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Hey Pandas, What Was Your “Damn I’m Smart” Moment?
What was the moment you really realized that you were smarter than you think?
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Not "Wow I am smart" but "Damn these people are dumb". Its easy to be the smartest in the room when surrounded by idiots
Haha so true! No offense to the rest of the population though. (If I get downvoted, I will know I have offended a dumb person lol)
When I completed a cryptic crossword puzzle for the first time.
I did that just the other day. For the first time. They are effing hard!
When I heard that there was going to be a prequel to the hunger games, I asked aloud:
“What’s the name of the main character going to be, Kitten-ness?”
Being not the smartest bulb in my group of friends, we were having a pint after work and they got in this discussion it was all really smart stuff and with my ADHD I'm already losing concentration.
The conversation got on the subject of telephones, one of them goes 'How does a telephone even work, like really work'
Me: 'It converts the sound into electricity and is then converted back into sound, you know like morse code'
Took a sip of my pint to a look of shock from my friends.
When I reset a programmable ROM in a computer using a bunch of electronics.
My boss is a maintenance douchebag. My fellow plumbers and electricians will understand. Its fun seeing his face when i correct him on plumbing issues.
On the serious side. When i first realized i didnt know something but was willing to learn is when i saw i am smarter then a lot of people. Acknowledging my ignorance allows me to learn more.
When people laugh at my witty jokes ;-) or sometimes someone will adopt a word or phrase I've used because they thought it was original or accurate.
uh one time i got the highest test score in my grade. and i’ve always had to score pretty good on stuff cause of my parents.
I was kind of different in high school. I'm naturally an introvert, but I was trying to force myself out of my shell by becoming somewhat of a class clown. I always made good grades, but never drew attention to that fact. Anyway, one day in Latin class, one of the more well-liked kids came up to me and said, " Kristi, you know how some people look really dumb, and then it turns out that they are really smart? That's you". If this was supposed to be a compliment, it missed its mark. Without even pausing to absorb what he had said, I immediately answered back, "Hey Anthony, you know how some people look really smart?" And left him to finish the thought. I have to admit I was ecstatic that this was not a retort that came to me five hours later!
When I got a 1490 on the SAT on my first try
WOOOOO That's HIGH! I don't have to give SATs since I took the Cambridge route, but even I know that's a feat 🥳
Having done a lot of dumb things in my time, when I see or hear about someone doing something that I think is dumb... That's my 'Damn I'm Smart' moment by proxy.
Used a pencil to untie a really tight knot. I felt so smart lol. 4000 iq moment genius
Once i became my schools topper in 7th grade. I got the highest marks in all of the school.
I got 100% on a chemistry test *high marks on other sciences too*
I dropped out of high school right before my senior year, to get married (typical dumb kid wanting to grow up too fast). Of course my plan to finish school never happened. The year I turned 40, my stepson decided to leave school to get a job but agreed to test for a GED (General Education Diploma, considered equivalent to a high school diploma). I promised to take the test with him. All those years I'd been scared to take that test because my math & science skills had been very poor. I was terrified! Turns out I aced the test with a score in the high 90s. All that fear for nothing!
One time in 5th grade I was just answering some questions on a worksheet, pretty typical. But the partner I was working with was using single answers, like “yes” or “no” and not really explaining the answer. Anyway, my teacher saw both our worksheets and then proceeded to tell the other kid to look at my answers because that’s how it’s supposed to be. She was giving me so much praise I was literally blushing. Honestly I was just doing what I was supposed to do. I’ve had other smart moments in my life, where I’m actually doing smart stuff, but that was the first time I really realized it — just by completing the worksheet the correct way. To be honest, I think it shows more about the level of intelligence that other students have…
I was in 6th grade, I was told to go to the principals office. Wondering if I did something wrong, I was completely surprised when they said I had won the School Science Fair. Picture in the paper.
When I turned in my Deviant Behavior paper on gangs in the US and received the highest score in the class. We had to include the various sociological theories, citations of studies, etc...it was over a 20-page paper. I managed to snag a 97% on it! Yeah, I bragged my a** off over it, given it was an upper-level college course and hard as hell! LOL
When I got the idea to put the potholder in the microwave under the bowl before I heated it up. Maybe not as fancy and official as some of these answers but it seemed clever at the time.
That is smart. I've got some potholders specifically designed for bowls.
I'm not much of a horn tooter, but I got 100% in C language class. I don't mean I aced it, I mean I never got one single thing wrong on any assignment, test or exam the whole semester.
I once scored a 68 on an Electrical Engineering mid-term.
I thought I was really dumb.
But it was graded on the curve and the closest grade to mine was in the low 50s.
When the teacher said, "over 90% of the grade failed this test, and only one person in this room passed. What is wrong with you kids?"
And I was that one kid that passed (got a 87%, I think). Needless to say, the teacher was what was wrong with the kids.
Also, a quote,
"A truly intelligent person is not one who uses big words, but instead one who uses words that others will understand and relate to."
-me
Also, when I figured out that it was not normal to not study and still get A's and B's on tests.
A fellow coder was stuck and couldn't figure out their issue and spent an hour tearing his hair out so I walked over and took a look. Took me about three seconds to spot the issue and point it out. It was a dumb error that could have happened to anyone, I just got lucky, but it made me feel really smart.
I have been told more or less directly all my life (I'm 39yo) that I'm fat, lazy and stupid. Last year I asked my doctor to please take a better look at my mental health and she referred me to this place where they examine people for different psychological disorders. Turns out I'm not stupid. In fact I'm a gifted person and I have autistic traits (and I am currently waiting to see if I have something else weird in my brain, but that's another story).
When I was informed by the psychologist that I have a high IQ and that in certain areas I perform better then 98%-99% of the population I just broke down and cried. All those years of being put down by people who should just care for me and love me for who I am..... and all I was was actually more intelligent than them. Making me observe and think of the world differently than them.
And that somehow gave me confidence to not hide myself and try to be someone I am not (a more active and neurotypical person). And I know I am still not super smart but if people call me stupid now I am less hurt by it. Because I KNOW I am not stupid. Makes it easier to move on. 🤓
I'm sorry you had to live with such mistreatment for so long. I wish you all the best.
Someone found a note on their desk from the previous class in 6th grade. Everyone was trying to figure out who wrote it, and then I piped up “You could ask the substitute teacher to see the seating chart from the last class.” The sub didn’t get what they asked, but from then on I was known as the one to ask for every question.
On my school, we have reading “assessments” and each learning target is scored a 1, 2, or 3. Usually, I got 1s and 2s because I didn’t understand the target much. But on the last assessment of the school year, on all 9 - 10 targets, all threes. I felt like a giga genius.
The school nurse had come to look after my class a while back and we were discussing health related stuff and some people had doubts about a lot of stuff and I helped them clear it up. I was later asked if I learned all this because I wanted to become a doctor but I instead said I wanted to become an astronomer. My classmate once in a while says “If you know so much about the body then why are you not a doctor?”
i won all the third grade spelling bees. it's probably because i read alot
When we did geography in school the smartest kid would know like... half the answers but I knew everyone
(I'm not making this one up)
When several adults on here told me I was so wise. Practically when any adult says I’m smart/wise. My dad says it all the time but it’s lost its power because of how he overused it T-T
Also when I got over 120 on an iq test. I shall wait to finish school and tackle one of those more official ones that require money.
Also when I was in math class, and my teacher tried to reassure some people that the method they couldn’t quite get was difficult. I got it right away and was like T-T no way am I calling these people dumb, c’mon, that’s just rude.
Also when the MBTI app said Einstein was an INTP. I was like “oh yeah! Personality type is naturally intelligent B•)” though just because you introspective and think of possibilities rather than facts, doesn’t mean you’re smart, I guess.
At this point I’m trying to stay humble… TvT but It’s not hard because people are telling me how dumb I can be every day! =D
An IQ test does not prove anything; in fact, flexing your test score usually backfires. Strive for good judgment and applying your learning in the most beneficial way. Help others who struggle and you'll gain respect and feel good about it.
Making deviled eggs, I think they were too acidic (can't remember) and I'm not a baker or cook at all but I had the instinct to put a small amount of sugar in them and then when I looked it up later (idk why I didn't look it up when I did it) I had actually done the right thing with no prior knowledge
May I ask why your deviled eggs would be too acidic? Legit question. My inlaws consider me to be the queen of deviled eggs so, I was just wondering how you make yours.
I had a particularly tough English prof in college. His tests were really hard and everyone worried about passing them. I was a good student but a better exam studier. I finished the final in half the time allowed. Prof said I should look it over again before turning it in. I did. No changes. Prof asked me to hang around until he graded it. Got a perfect score. He said that had never happened before on any of his tests. Ever.
When I realized I'm bilingual. Not necessarily smart, but was surprised I could pull both in less than a second since it's too hard for me to keep up with things like this. So I can proudly say I know my English and now I forget words in both languages lol
bro i just realized there's like three of the same post i don't know how that happened, minus smart points for me
Got into Algebra in 6th grade ig.
When I got accepted into a PhD program in 2022.
Due to Covid, many universities did not accept new applicants for the 2021 school year, so applications for 2022 were much higher than normal. My program was an 8% chance.
It's still an odd feeling considering, prior to this, people would talk to me like they think I'm dumb.
sometimes people think you are dumb when you are saying something so clever they don't get it
In 2010 I went on a guided tour with a group of French and German people. Was able to understand and chat with them in French and German after the second day. I had 13 weeks of French and German in 1996.
When I discovered that I can style my hair quite well, if I spray with hairspray in the breeze of the hair dryer 😎.
When I spent 2 days learning 158 components of the F-111B aircraft fuel system, took the test, on the 3rd day and aced it. yeah boi!
I love it when ministers try to preach to me about God and then try to convert me to their religion. That's my cue to throw some philosophy to them. You ready? Here it is...
Imagine you're in line to get a ticket in order to board One of Two Boats. Now there's no choice. You HAVE to board a boat. You do however get to choose which of the two boats you want to board. These are actual boats with actual facts. The names of the boats are: HMS Titanic and (Noah's) Ark.
When I get up to the ticket booth, I m going to ask, "One for the Ark please"...
Wow! I'm changing my name to StirStick! 😂🤣 The fact that SO many of you use the term "monotheist" is ...just wow. So anyway, God and Jesus do not care how much money you have or how well you dress or how educated you are or whatever pronouns you identify as...Yes, the HMS Titanic Sank unfortunately taking a lot of people from every social class down to the ocean floor. The Ark on the other hand, heavily loaded with people and animals, stayed afloat while God unleashed a great flood all over the world. Now the Bible also states over and over about how we are All God's children. God loves us All equally. My point? Bottom line literally states, "One for the Ark..." ...and no, I'm wasn't telling anyone to go to hell. It's just a philosophical hypothesis ppl.
I love space, and in 7th grade my teacher asked so many different space related questions. I knew every single answer they had asked while we hadn't even learned any of it yet. No one else knew anything about it. I felt pretty smart then lol
You love space too? So do I! I also love everything about space! We should talk more about space!
I used to be fairly close to photographic memory. I studied the night before a test or exam and that was that. In some ways it was bad because I never put true effort into my schooling. Who knows where I would be now if I had?!
And yes, it’s too late. I lost the ability after a nervous breakdown and diagnosed with ME/CFS. Brain fog and trauma is very real.
I miss that talent. :(
Not sure it this would be smart or skilled but my final bass guitar lesson. I had been learning for 6 months. I went through the entire lesson in about ten minutes and played it perfectly. I had twenty more minutes to go so my teacher asked me if I had heard anything on the radio I wanted to learn. I picked My Sharona. He quickly ran through the bass line and I nailed it instantly. He told me I didn't need lessons anymore and that anything else I was going to learn would be on my own.
Not sure if it's question of being smart...
Watching The Usual Suspects : when Kevin Spacey started to talk, I immediately knew Kayser Söze didn't exist. As I was told that I would be surprised by the scenario, I was very disappointed by the end, so predictable for me.
The guilty person is usually the one that has a very short appearance and is forgotten...until the end.
When I attended a lecture about quantum physics and wormholes and what have you, given by a scientist who could be considered my country's equivalent of Neil deGrasse Tyson. Foolishly, I already felt sorta smart just for attending, but it was his answer to a question I asked that made me pat my own back self-importantly. He said something along the lines of, "That's a brilliant question... which I can't answer, because I've never thought about that aspect. I'll have to give it some serious thought." I walked out several feet taller than I was when I arrived. :) (I can barely put two and two together, so the whole thing is a mystery to me. Maybe he was just being kind.)
I got a 4 on my AP US History exam (the best score you can get is a 5).
When I realized I'm bilingual, just because of my mom constantly scolding me for speaking in English but sometimes I can't control it. Not that smart but definitley something hard for me, and now I forget words in both languages lol (my native one is Spanish)
I speak English, a bit French, German and my native language, Arabic
when i scored a twelfth grade reading score on my standardized tests in third grade lmao
When I maxed out the math FSA in fourth grade. Got an award and everything for it (don't have a photo sadly). It was insane because we're s**t at math so like-
I did the UK prison officer entrance intelligence test. Of 25+ in the room most were called up and left, I was one of about half a dozen left. We were told that the failures had left, then the supervisor called my name, said mine was the highest score he had ever seen.
the couple of times I knew the answer to the Final Question on Jeoparty when none of the contestants knew. But I don't know how to use spell check.
Passing Gymi-Test. In Switzerland, This Test id the absolute test to test them all in 6th grade. It's German and Math. Got 5.44/6
I can Speak Arabic, English and German almost perfectly (native is Arabic) I am also learning french.
may not sound like much but when i graduated from college with three degrees and with honors. i had barely managed to graduate high school so that put me of pursuing a higher education. i had a son when i was 21. at the time, i was working in construction and making good money but it was hard work and sometimes not very steady. when i was 28 i decided to go back to school so i could provide better for my son. i was terrified the day i took my college entrance exam as it had been 10 yrs since i had been in school. to my surprise i scored extremely high in all areas except in math where it showed i had a 3rd grade level in that subject. because of that i was considered a "disabled" student which meant i could be accepted into the college with the provision of taking very very basic math classes and work to get up to speed by the end of my first year. not only did i manage to do that but i ended up on the dean's list every semester and graduated with a 3.8 grade point average. i was also surprised at the ceremony to be presented with a traditional prestigious award that the professors elected to present. it blew me away
I was the only one in my class to get 100% on my Spanish final :)
When I was taking Organic Chemistry in undergrad and worked my behind off to get a 3.5 / 4.0 grade. I took three tests and got 72, 72, 72 (out of 100) on each. I got 151 (out of 200) on the final. 3.5 / 4.0. I learned that I was the last person to get a 3.5 and it was by two points.
I was bragging to my roommate. He, politely, informed me that he took Organic Chemistry as a freshman FOR FUN. He was a dual Math / Physics major but thought Organic looked fun. He averaged 104% on the exams because one test had a 10 point extra credit problem.
I was exceedingly happy with my 72%. I was a Chemistry major and got a Ph.D. in Chemistry but my buddy can wipe the floor with my hard working behind. There is always someone smarter than you.
I used to sit across the table from a colleague who would work the daily crossword puzzle on lunch break. She always made sure she had a pencil with an eraser. I always worked in with her, reading upside down, and putting in answers. In ink. Smart? Yes, but even more of a smart*ss!
When I married my wife.
Putting together something from Ikea without instructions
One thing yall dont know is i hate to read....
Its not an boring book thing just a noninterest i have...
So here it is english class, junior year, at this point ive gotten good at not reading the assigned book while making it seem i read the assigned book...
Me and my friend, prep for the end of unit test, she studies her hardest while i slack off scrolling bp...
Test...
She scores an 88-92 i score a 94-96...
Now i feel bad cause she studied so hard for an 90 :c
When I realized I'm bilingual. Not necessarily smart, but was surprised I could pull both in less than a second since it's too hard for me to keep up with things like this. So I can proudly say I know my English and now I forget words in both languages lol
It wasn't just one moment, but a culmination of several moments in my medical history. So, I have a great doctor. She's kind, caring, and compassionate, and is always willing to listen to my concerns, respond to my symptoms, and answer any questions I might have about my healthcare. She's been my PCP for seven years now, and over those years my health has declined. I had been experiencing a downturn in the past nine months or so, and she hadn't been able to find what the problem was (I probably should add that I have a medical background in that I was a CNA and completed a pre-nursing program at a local college, and my grandmother was a nurse). So I started researching my symptoms and found something that aligned with the symptoms I'd been experiencing. I told my doctor and she exclaimed, "You need to go to the ER NOW! I saw this in your blood work and thought it was because of 'blank', but I see now it's actually a side effect of the medication you've been taking, and it can be life threatening." Now, this isn't the first time this has happened. It's happened at least three other times in various situations such as what medications I should be taking, what tests I should have done, and why I got ill so often. I basically have to research everything and suggest to her what I think is wrong, then she has an "aha" moment and we go from there. It freaked me out a bit because this last thing should have been very obvious to her, as a doctor. But, anyway, I figured all of these things out myself with just intuition about what was going on. Of course, I did research using Google, but I had to develop a starting point. So I realized I seem to have a certain affinity for medical diagnosing, at least when pertaining to myself.
For me, it's when I come up with answers on TV quiz shows (and I mean actually *on* them, not just watching) or auditions that I didn't even know I knew. Many people appear to crumble under pressure, but I find I actually think more clearly, and manage to pull an answer from my brain that I have no idea how it got there - examples being who wrote Endymion, with which band did Justin Timberlake find fame, and who was the girl who appeared in many Monty Python sketches?
I was a high school sophomore.. advanced biology class.
The teacher, Mr Long, asked me to tutor two students, the quarterback and the head cheerleader! And they were seniors!
There was no getting out of it, and my introverted self was terrified!
They passed, I got some respect from upper classmen.. which I ended up graduating with anyway, because I took all my courses and had nothing lower than A-
When I was going to college in '87 and had a fast food job to afford to pay rent and whatnot. Some random coworker that didn't seem to give me the impression that they'd never graduate high school said "You think that you're so smart because you can use big words" and my response was "Until now, I wouldn't have been so sure, but now that you mention it, I guess you're right. Thank you."
When I thought of something real good, and I'm like, "damn, I'm smart."
Sooo, it was a science project, and I had loads of beakers and I figured out mixing things with different colors/ingredients but then I went to the shop and when I came back, everything was all over the place
I work as a data scientist, I had a presentation on this set of findings I had where my boss let me go down a rabbit hole because I was curious and comb through billions of lines of data over the course of a couple months. Finally I had a good understanding of some stuff our company could benefit from, created a set of reports and a finally the presentation to give to our strategy team on things I found and my recommendations, I was worried because during the whole presentation no one from our strategy team paused me to ask questions. My final slide was a set of 12 recommendations that our company would benefit from following.
There weren’t any questions because my approach and output was so cohesive they didn’t question what I did. Now they are implementing the recommendations and so far it’s been financially beneficial for my company.
That’s when I was like… wow … I am smarter than I let myself think I am. I won’t let it get to my head instead I’ve grabbed employees in my department and started teaching them that a good scientist is a curious scientist and how to go down that rabbit hole.
That I was the best in class of my merchant apprenticeship (here in Germany it's 1 or 2 school days together with work in a company per week). Never had to learn outside of school for anything thanks to my good memory for facts.
I remember that in 10th grade we had a history test and I absolutely didn't know any answer for sure despite actually learning for it ... Got 110% on it because I provided additional, but unecessary answers on top of all the correct ones.
On a daily basis it's more for speaking fluent english and my colleagues in the HQ not , leading to interesting wording from them (*Sausage Doc, Hat up display...)
Going from being completely computer illiterate to teaching commercial website design and other subjects at a computer school in two years' time.
When I had had enough of dealing with creeping mold, no central heating, and a leaking roof, and called the city inspector on the landlord. Good thing I did; three days later, the ceiling in my bedroom collapsed during a heavy rainstorm.
I work for mental health care services, a receptionist in a UM office. My unit (6 of us) process paperwork regarding inpatient stays, and admissions. I’ve been in that office for over 21 years. Longer than anyone else. Another gal was the queen of inpatient processing. Until 4 supervisors, the new director, and 8 clinicians at various times asked ME questions regarding procedures from the past, as well as medical coverage for the 21 and under group. Not only did I have most of the answers, but showed examples. Including ways I perfected certain methods to gain information without emailing, or calling psych hospitals/facilities. I really surprised myself. I really thought I didn’t know as much as I really do. Extremely proud full moment, and confidence booster.
I realised that I was so smart when I read that children usually learn the alphabet at 5, and then learn to read at 6. I was shocked because I had learnt to read at 3.
Another moment was when I started watching the big bang theory and understood almost everything that they were saying.
I was little (7/8 years old) and I was with my grandparents at the "cité des sciences" in Paris (I am French). There were plenty of activities for children and one of them was a kind of riddle on the Mona Lisa. There were two paintings (front and back) and we had to find which of them was a copy. The person in charge of the puzzle had indicated at the beginning that Da Vinci had had the nails removed from the painting and one of the two paintings still had them. I was the only one to make the link and out of the twenty children, I was the only one to find the answer. I thought "but it’s obvious! There are four big nails! How could no one find them?". At the end, I won a candy and a little bit more of self-confidence.
Had my chemistry exam today and a multiple choice question came which asked us to pick out the heptahydrate salt. I randomly picked green vitriol and then when I looked it up later I realised that maybe I am smart
When I was very young, I could see on a world map that some of the continents could fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. Everyone told me that was just silly. Impossible.
In sixth grade science class, we were starting a unit on astronomy, and some kid asked why Pluto wasn’t a planet. I immediately stood up and explained to the entire class why the IAU decided to make Pluto a dwarf planet.
Another time was in fourth grade when I wrote a paper on R136a1, the most massive star, just for fun outside of school. This one kid who was kind of the jerk of our class was acting super bored and zoning out on purpose and all that. When I said, “R136a1 is so massive that it loses 321 thousand billion tons of material per second,” everyone gasped and that kid was looking around like, “What’d I miss?”
Much less academic answer: when washing my matching sheet set, I try to keep it all together. So when it's dry, I fold the sheets & place them inside the matching pillowcase before putting them into the linen cupboard. One matching set, all together for the next time I want to use it.
ok im really dumb but once there was a trivia game andi was the only one answering so i got every one right . people were like, ooh yay bee ur so smart and i was like 0_o. but they asked, where the great barrier reef, and i said Australia cause duh, and they were like "omg! how did u know that thats crazy!" lol, it was weird. and im just good at trivia cause i know random stuff
I have been a good student academically throughout my school life, and my college life, I have cleared lots of competitive exams.
But, on numerous occasion, I've been told that I am pretty dumb, and I agree with that, I'm a whole dumber than you can think.
there is always something you don't know. It is best to know you can't know everything.
Why most of these people don't seem that smart? Things like knowing some facts don't make you a smart person. That's just a bit of knowledge.
Doesn’t make us smart but it makes us feel smart and it kind of increases our confidence along the way
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We dont care what your sisters neighbir makes!
Load More Replies... Why most of these people don't seem that smart? Things like knowing some facts don't make you a smart person. That's just a bit of knowledge.
Doesn’t make us smart but it makes us feel smart and it kind of increases our confidence along the way
Load More Replies... We dont care what your sisters neighbir makes!
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