not so naive as to think

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keannu

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Does "so A as to B" mean "so A (as a result) B" or "so A in the degree of B"? I mean if B used as a result or an adverb describing the previous adjective. Maybe either meaning wouldn't make much difference, but I'm interested in detail.

st228)Suppose you have a student who usually fails to complete his
work . He manages to submit a project on time, although it's not very good. It's tempting to praise the student ─ after all, the fact that he submitted something is an improvement over his past performance. But consider the message that praising a mediocre project sends . You say “good job,” but that really means “good job for someone like you.” The student is probably not so naive as to think that his project is really all that great. By praising substandard work , you send the message (that you
 

Raymott

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Does "so A as to B" mean "so A (as a result) B" or "so A in the degree of B"? I mean if B used as a result or an adverb describing the previous adjective. Maybe either meaning wouldn't make much difference, but I'm interested in detail.

st228)Suppose you have a student who usually fails to complete his
work . He manages to submit a project on time, although it's not very good. It's tempting to praise the student ─ after all, the fact that he submitted something is an improvement over his past performance. But consider the message that praising a mediocre project sends . You say “good job,” but that really means “good job for someone like you.” The student is probably not so naive as to think that his project is really all that great. By praising substandard work , you send the message (that you
"He is not so naive as to think X" means "He is not so naive that he thinks X". If he thought X, he would be more naive than I thought he was. But he's not.
In your terms, it means "He does not possess the degree of naivety that would cause him to believe X".
 
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