact mental state just by paying attention to how their movements are and what not. I wouldn't tie it to 1 particular piece of neural anatomy.. the body just isn't that simple.

Now, it is another thing to question what makes a person dumb. There are a million possible things. Too much relaxation, inadequate brain function due to poor diet, etc... could be anything.

Edited by Siro, 14 June 2013 - 07:08 AM.

[theblob]

Wider Blood Vessels in the Eye Linked With Lower IQ and Cognitive Function at All Ages: http://brainupdates....on-at-all-ages/

[jly1986]

One of the unexpected benefits I gained from taking Noopept+Lucidril is the noticeable improvement in my eye-sight. Everything appears super sharp and clear, both near and far vision. Low light conditions are still more challenging, but I noticed during an office meeting the other day how I could read with unaided eyes things posted on the far wall that would've been too blurry before. I was quite surprised, actually.

[pheanix997]

This is an interesting thread... would like to hear more opinions on this. Does anyone else have anything to add? Is it just a matter of a person's mental focus reflecting through the intensity of their eyes? Is there any way to improve the focus of the eyes? I'm like the hapless turkey vulture, bumbling around through life all dull-eyed and in a half-daze. Low intelligence, ADD, whatever you want to call it - it's rather embarrassing, especially when speaking with bright, sharp people who can't help but snicker at the way you're gawking at them. Any suggestions, friends? 

[golden1]

mentally unstable "crazy" people seem to have "crazy eyes" 

 

To me it seems more like a reflection of how relaxed the person is. 

[Arjuna]

Emotional states are compounded over time and worn on the face permanently in the form of muscle development. For example some people grin all the time and their face is a slight grin when relaxed.

What you are describing with that sharp look in the eyes is a type of neuroticism. It has more to do with personality type than intelligence, it is more about the person's persistent emotional state and motivational levels. That person often wears a look of concern or over focus because they are driven to do so. Check this out:

http://en.m.wikipedi...ur_temperaments

Notice that choleric has the intense intelligent look you are describing. He is also thinner than the others. He fits Nietzche's description of the artist/politician (being thin and tall) and not policeman/enforcer (mesomorph) or laborer (endomorph). Similarly the face also fits the description of an undermethylator, thin intense and extremely driven.

So in conclusion the eyes don't show intelligence, just how your brain chemistry makes you act like you have a stick up your ass, so you exercise your intelligence more to your advantage. Also these are all just trends, please don't take your body type or face type and make a final decision on what your brain chemistry is like.

Edited by Arjuna, 27 May 2014 - 03:30 PM.

[Debaser]

I've also noticed that when you meet a really intelligent person, you can see it in their eyes. A kind of bright depth and focus. Even if their eyes are very dark, I would still describe them as "bright". In contrast, more dim-witted people often have a glazed-over look, like there's nothing switched on underneath, and kind of less reactive.

[YoungSchizo]

I tend not to talk much with people (I'm not anti-social, just socially "awkward"), because I literally can extract all the information from what ones eyes are telling. (I mostly get my confirmation from the action that eventually will follow after I catched an "abnormal" glaze). In psychotic state of mind, I avoid looking into eyes because I literally hear what one is thinking, if those are hallucination or not I have no clue. Only thing I know about myself is that I have a high-speed brain (somewhere up there I'm highly intelligent) though, it gets derailed when psychotic and then my brain's "calculations" doesn't make much sense anymore in extracting and processing ones glaze.

[pheanix997]

Emotional states are compounded over time and worn on the face permanently in the form of muscle development. For example some people grin all the time and their face is a slight grin when relaxed.

What you are describing with that sharp look in the eyes is a type of neuroticism. It has more to do with personality type than intelligence, it is more about the person's persistent emotional state and motivational levels. That person often wears a look of concern or over focus because they are driven to do so. Check this out:

http://en.m.wikipedi...ur_temperaments

Notice that choleric has the intense intelligent look you are describing. He is also thinner than the others. He fits Nietzche's description of the artist/politician (being thin and tall) and not policeman/enforcer (mesomorph) or laborer (endomorph). Similarly the face also fits the description of an undermethylator, thin intense and extremely driven.

So in conclusion the eyes don't show intelligence, just how your brain chemistry makes you act like you have a stick up your ass, so you exercise your intelligence more to your advantage. Also these are all just trends, please don't take your body type or face type and make a final decision on what your brain chemistry is like.

Really good point, but I think the eyes can show intelligence, beyond being a reflection of a person's emotional trend. I think eye movement has something to do with it - an intelligent person's eyes tend to have more blinking activity and general movement, laying suggestion to the amount of thinking they do and regardless of whether they have that look of "fire." An unintelligent person's eyes tend to stay rather fixed - they're not scanning their environment with curiosity or processing new information; they're on a kind of auto-pilot. 

[Major Legend]

Eh, I don't really agree. since eyes are a natural extension of body language, it doesn't always tell the truth.

 

Somebody speaking confidently doesn't mean what they are saying is right.

 

Somebody who has anxiety and can't speak about the topic with confidence may be an expert on the topic but just can't talk without sounding unsure.

 

It's just body language, just gaze at something intently with an intense feeling while crushing your eyes a little bit, and people will think you are smart if you do it long enough. Of course you need to have some degree of energy to have focus.

 

I find sensitive people and intelligent people often have a "still" look in their eyes, not because they are dumb but because in normal environments they get information overload.

 

As for the blinking, possibly yes but I think most people are too stupid to see the details in somebody else's eyes like that, if such a person had this insight, then that person would also easily be able to tell from the other persons behaviour, actions and what they ask/talk about as well, no need to look at the eyes.

 

Otherwise we wouldn't have the salesmen, party people who have a knack and make a living out casting an illusion on other people that they are smart and know something you don't. 

 

Just my 2 cents I could be wrong.

 

Case and point: A lot of actors aren't smart in real life, but they can replicate intelligence on screen. Politicians can do this to by reading off a script, or any reasonably good presenter you can think of. Maybe you actually think they are smart, but I doubt they actually are as intelligent as you think they are.

Edited by Major Legend, 28 May 2014 - 02:37 AM.

[Arjuna]

What major legend said is true.  There is the expression for "thinking face" with squinted eyes and furrowed brow.  If you wear it, people will think you're thinking even when you aren't.  How mischievous!

 

I've met people who, based on their appearance, have seemed intimidatingly smart.  Then they opened their mouths, and it can be jarring when you realize nothing is in there.

 

Also, people rate attractive faces as intelligent (double blind studies).  A nice set of eyes... mmm... smart...

 

Fun Fact:  The bitter, isolated narrator character from the first existentialist novel, Notes from the Underground, complained that his face did not look intelligent.

Edited by Arjuna, 28 May 2014 - 04:24 AM.

[serp777]

A more complicated brain generally has more complicated eye movements, especially in mammals. It's just logical--smarter brains are aware of smaller things and look at more interesting, smaller details that might help for survival. Humans probably developed the technique to determine some degree of intelligence from eye movement, because that would give them more information about how to deal with a predator, or another human competitor.

Edited by serp777, 28 May 2014 - 05:21 AM.

[dannee]

A more complicated brain generally has more complicated eye movements, especially in mammals. It's just logical--smarter brains are aware of smaller things and look at more interesting, smaller details that might help for survival. Humans probably developed the technique to determine some degree of intelligence from eye movement, because that would give them more information about how to deal with a predator, or another human competitor.

that would explain why im so observant compared to most

[YoungSchizo]

A more complicated brain generally has more complicated eye movements, especially in mammals. It's just logical--smarter brains are aware of smaller things and look at more interesting, smaller details that might help for survival. Humans probably developed the technique to determine some degree of intelligence from eye movement, because that would give them more information about how to deal with a predator, or another human competitor.

 

Note this: the bold part is a turn-on for intelligent women.   

 

 

 

A more complicated brain generally has more complicated eye movements, especially in mammals. It's just logical--smarter brains are aware of smaller things and look at more interesting, smaller details that might help for survival. Humans probably developed the technique to determine some degree of intelligence from eye movement, because that would give them more information about how to deal with a predator, or another human competitor.

that would explain why im so observant compared to most

 

 

That's sorta what I meant 

Edited by YoungSchizo, 28 May 2014 - 10:41 AM.

[kurdishfella]

I find inbetween to be true with the eyes. Another thing geniuses are said to be anti social, it is not that they they dont like being social just that they dont like being social with the average person and the average person is dumb if you compare to the genius. If you put a genius next to other geniuses they would enjoy each other companies. Thats is why a lot of them are missdiagnosed as autism, i believe geniuses have a higher social intelligence and the one we know as is the fake/false. Most people are fake but dont realize it.

Edited by kurdishfella, 22 February 2021 - 12:48 PM.

[kurdishfella]

The eyes show your direct emotions and feeling psychically from your brain from the heart but also on another level energy. They have like this gold bright aurora coming from them as opposed to someone opposite of them dark aurora and evil dark eyes face.

Edited by kurdishfella, 17 May 2022 - 07:49 AM.