Also, side note. People value intelligence when it benefits them. Nobody likes being on the receiving end of an intellectual beat down but plenty enjoy being on the side that do it. See modern media and it's portrayal of "smart is sexy". It's almost always a smart character using their brain to outwit everyone else in the room while showing off to a love interest. Dr Who has done it for decades, Sherlock did it, Disney and Marvel have done it, and always with a support group in tow made up of pretty and pretty dumb characters who love to see their smart champion play wordsmith with everyone else and emerge as the biggest brain in the box. When someone else is smarter and this gets used against both the champion and his cheerleaders then suddenly smart isn't sexy any more, it's creepy, or weird, or ominous, or whatever.
tl;dr People value intelligence for selfish reasons.
Everyone likes it when Sherlock Holmes does his thing on someone else's or has a flair about his abilities. Telling someone that you know their walking route because they stepped on the red mud at the construction site two blocks over in a single sentence sounds pretentious to them.
But aim it at them, and they get scared. Now have a German accent and facial response. Suddenly everyone thinks you're planning their doom and not Scooby Doo.
Also, side note. People value intelligence when it benefits them. Nobody likes being on the receiving end of an intellectual beat down but plenty enjoy being on the side that do it. See modern media and it's portrayal of "smart is sexy". It's almost always a smart character using their brain to outwit everyone else in the room while showing off to a love interest. Dr Who has done it for decades, Sherlock did it, Disney and Marvel have done it, and always with a support group in tow made up of pretty and pretty dumb characters who love to see their smart champion play wordsmith with everyone else and emerge as the biggest brain in the box. When someone else is smarter and this gets used against both the champion and his cheerleaders then suddenly smart isn't sexy any more, it's creepy, or weird, or ominous, or whatever.
tl;dr People value intelligence for selfish reasons.
Everyone likes it when Sherlock Holmes does his thing on someone else's or has a flair about his abilities. Telling someone that you know their walking route because they stepped on the red mud at the construction site two blocks over in a single sentence sounds pretentious to them.
But aim it at them, and they get scared. Now have a German accent and facial response. Suddenly everyone thinks you're planning their doom and not Scooby Doo.