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

[managedmis]

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?

I should add though that I’m totally brilliant at pub quizzes. I’m always being asked to be on teams because Of the obscure facts my brain collects. I know that doesn’t make me bright, but it does annoy my bright husband!

A neighbour/friend who died a couple of years ago but had been a scientist and barrister. His conversation was entrancing with its pure intelligence.

Someone said it about me once! He was very bright/ creatively successful himself and was a regular in a bar I worked in. We chatted a lot. I was quite flattered I suppose.

I just remembered I had sex with him once, had forgotten him until this thread.

Friend of mine who helped build the most intensive MRI scanner. He also was one of a group at Harvard university who developed the programme they use to look at MRI scans.

I adore him. However he doesn’t talk like everyone else. When he sends me articles. I can just make out 1-2 words in it. He’s not very good at talking in layman’s terms 😂😂

Its sad to hear about all the people having breakdowns/ending up on drugs.

When I think of all the 6 or 7 cleverest people I know IRL (women and men) they all seem happy but what they all have in common is partners that are smart enough to keep up with them AND that are sensible/practical types. The really clever ones often lack day to day sense and the partners ground them.

I always find the lack of correlation between measured intelligence and lack of common sense very interesting.

My lovely DP had an IQ of 145, a photographic memory and if there was something he didn't know, then he would research and work at it obsessively until it was firmly ingrained in his brain.

However, to watch him do anything practical was pure agony. He could never make the connection of things as simple as 'If I go to collect 'a' then I can take 'b' with me and save a trip'. We have horses and when field clearing he would clear the front of the paddock first and then push the half full barrow to the far end and clear that bit, his mind didn't grasp the time and effort he was wasting by pushing a half full barrow needlessly. It both infuriated and intrigued me.

He had a huge thirst for knowledge on everything you can imagine and just before he died he was taking a great interest in quantum physics (and trying to explain it to me!!) I believe he was on the spectrum to some degree, he was very challenged by people and found it hard to form relationships; he had been head hunted by a prestigious merchant bank when he was only 18 but couldn't cope with the working environment and left to do minimum wage jobs for the rest of his life.

I adored him.

My dad. He got a scholarship and was born into absolute poverty. He was an individual thinker. He was into recycling in 1960. He was completely racially inclusive. Well read and did yoga most of his life. You may think this isnt that special but he was born in Ireland in the 1930s.n amazing man and great dad to 5 children. (hopeless at DIY)

I agree, @CountFosco. I have an Oxford DPhil, as does DH — I won a lot of scholarships, and two major research prizes — and a large proportion of our friends do too, and are clever and highly successful. I don’t recognise the ‘brilliant but no common sense’ stereotype at all. In my experience, clever people also generally apply that cleverness to running their lives. I also can’t help noticing that, as well as the ‘brilliant but clueless’ stories, there have been a lot of stories on the thread where the brightest person a poster knows has never held down a job, has been an addict, or died by suicide. Obviously, I’m not doubting that this happened as the posters say, but it seems as if some people are seeing a causal relationship between the cleverness and the inability to cope in the world.

I'm sorry about your DP cantfindme

It's sometimes a bit embarrasing being the clever but airheaded one (I'm talking about myself now), I'm pretty sure I've got dispraxia tbh and my spacial awareness/sense of direction is 0. I hand strangers my phone and get them to help me with googlemaps .

I get a bit annoyed as a feminist when people say everyone should be able to make flat pack furniture, Its hard! When I was a kid I had constant bruises on my hips from misjudging corners on furniture, I know my limitations, I shouldn't be handed saws!

My Dad. He came from a very poor working class family, got a scholarship to Grammar school & went to University a year early. He had a mind like a steel trap, could suss anyone out within minutes (eerily forecasted a couple of suicides when the person had a seemingly happy affect to everyone else) , had an encyclopedic knowledge of literature & history & an inherent & scary ability at maths & the sciences which was his work. He was also really, really funny & loved to set the world to rights over a drink. Everyone who met him was slightly awed by his intelligence. He even knew his own (terminal) diagnosis before his rubbish GP finally twigged. I miss him dreadfully.

I had a friend who ended up working for NASA (unsurprisingly to those who knew him) and although we've lost touch, I still see his name crop up every so often in the media so he has obviously got prominent roles early on in life. What intrigued me most was his ability to make conversation with anyone about anything (I was shocked to find a kindred Jilly Cooper fan!), and you could see him mentally changing gears when meeting someone dimmer than him (basically everyone) until he hit their level. However, he would do it in such a polite and kind way that, as the recipient, you would never know what he was up to. His humility and empathy is so rare amongst the very bright that he really stands out. I often think it must be dull though to have so few peers and wouldn't wish it on my children.

One of my ex-boyfriends. Genuinely good at everything - clever academically, good at practical things, passed driving test first time (though I did that too), could play a musical instrument to a high level and good at sport too. Most annoying . He has two children now, no doubt they will be high achievers - his wife is from overseas, so the kids have the added bonus of being bilingual, too!

Me! And I'm not joking! Was able to get into Mensa. Graduated with merit from an IB school without ever really studying.

Won an award for a perfect score in verbal reasoning in a standardized test in the Americas.

Got into a physics degree which I later dropped out because "the scene was not for me" but I deeply regret it. Started again, got a Sociology degree and a second one in English Literature. Then went on for an MA in Sociology, planned for a PhD but for pregnant. Can speak 5 languages, can read Hebrew, Greek and some Japanese.

However... That's all pointless as I can't find a job that pays for that and have to resign myself to MW. So brains don't equal success.

I'm an academic. I've worked in an Oxbridge College for almost twenty years, did my PhD at an equally prestigious US University ( and obviously mix with many academics beyond those two institutions). I can also think of the occasional person (eg my grandfather) who was just as smart as many of the academics I know, but had very different opportunities and took a very different path. Almost by definition, I've known a lot of incredibly smart people, in the academic sense, and couldn't possibly pick between them. I wouldn't know where to start or how to judge. What I would say, however, that just like anyone else, highly intelligent people can be practical or impractical, content or miserable, extrovert or introvert, kind or unkind, arrogant or humble. There is no one "type".

(they do pretty much all support Remain though )

My 6 year old. She is crazy intelligent in the academic sense, years beyond her classmates but it’s her quick wit, problem solving, literal thinking intelligence that really impresses everyone.
I have no idea where she gets it from because dh, the other children and I are average on a good day!

My dsis is extremely smart.
She taught herself three languages.
She has two degree and two masters
She can talk about anything.
She can talk about frivolous things such as The Kardashians and the next minute she will discuss politics , all with great aplomb.
She can talk to anyone regardless of their background.
Despite all this, she is extremely self effacing and lovely

Also , my mother. She didn’t attend university, but her knowledge of accountancy and finance is incredible.
She doesn’t realise how clever she is

My husband. Taught himself to read when he was three because he was bored. Has a gift for languages, and easily understands complicated technical concepts in his area of work. He weirdly thinks I'm smarter than him because I've got more social/world awareness.

One of my friends at school. She came top in the country for one subject in our end of school exams (in NZ), and has an incredible brain for science. Has a physics PhD, worked for a hedge fund for a while and is now doing something I don't understand that is less evil than making money for capitalists.

I have 2, DH and his best friend.
The best friend is exceptionally bright in the traditional sense. Works in the creative industry and does very well. Gifted academically and a lovely down to earth guy.

DH on the other hand isn't what you would call bright, but he amazes me and I'm so proud of him. He's a qualified mechanic, with the highest qualification. Worked on every vehicle possible including time in Germany working on the US army base on their tanks and trucks. Still headhunted now. Currently rebuilding a non running motorbike for fun. A qualified electrician, good at maths, exceptionally good at computers including coding and hacking. He works on the railway in engineering and always wanting to improve. He'll take anything apart and put it back together. Plays guitar, has a problem solving mind. Passes every test or exam first time, some with a minimal read through of the content just before it. Many, many times I've overheard conversations between DH and above friend about quantum physics, the solar system etc. Technically he didn't do that well at school, hated it, and doesn't think he's that smart, but he blows my mind.

A good friend from school. Our group would sit in the pub drinking and chatting and she'd be keeping up with the conversation but also effortlessly writing her A level coursework. Did amazingly in all exams and got a first class degree.
Devastatingly she also developed a serious cocaine and alcohol dependency at university and hasn't achieved anywhere near her potential.
I've still never met anyone who has been as naturally bright as her all round. I've met people who've been exceptionally good in one or two fields but she was good at everything she put her hand to as well as being incredibly kind, humble and funny.
I miss the old her very much.

Almost by definition, I've known a lot of incredibly smart people, in the academic sense, and couldn't possibly pick between them. I wouldn't know where to start or how to judge. What I would say, however, that just like anyone else, highly intelligent people can be practical or impractical, content or miserable, extrovert or introvert, kind or unkind, arrogant or humble. There is no one "type"

Absolutely @irregularegular I think the term "brightest" is an issue here.

I have an academic background pretty similar to yours in terms of PhD from one of the top universities in the world, teaching in one of the vest departments in my discipline, and doing all the things that that entails (leading research grants etc).

I'm bright, but actually my intellectual achievement goes beyond "bright."

But it may not be what the OP is asking about - I think hope I come across as reasonably normal and ordinary in every day life. I certainly don't tell people at the gym "Oh I'm a very clever professor, you know" (I'm too much in awe of what other people can lift or how fast they can run ...

It's just an odd question all round, I suppose, in my world. I take it for granted that all my colleagues and most of my students are "bright" - but we're aiming for something more - or different.

Me! Egotistical I know.
I learnt to read from 3 and was very academically bright. Unfortunately, by the time I was 15 I ruined it all due to my mental health.

People are often struck by the words I use and my ability to plan. However, I make extremely stupid life choices and sabotage myself.

My dad
He hated school and left with no qualifications
He hated that fact he was ‘thick’ so taught himself using nothing but library books
If there is something he doesn’t know then it’s not worth knowing
We call him ‘walking google’
(His dad,my granddad was mensa intelligent too)
I wish I’d got their brains but sadly I’m dyslexic and really struggle with keeping information in my head (although I was really proud of myself when I went to college I passed every exam I was given-that took real blood sweat and tears)

I get to meet a lot of seriously bright people through work, and some who are incredibly talented in a number of fields. But one of my favourite ones is a nuclear physicist who once covered the paper tablecloth in a restaurant in equations and diagrams to explain something to me, and who is just so passionate and bouncy about what he does (and is vvvvvvv talented). He can also drive a carriage with 6 shire horses pulling it (totally incredible to watch), and has just built a house with his office in the garage so he can look through the glass walls at his american muscle car collection which he has renovated himself. Always a pleasure to talk to.

Also a doctor from Canada who always just blows my mind with the things she is researching - she is always looking down new paths and off on tangents to see what can be done. Does incredible clinical work too, and pushes all sorts of technological boundaries with her team.

My lovely schoolfriend who was offered an unconditional offer to Oxford, left after a year as she didn't like the whole ethos of the place, and is now a published playwright and author. She is so clever but never makes me feel thick!