A perceptive person cannot always think that he understands everything on the fly.

Perspicacity is a beautiful quality, often offering the advantage of being quicker than others to grasp something, but it presents a serious risk: poorly managed, not tempered by humility, it borders on arrogance. And on the foolish belief that one always understands everything, quickly and before others. Perceptive people often become autistic, are not interested in listening to others, and live in self-referential certainties. And yet, insight helps one climb the first step on the ladder of knowledge, and therefore presupposes a great ability to listen.

A perceptive person is immediately recognizable. They exude vivacity, energy, and curiosity. They act as if their thoughts were constantly racing, constantly searching for something to grasp before others. Perspicacity is certainly a quality, very useful for navigating a complex world and also for being ahead of the curve when seeing things before others can yield enormous advantages. But like all human qualities, perspicacity also carries the risk of being wasted. We'll tell you about it through the words of one of the greatest writers of the nineteenth century, Mary ann evans, who signed her books with a male pseudonym George EliotWith a hint of autobiography and a touch of pure literature, Evans describes the risk of wasting insight: "There is nothing more deceptive than insight if it happens to take the wrong track. That insight which believes that men always act and speak with precise ends in mind is surely destined to waste its energy chasing an imaginary prey."

Let's return for a moment to the characteristics of the perceptive person. They certainly have a higher-than-average level of intelligence, which allows them to base their reasoning on intuition, on a quick judgment that others cannot afford. Perspicacity, while indicative of speed and agility, does not exclude the time needed to broaden the horizon of our vision, to delve deeper into people and things.

And this is also contained in the etymology of the word, which derives from the Latin perspicax-acis (sharp gaze) and perspicere (to look within, to observe carefully). So if you consider yourself a perceptive person, this doesn't mean you should feel compelled to make hasty judgments, to fall in love with a belief that precludes any possibility of reconsideration, even in the face of evidence (this is the "wrong track" Eliot speaks of).

The long-term perspective of insight encompasses a keen assessment that delves, delves, and considers every angle of a person or circumstance, ultimately allowing us to draw conclusions. That is, it allows us to act, resolving facts, situations, and problems. From this perspective, the insightful person is one who doesn't waste his intelligence, unlike the procrastinator , and uses it constructively: few words and many actions.

Intelligence, intuition, acuity, speed, energy. All the ingredients of insight: so where does the root of its waste come from? And how can we avoid it? Following Evans's reasoning, insight takes a wrong turn when, fueled by presumption and narcissism , we feel capable of expressing a conviction about others. Or, more precisely, about why others act in a certain way. Thus, insight is no longer a thorough, cautious gaze, free from any prejudice along its path. It becomes an a priori judgment, a mechanism we can all master.