too smart for your own good

except... you're not that smart. let me explain!

What on God’s green earth is a midwit trap, and have you fallen into one?

Say less. I came across this term in George Mack’s recent podcast feature, where he talks about the midwit trap being a very commonly found trait in those with low agency. Now, agency is a word doing numbers on the internet and while I consolidate my thoughts on it, I must bring your attention to something I considered a pet peeve of mine to be actually recognized!

A midwit is someone of about average intelligence who believes that actually, the solution to any given issue is a bit more complicated than what people they regard as stupid assume. In fact, the truly brainy know that the simple answer is indeed the right one.

— Josaiah Gogarty

Let’s translate this: You’re smart enough to complicate things, but not really smart enough to realize you’ve made them worse and not solved the actual problem. Picture a bell curve and on the left, you’ve got people who see a problem and go “just do X.” They’re not paralyzed by nuance of any kind. They simply act. On the right, you’ve got genuine experts who’ve thought so deeply about the problem they’ve circled back to “just do X, but now I can explain why.” And in the middle? That’s the midwit. The average intelligent human drowning in caveats, exceptions, and “well, actually” reflexes that prevent you from doing anything at all. The person saying so much, yet nothing at the same time.

Now, I love this phrase because I’ve held this belief for years: the truly intelligent can explain quantum physics to a five-year-old. (thank you, Reddit’s ELI5) Although, I think Albert Einstein said it first when he rightfully said:

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”

I try to avoid this in my own work, both writing and design. When I write something informative, I’m translating dense and somewhat abstract emotions (at least for me) into sentences so clear almost anyone could grasp them in one pass. When I design, I’m building interfaces where the user never has to pause and think “wait, what does this button do?” The navigation should be so stupidly obvious, it’s invisible, just stripping away everything between intention and action. That’s doing the job right.

If I ask you a question and you respond with a word salad that sounds like you swallowed a dictionary and regurgitated academic gibberish, I’m not having any of it. Respectfully. Because it serves me no purpose except to make you feel smart… and leave the problem unsolved. Frustrating!

Simplicity is championed by two groups, which include the genuinely brilliant and the totally inexperienced. The midwits? They are hiding their half baked thoughts behind jargon that sounds impressive but means absolutely nothing.

John LeFevre on X

Why does this happen, though? Often times, complexity feels like proof of intelligence. And I’m not exempt from this. I’ve learned to not be this person. I’m a talker. I love words (to no one’s surprise). And this trap sits there with its mouth open, practically begging me to jump in. But the dopamine hit of sounding sophisticated? That’s the bait. It’s why the trap is so insidious! It feels like insight. When you spot the flaw in the simple solution, when you see the complicating factors everyone else missed, your brain gives you a little dopamine hit. Look how smart I am! Look how much more I see than these simpleton “just do it” types!

Now, what you’ve actually done is intellectualize yourself into paralysis. Voila, you’re a midwit!

Any way out of this? Take note of when your intelligence is serving you versus when it’s sabotaging you. For example, when your brain generates the sixteenth reason why something won’t work, ask yourself: is this analysis making me more likely to act, or less? If it’s less, congratulations! You’re successfully (oops) in the trap (get out, girl)!

@annalauraart

I’m not someone to disregard nuance entirely, so I will tell you this. The simple answer isn’t always right. But the complicated answer that prevents you from ever starting is definitely wrong. And if you’re still reading this thinking “well, it depends on the context” instead of asking yourself “what am I currently overcomplicating?”, you’re proving my point :) Yikes for the blunt tone, I’m holding your hand as I say this, I promise <3

Thanks for reading this far, it means so much to me. As part of my upcoming paid newsletter series, I’ll be coming to you with more such pieces. Stay tuned, I promise it’ll be worth the wait! My words will find you again in the lulls of your day soon enough, but until then — drink your tea, don’t be a midwit and just fucking do it!