Some people aren’t as intelligent as they seem?

[Justnowwondering]

Prefacing this with I’m not intending to be bitchy in any way. Just wondering if any one has similar experiences.

Ive had a few experiences recently where I have questioned my opinion on people I know. For example a friend who is degree level educated and an assistant manager of a team of people, I always thought as clever yet a lot of the times they get confused over basic sentences I say to them. Really clear statements followed by a ‘huh?’
or someone else I know who fails to see blatant attempts from a third party trying to manipulate situations. I can see it plain as fat as they are really obvious but they seem oblivious. I thought this person clever enough to see it too.

Is it lack of common sense or intelligence or do they go hand in hand? I really don’t want to sound pretentious but I find myself understanding/being able to see things better than other people a lot even when I thought them very clever. Can anyone relate or AIBU?

Well I'm pretty clever on the traditional sense of the term (mensa, have a PhD), but I'm also very useless at some things. I also can't be arsed with learning about some things. Sometimes I have zero common sense. I am completely useless at general knowledge. I can't grasp languages, I am often a bit socially anxious.

I have a job that involves basically working out how people will behave, whether they are lying etc.. and I'm great at it. In my personal life though, I cant apply that knowledge at all! I've been scammed a few times!!!

Ultimately OP, we r all different. What is clever anyway!?

I couldn't care less how clever I, my friends or my family are. What's important to me if love, trust, loyalty, kindness.

Some of the 'cleverest" people I know have no qualifications. Some have great people skills, some don't.

Who cares!

Be who you want to be. Appreciate difference. Just be nice.

Education is different from being smart or having the ability to think critically. When the education system was a less level playing field we attributed getting qualifications with intelligence. Being able to get a qualification in a subject doesn't mean that the person is clever.

Therecare different kimds of cleverness. Besides, being degree educated really doesn't mean someone is necessary clever.

It depends what sort of intelligence you are talking about as there are different forms. You can be academically very smart but not have much common sense and vice versa.

If it’s something you’re running into often maybe it’s partly how you’re expressing yourself?

I do think it’s a bit mean to judge your friends’ intelligence levels though!

I have a friend who is a doctor, I ask myself every day how she manages it. She is a lovely person, but knows very little about anything else.

I'm generally regarding as being pretty good at my job, which requires a high level of attention to detail, being outrageously organised and focussed.

cannot do it AT ALL in my life outside of work. I'm a bloody liability half the time.

I think I'm one of these people! I'm articulate, have a good vocabulary, know quite a bit about history, arts and literature, but I'm bad at maths and I don't really understand economics etc.

I suppose it depends how you define 'intelligent'.

OP “Really clear statements followed by a ‘huh?’”

they probably didn’t fully listen.

not a fan of judging intelligence in this way, but v curious to know if “plain as fat” was autocorrect. You might think that a stupid question 😂

No common sense and intelligence do not come hand in hand.

Seperate things altogether.

agree there are different types of intelligence, and also common sense, general knowledge, and intelligence are 3 very different things and many people don't have all 3 (or even 1...)

but yes, recently for example I've been really shocked at the number of people, both on here and in RL, who just do not get how their energy bills are calculated, what a price cap means, why their dd amount is not an exact quote for how much they will use in the year ahead, why cancelling your dd in the summer in the summer thinking this will somehow save you money in the winter is not a good idea, etc. etc.

That sounds like me. I'm extremely book smart and an acknowledged expert in my (narrow) field. I'm also completely impractical, an arty-farty dreamer, have little sense of logic, and am numerically illiterate.

My brother is a good example.

3 x A grade A levels, got a 2.1 from Leeds.

No common sense at all.

I think a lot of people think they are a lot cleverer than everyone else

And a lot more people are desperate to pull them down. OP, for example.

I agree, I used to think if someone was highly educated (PhD or whatever) they automatically were "better". Tbh with the advent of massive fees in education, I don't think qualifications are that impressive.

I don't think degree educated automatically equals intelligence as it depends on the degree. On top of that I know plenty of people who have degrees, masters degrees, phds ect who are textbook clever but lack "basic" intelligence. In my view being able to think critically and what we spend our spare time doing; researching, being curious about life and others, understanding theory and sociology = a higher level of intelligence over the certificates people hold.

Having a degree is no longer a measure of even traditional intelligence. There’s a great quote from F.Scott Fitzgerald “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function“ The ability to do this is becoming increasingly rare.

I have a friend who has a science-based masters, works in an associated field and yet believes things not backed by science. Why??!

Education, intelligence and wisdom are three different things.

My 'cleverest' friends with multiple degrees / MBAs / PhDs are some of the stupidest people I know when it comes to every day life! I simultaneously admire them and wonder how they've managed to survive this long.

Well I suppose it depends what she believes. As Blake said “What is now proved was once only imagined”.

I think if you're neurodivergent you can feel out of step with everyone else and wonder why people don't understand you. It's not necessarily that they are less intelligent, it's more often that your brain has filled in blanks that theirs wouldn't because they think differently. This can go both ways though.

Maybe your friend has hearing difficulties?

I think some people initially mistake confidence for intelligence. I met so many people in the workplace that ooze confidence, it’s only when you’ve worked with them a while you realise they are not clever at all, just great at faking it.