Is being astute a good thing? Or does it mean you are a bad person who wants to deceive others?

If I asked you what will be the most important capacity to master in the coming years, you would come up with all kinds of capacities, but I bet you would not think of saying: becoming astute.

If you go to the online dictionary, like one of my students did, the one for whom I made this activators, you would not understand why that capacity is important.

Here is what the dictionary has to say:

as·tute
/??st(y)o?ot/
Adjective
Having or showing an ability to accurately assess situations or people and turn this to one’s advantage: “an astute businessman”.
Synonyms
shrewd – sly – wily – crafty – canny – artful – sharp

To understand the meaning better, you look at the synonyms, and you are appalled, am I right? They are all words usually used to express one kind of deception or another.

But the meaning is only the first few words, the rest of them is added by “culture”: “Ha