17 signs you're intelligent - even if doesn't feel like it

State Library of Queensland/Flickr

Are you smarter than you realize?

Stupid people tend to overestimate their competence, while smart people tend to sell themselves short. As Shakespeare put it in "As You Like It": "The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool."

That conventional wisdom is backed up by a Cornell University study conducted by David Dunning and Justin Kruger. The phenomenon is now known as the Dunning-Kruger effect.

So, if you're not too sure about your own intellect, it actually might be a indication that you're pretty intelligent - thoughtful enough to realize your limitations, at least.

Here are some subtle signs that you are considerably smarter than you think.

Drake Baer and Chelsea Harvey contributed to a previous version of this article.