 Despite his general demeanor and occasional silliness, Booth is actually very intelligent, but frequently downplays his intelligence, deliberately making himself look stupid and ignorant (something made easier by keeping Bones around as an intellectual contrast).This leads people to dismiss him as a simple fool, lulling them into a false sense of security which Booth uses to his advantage.Angela has observed that his ability to "pretend to be stupider than he actually is most of the time" was what made him such a skilled interrogator, as opposed to Bones, whose bluntness often gives a poor first impression and puts people off.