When Curiosity Feels Like an Attack - Part 2 of the series

When Curiosity Feels Like an Attack

(Fake Depth, Real Words, and the AI Effect)

People often confuse sounding intelligent with being curious.

I once went on a date where she said she loved reading.
I liked hearing that — I do too.

So I asked a follow-up:

• What kind of history?

• Which region or time period?

Not as a test.
Not to challenge her.
Just curiosity.

She got upset and said, “You ask too many questions.”

That response explained everything.

Fake Depth vs Real Curiosity

For some people, intelligence is a label, not a process.

They collect a few safe words:

• History

• Psychology

• Philosophy

• Energy

• Growth

And reuse them the way fake-rich people reuse brand names.

The goal isn’t understanding.
It’s signaling.

Depth feels threatening when it exposes the lack of it.

The Pattern Is Easy to Spot

Fake intellectualism often looks like:

• Broad topics with no specificity

• Comfort with slogans, discomfort with follow-ups

• Frustration when curiosity narrows the conversation

• Defensiveness instead of exploration

Real curiosity looks different:

• It welcomes precision

• It enjoys narrowing scope

• It asks better questions, not fewer

• It doesn’t confuse inquiry with interrogation

When someone says “you ask too many questions,” what they often mean is:

“Your curiosity is making my surface-level identity uncomfortable.”

Why AI Makes This Worse

AI doesn’t create fake depth — it amplifies it.

People can now:

• Sound articulate without understanding

• Use polished language without curiosity

• Skip the uncomfortable middle of learning

AI rewards performance if you let it.

But it also exposes intent.

Those who want clarity use AI to ask better questions.
Those who want status use AI to sound impressive.

One group wants confidence.
The other wants understanding.

The Quiet Divider

Real intelligence:

• Isn’t loud

• Isn’t defensive

• Doesn’t collapse under follow-up questions

It gets curious.

And curiosity is not aggression — it’s respect for reality.

Why This Matters Going Forward

As AI becomes more common, language alone will stop being a signal of intelligence.

Curiosity, precision, and willingness to sit with uncertainty will matter more.

AI doesn’t replace thinking. It reveals how shallow or deep your thinking already is.

Next in the series:
Why AI makes confident people sound smarter than curious ones — and how to avoid that trap.