Hi, what's YOUR definition of "street smart"?

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Hi all, I posted a similar post on WP quite long ago but failed to receive any response, so I have re-phrased my thoughts. I look forward to reading your responses.

Since young, people have been telling me things such as "Book smart people usually aren't very street smart. Street smart people usually aren't very book smart." Recently, my dad told me that his boss gave him feedback that even though he is good at applying textbook theories to various problems, he isn't street smart enough.

Different people have given me different definitions of "street smart". Some say that it's "confidence", some say that it's "common sense" and some say that it's "Machiavellism--the ends justify the means", some say that it's "the ability to break laws without getting caught", so what's YOUR definition?

i prefer the french term savoir faire, literally "knowing what to do" in any given situation.

I think it would have to be instincts, the ability to read others' intentions, desires, fears, etc.

I would say that “common sense” is a part of it. And “common sense” is not something you have as an individual. It’s something you have in common with someone else.

If you’re an aggressive jerk, always on the lookout for an easy target, you’ll do well on the street because you can relate to the worst of them.
(If you were a womanizer/pig in your younger days, you will expect anyone who comes sniffing around your daughter to be the same. If you were a nice guy, you won’t be as quick to assume the worst.)

To me, street-smart is knowing how to survive and take care of yourself on the streets of a big city, how to deal with other people and knowing what to do in emergency situations that typically happens in such places. I grew up in the country and the city I live in now is really more like a town with only a few city-type characteristics. So I guess I'm not very street-smart at all, but I'm positively book-smart, which I personally think is better. My mother, on the other hand, is "life-smart", which is probably the best type of "smart" there is. Of course all those things are kind of stereotypes. The tough New Yorker with a big heart underneath, the nerdy bookworm, the no-nonsense, down-to-earth mother...

I'd like to add, if you're a fool or not too swift, you won't learn from your mistakes. With age should come the wisdom to know what humans are capable of. This is why proverbs like,


exist.

This adage is simply not true. It may apply to many individuals, but book and street smarts are not mutually exclusive.

I consider street smart to be the ability to read both people and situations plus being able and willing to apply those (usually learned) "instincts" to make (often instantaneous) decisions as to how to react.

I think it's in large part advanced social skills. If the Sally-Anne test is Theory of Mind 101, street smarts, I think, is Theory of Mind Level 201 and higher, being able to guess someone's perspective and intentions pretty quickly without them necessarily being like the stereotypical good guys or bad guys in a children's show, knowing when to take them seriously and not (e.g., whether they're joking, sarcastic, or lying), and having the "common sense" to handle a social situation well (use tact, avoid conflict in certain situations, etc.) And the notion that book-smart people are often not street-smart probably comes from a long-lasting intuitive cultural awareness of HFA/AS NLD, PLI, and the like, basically a lot of people on the Broad Autistic Phenotype, who are relatively slow compared to your average person at learning these kinds of social skills. As someone who is not autistic but could be considered on the broad autistic phenotype (aloof personality and pragmatic language issues in childhood), I wonder if I might have developed my intellectual abilities as almost a compensation for having trouble learning stuff like street smarts and common sense. I couldn't pick up what hugs and lies were all about when I was little, but I could pick up on words and information and reading.

Not to be gullible?

Fluid intelligence, which has shown to be deficient in autistic individuals.

Hmm... I notice people usually fall on one side or another. But of course they aren't exclusive. I know quite a few people who are both.

Not to be gullible is a good start.

Also, being aware of your surroundings and being able to spot situations while they are developing so that you are ready if things go bad. It generally is associated with avoiding becoming the target of criminal activity. To have street smarts you have to know that things can go bad and generally be vigilant. A lot of it is spotting patterns of behavior. Ideally, it becomes a habit that you don't have to think about.

Street smarts are generally acquired on the streets through experience. Thus, the common wisdom is that people who have the luxury to become book-smart, have not needed to become street-wise. I think it's partially a point of pride for those who have had to become street-wise.

That's my understanding.
It doesn't seem like a very good term to use relative to job performance. I think his boss meant he wasn't good at practical application.... or maybe just common sense. That's kind of tough because you don't want to go back and ask for clarification. It would prove his point! His boss should have been more precise. Anyway, that wasn't the question.

Street Smarts are like having good common sense, being skeptical, situationally aware, being able to get out of bad situations either by fighting or deescalating,