How intelligent were you believed to be growing up? How intelligent do you think you are now?

25 comments

  1. I was the “he’s much smarter than his grades would suggest” kid. Now I’m a mixed bag. Part conspiracy theorist, part historian and, most importantly, I no longer care if people think I’m smart or not.

  2. I was told I’m a genius among friends family

    Personally I always believed I’m creatively clever & my way of speaking is just very polished formal

    However I’m no genius at all but I can present myself very well

  3. Learned to read before memory permanence kicked in, memorized encyclopedias for fun in kindergarten, and through most of school the few people who got better grades than me had to actually *work* for it – not always without my help, even. Competed and did relatively well in city and even national contests for multiple hard science subjects.

    If that makes me sound intelligent… yeah, had myself fooled too. Turns out very little of that translates to anything useful in life. At least I’ve dodged the “unemployed addict” outcome of gifted child syndrome.

  4. My teachers all said I was above average intelligence, very insightful in discussions but a poor student. Scored in the 99th percentile during state testing despite poor GPA. Diagnosed with severe ADHD as an adult which explained the bad grades. Now I have more tools and discipline to compensate and Im doing much better.

  5. I was fairly intelligent growing up and I still am, in the IQ sense.

    However, I have learned that that means very little. Most problems in the world are people problems, and they are not solved with IQ.

    The world has all the technology it needs right now, but its leadership is utter shit. Every problem that looks like a technical problem is really a social/political problem that people are trying to sidestep with tech.

  6. I was treated like an idiot growing up but according to the 20 or so online IQ tests I’ve done I’m between 110-120. Not genius but above average

  7. I was always told I struggled and couldn’t pay attention and was easily bored. Grades barely passing. As an adult at almost 30 I’d say it’s well above average. Struggling in school does not mean you’re dumb.

  8. I was always told gorwong up that I was smart but lazy in school. In reality it was a combination of laziness and undiagnosed dyslexia that caused me to struggle in school.

    I think I’m pretty average to be honest. I think it’s pretty difficult to compare intelligence because everyone’s brain is different and some people are just better with some things than others.

    I also find it interesting that most people think they are above average in intelligence, especially men.

  9. I was a very weird kid, I was obsessed with death, started to get suicidal thoughts at 8 years old and was just having near-panic attacks of the idea that a hurricane would come destroy our house (I live in central europe…), I scared my parents to the point where they sent me to a child psychiatrist and one thing after another it leads to an I.Q test that revealed that I was in the “gifted” category of whatever.

    It’s a bit frustrating because my parents, for example, are not that surprised that I did really well in college/graduate school because “You’ve always been the smart kid of the family”.

    But like no. I’m not. I just worked really really hard and I didn’t give up even when things were pretty fucking tough and it would have been easier to walk off and say “fuck it”. It wasn’t a breeze, it was exhausting. I spent nearly all of my weekends between 9 am and 10 pm at the library studying like a maniac, it paid in the end and I’m very happy about it, but it’s not about being smart, it’s about being determined.

  11. Im a product of the american public school system. I can ace a mutliple choice test ovwr and over again, and my grades were always good and I had a very high ACT score.

    That being said, I am a fucking dumbass and lack a significant amount of common sense

  12. Super smart and in all the “gifted and talented” classes as a a kid. As an adult I’m a fucking dumbass bro.

  15. I was definitely the big fish in a modest sized pond. Teachers made a big deal out of me. Going into a profession with a lot of intelligent people has helped me feel like I’m pretty smart but not a genius or anything.

  17. It’s not bad tbh, I thought I would be a dumbas, I turned out to be a dumbass. The dream is to be a badass tho

  18. As a teen I was told by a neuropsychologist that “[I] could do anything [I] put my mind to” (even despite my ADHD). I made that my life motto. It doesn’t matter how intelligent I am now because that attitude is worth much more with respect to achievements and accomplishments.

  19. People still tell me Im the smartest person they know.

    ​

    Its nice to be able to figure things out, but my life isnt a success so *shrug*.

    I think of it like, I know that bears gonna eat me. I can explain it & figure it all out, but hes still a bear & Im getting eaten

  20. Everyone has always been keen on telling me how smart I am.. ever since I was a little kid. Now I’m an adult, at work I am known as a “wizard” and way to many people rely on me to help them figure something out with their computer.

    In my mind, I am what average a should be, but these guys put me up on a pedestal. I’ve literally gotten raises without doing anything besides studying how to use Excel at work. I studied during a really slow period through covid that lasted at least a year. YouTube and practice, YouTube and practice for most of the year. I received nothing but praise for “how smart I am” consistently and the managers kept giving me raises.

  21. Hmmm, I was a B+ student but eventually got a PhD in chemistry, but I’d say among Chemistry phDs I’m about a B student, lol.

  22. I had a few teachers tell me I was gifted, albeit distracted. Frankly I think I’m dumb as a rock most of the time.

  23. My grades in high school (graduated with 1.7) and college (2.3) would suggest that I am a moron, especially when compared to my siblings (honor role, AP classes, etc)

    My success in doing things I am motivated to do paints the opposite picture. I am just lazy for shit I don’t want to do.

    96th percentile on the ASVAB. 90+ percentile on the respective advancement exams in the military. Got my CISSP before 30. Practice tests for CISM, CCISO and ITIL all 70+% without any studying.

    In my field of work, I am an absolute *monster* because I find it interesting and am motivated to do it right/make it better. I get lots of accolades, raises/bonuses, atta boys and influence changes. I am consistently ahead of the curve.

    Adult me is doing WAY better than what I was as a kid.

  24. I was considered a gifted child because maths made sense to me and I had a very high reading comprehension. so I spent my life thinking I was smart, turns out I’m not I’m just logical, as soon as I started facing harder work I quickly discovered I wasn’t and had no idea how to study. I wound up dropping out of high school.

  25. I was never good in school. I mean I was good at reading and had a 12th grade level in like third grade but I could just never pay attention for too long. Then I started failing math because it bored me. My mom would call me smart but stupid then stupid became more frequent so I began to believe this. In like 10th I tried to buckle down on my math but my math teacher became annoyed that I couldn’t understand so he made fun of me so I stopped trying with math. Mom continued to call me stupid but somehow I passed high school.

    Now at 21 I think I just have average intelligence in everything except math. I still count on my fingers, i cant divide and multiplication is more muscle memory than actual knowledge. I joke that im stupid knowing im not but I realize while I know alot of random facts and give good advice (according to friends) I really dont know much of anything academically and it takes me longer to do what other know off the dome so I dont think im stupid but im not smart either. I get the sense this is how I’m perceived by friends as well.

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