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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Aibu to ask you about the BRIGHTEST person you have ever known?

161 replies

managedmis · 15/10/2019 20:53

Shameless copying from the tightest thread

I knew someone at uni (a UK uni) whose first language wasn't English, smoked dope for 3 years and did no work who got a first then offered a scholarship to Oxford for a masters. She was pretty clever.

You?

OP posts:
Longdistance · 15/10/2019 23:09

Sounds boring but dd1 who’s 10 is amazingly bright. She has the best memory and can remember stuff from when she was 2yo. Ask her the capital city of a country and she will tell you. She knows her flags too. I’ve nicknamed her Shelly Cooper ‘fun with flags’. We’ll be in the car and she’ll say the make of cars that pass us. She knows her horses and can name them, what country they originate from and how large in hand they can get. She remembers everyone’s birthday, even her classmates as well as family and friends.

I don’t know where she gets it from Confused

Tunnocks34 · 15/10/2019 23:11

My brother. Although my sister and I are
Really Bright too, my sister is fantastic at English, she can write really beautiful poems and stories. An amazing imagination too. I am very logical and excel in maths.

My brother however is what you’d call an all rounder. Did year GCSEs in year 9, and his a levels in year 11. First degree from a red brick university etc. He’s a doctor now. I’ve yet to see anything he can’t do wonderfully really. He taught himself to play guitar from YouTube videos too!

Woopdewoop · 15/10/2019 23:11

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Colton This guy - went to school with him. He was a shining light at school in a low-key way and the most lovely boy. Sent me a valentines card. Damn.

Babybel90 · 15/10/2019 23:17

A friend of mine whose highest educational achievement is his GCSEs but his general knowledge is amazing, he’s been on quite a few quiz shows on TV and won, he can do any sum in his head effortlessly, he just seems to soak up knowledge and does amazingly well any sport or activity he tries without any effort. If he’d decided to go to university I’ve no doubt he’d have got a first without trying but he joined the family business at 16 and is still there now.

Roussette · 15/10/2019 23:21

My DH. I honestly fell in love with his brain. Grin

He can pick speak languages (not totally fluently but enough to get by) and even within half an hour of being in a particular country whose language he speaks, he starts using the local accent of the area we're in. I'm astounded by that.

He is knowledgeable on so many things... if there's some world news about some country or other, I just ask for the background and he knows everything from centuries ago to date. He is like a walking Google sometimes.

He also has a niche hobby that only a few in the country are proficient at (don't want to say what it is, very identifying) and he is superb at it.

However.
It's not all good, he's not got an ounce of common sense! Grin

EmperorBallpitine · 15/10/2019 23:24

I went to Cambridge and met so many very brilliant people there. There was a 14 year old on my course Shock. I was friends with a few amazing people, some of whom have amazing jobs now in tech and science fields mostly. I treasure all the mind boggling conversations we used to have (or rather, they'd have, I'd listen to) down the pub.

Mrsmadevans · 15/10/2019 23:26

My Cousin , poor thing has Asperger's . He won a scholarship to a top boarding school , he was in a class of 12 year olds and he was about 7. It wasn't good for him at all. He needed help to cope but they just concentrated on his intelligence and ignored his other needs because no one realised what was going on with him. He has been to prison twice for fraud and never worked. It is ever so sad for him. All that promise and nothing came of it for him. He's a nice bloke, he loves animals and is very kind, just not had the help to cope he should have.

Londonmummy66 · 15/10/2019 23:27

Me - brushes off the dust from the top first from Oxford ..... (sorry not sorry)Grin

LellyMcKelly · 15/10/2019 23:28

My DP. Had undiagnosed dyslexia at school, left at 16, did an apprenticeship and a tutor asked if he’d ever been tested. They found out he had an IQ of 164. He’s now a big cheese in an aerospace company.

QOD · 15/10/2019 23:28

My friends ds got 14 A* GCSE and an A
The A was in LATIN which he self taught

He does however suffer from bulimia and severe anxiety :(

Aridane · 15/10/2019 23:29

IME people who "coast" through school and University without doing any work are usually lying about how little work they're doing

I don't think so

I coasted through an easy degree course (English language & literature) whereas fellow students doing law, goodness, that was tough and there was certainly no coasting

CoolCarrie · 15/10/2019 23:31

My husband. 4 degrees, high flying career, then got fed up with it and decided to study again in his late thirties, now doing a job which is very stressful but hugely rewarding, helping people at their most vulnerable. I am very proud of him, especially as he studied very hard in his previous career, he sat that our tiny kitchen table and our son was a tiny baby, but he was still a brilliant hands on Dad, I don’t know how he did it, in fact I’m not sure how we managed at the time, but we did.

Oakmaiden · 15/10/2019 23:38

One of my lecturers at university. So clever you can almost see it. Not an ounce of common sense though.

isittheholidaysyet · 15/10/2019 23:42

My stand-in theology teacher at sixth form.

Proper teacher was off sick, he was doing a bit of supply to get money before going back to his proper work of translating ancient writings (dead sea scrolls etc)

He knew 9 languages. And was just one of those very intelligent people who know a lot about everything. Not only the philosophy and theology he was meant to be teaching us, but our conversations in class were so wide ranging and he just knew it all.
I could have sat and listened to him forever!

I wish I remembered his name so I could Google him.

MyShinyWhiteTeeth · 15/10/2019 23:44

A boy from school who got into Cambridge but refused to go. He has an older brother who is very successful in his career. His parents both had successful careers.

I was struggling with one part of my A'levels as I'd been ill and couldn't get caught up and it was my weakest subject. He explained it better than the teacher. He seemed to be able to discuss everything and gave great advice about studying, university courses, careers etc.

Anyway, his parents were putting pressure on him so he moved out and got a job locally as a farmhand/general mechanic. They told people he had a breakdown but I've never really believed that. He now has a small farm with woodlands and sells his produce at farmers markets.

His partner is a bit glamorous and perceived as an air head but in reality really nice and down to earth. They seem very happy. They have a few income streams but have a lot of free time and whilst not wealthy seem to always have enough money coming in.

His brother has had several health scares and many divorces, his parents have a bad relationship with him and look down on his partner.

AgeLikeWine · 15/10/2019 23:46

I have known many bright people, but only one who was flat-out brilliant.

A guy I went to school with took A levels in Maths, further maths, Physics & chemistry a year early. Straight A’s, obviously. He went on to Cambridge and got a starred first in Engineering, one of only a handful awarded in his year. He did a Masters, then a PhD then went to work for an American investment bank, doing something highly technical and very well paid.

I hoped, perhaps naively, that he might continue in academia and make some important discovery or breakthrough which would cure cancer or something and win a Nobel prize, but he went for the £££ instead.

OnceAponAMum · 15/10/2019 23:50

It's probably a friend who is a senior lecturer (they call it associate professor at Oxford I think) at Oxford and many awards and works in industry too. He's humble and never talks about these things. I know from google. His Chinese born wife is probably as bright. My dad, my husband and probably my son are definitely up there. My dad came from reasonable humble upbringing, passed 11+ age 9. Has a doctorate and an academic career was a dean but generally just an extremely knowledgable person in lots of subjects. I think his empathetic skills and ability to listen and absorb also gives him a different intelligence. He's in his 70s and works overnight at the Samaritans. My husband won a full scholarship to a prestigious school and had no family support, very working class upbringing. My boy is also bright but has the advantage of a lot of family support so seems different but learns a lot of things by himself. Who knows really. I meet lots of brilliant people in my work too but there's definitely many types of intelligence.

Osirus · 15/10/2019 23:50

I know someone who can speak 5 languages, has 2 degrees and is currently doing a third, but is also incredibly immature.

MintyMabel · 15/10/2019 23:51

IME people who "coast" through school and University without doing any work are usually lying about how little work they're doing.

No, I really coasted through school and Uni. Never studied, coursework was done at the last minute. I didn’t come out with top grades and wouldn’t consider myself brilliant by any stretch of the imagination but got decent grades and a decent degree out of it. Not everyone needs to study.

OnceAponAMum · 15/10/2019 23:52

It's probably a friend who is a senior lecturer (they call it associate professor at Oxford I think) at Oxford and many awards and works in industry too. He's humble and never talks about these things. I know from google. His Chinese born wife is probably as bright. My dad, my husband and probably my son are definitely up there. My dad came from reasonable humble upbringing, passed 11+ age 9. Has a doctorate and an academic career was a dean but generally just an extremely knowledgable person in lots of subjects. I think his empathetic skills and ability to listen and absorb also gives him a different intelligence. He's in his 70s and works overnight at the Samaritans. My husband won a full scholarship to a prestigious school and had no family support, very working class upbringing. My boy is also bright but has the advantage of a lot of family support so seems different but learns a lot of things by himself. Who knows really. I meet lots of brilliant people in my work too but there's definitely many types of intelligence. I also know someone who worked for the UN and spoke 14 languages and was instrumental in several peace processes. I don't know him well enough to say how bright he seems but I would assume very

CookieDoughKid · 15/10/2019 23:56

The founders of Google. Not personal friends but know from a professional capacity. Extremely intelligent, sharp, observant and commandeering.

Interestedwoman · 16/10/2019 00:07

My lover. He has two firsts, two masters, and a PhD, the Masters are in very different subjects- computer science and therapy.

He's a therapist so has to have all the answers to people's problems for a living! Everyone turns to him for help and confides in him. He is virtually a social genius, with many friends.

He read encyclopedias as a child and remembers all the contents.

There was a quiz on telly that was quite obscure, about guessing animals by parts of their body or their poo. He got all the answers more often than the experts. He could've had a career in zoology or virtually any other field.

He can beat whole teams at a pub quiz playing only by himself.
He's an expert at those word games.

He's a good all rounder and genius in virtually everything!

The only issue on which I might beat him is to an extent critical thinking skills- like most people if he has an opinion on something he finds it difficult to bother to weigh up/consider the opposite point of view, or the evidence.
Or so I like to think- I don't want to feel inferior in every way.:)

ymf117 · 16/10/2019 00:19

Seems like none of my RL friends are on MN 😂

Wowisthatwhatyearitis · 16/10/2019 00:33

My DH. sure he has all the credentials - carries complicated formulae in his head and has a little party trick involving dates (not the edible kindWink). But the most impressive thing about him is his problem-solving ability.

He has such a quirky, original way of solving problems. He can nearly always come up with something that will keep everyone happy. He’s been very successful in life (financially) without trodding all over people, which is unusual.

My DC’s are also both very bright and I see my job as, far from pushing them, I need to try hard not to, in the hope that they have good mental health. It’s the biggest worry for all our kids. Sad to hear on this thread about quite a few cases of very bright people whoSe fragility wasn’t recognised.

PomBearWithAnOFRS · 16/10/2019 01:41

Me.
I know that sounds so arrogant, but honestly, it's never done me the slightest bit of good, ever.
If anything it just makes me feel like a total failure with the utter waste of potential and all the "could have been" thoughts.
I fucked up early on, and sometimes think about how life could have been different, but have learned to try not to cos it makes my MH worse.
It took me a long time to stop blaming my parents too, for how things turned out. They knew how bright I was as a child, but I ended up here, and it was easier to blame them than to admit it was my fault my life is as it is now.