Who is the most intelligent person you know who lives an average or below average life?
Posted by CremePleasant5800@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 274 comments
I know a baker who I would say is very intelligent, he never had the chance to go to university or study much but I would say that I would not be surprised if he would be a doctor or something extremely prestigious if he had the chance, but on the surface he does seem like a normal person.
do you guys know of any highly intelligent people who are live lives that do not correspond?
Fehnder@reddit
I’m not particularly intelligent. But did well academically mostly, especially English language and literature. My older sister had gone to university and it was expected I’d do the same.
Except all I wanted to be was a hairdresser. I remember picking my GCSE subjects and discussing what I wanted to do in life and being told that I was too smart to be a hairdresser.
I did become a hairdresser, and then promptly quit 😂 my current job is comfortable, doesn’t require massive amount from me, i can leave it behind when i go home. I have no desire to do anything more senior. I’d rather be happy!
sashabobby@reddit
What do you do for work now?
harrietmjones@reddit
My great-grandmother and grandmother were both very intelligent people.
My great-grandmother trained as a teacher but spent most of her life as a housewife and mum. She lived in a small house she had been born in, where all of her children were born and where she eventually died, in a very small rural town. She was incredibly bright and intelligent but just never had the opportunities or want to ‘show’ it off.
Same with my gran, though she was very talented at cooking, so she became a cook. She had also trained as a teacher too but had to stop because she learnt she was expecting my mum.
Quelly0@reddit
Intelligent women very often went into teaching in the past. I know some from that generation too.
harrietmjones@reddit
I’ve noticed that too! Tbh, I’ve come from a long line of teachers/cooks/domestic servants, so I’m not surprised both of them went and became teachers. ☺️
MrMrsPotts@reddit
Housewives who are now 70 are sometimes clearly geniuses. They just never worked.
janpaisley@reddit
It sounds like they worked plenty. They just never got paid for it.
Neuroscience_Fun@reddit
Me, dude. I'm that person.
BigSkyFace@reddit
Maybe not the conventional intelligence you meant, but I have a friend who is an incredibly talented musician but has never made anything of it. He does small things here and there, but for the most part since leaving uni over a decade ago has either worked retail jobs or been unemployed, living with his parents.
He's got both the talent and the connections to very easily be a successful session musician or do some of touring work, but for whatever reason he's just never pursued it. Me and other friends have tried to get him to come work with us in music-adjacent fields, but he's never taken us up on the offer.. He's not one for talking about personal stuff, so I've never pressed him on it and let him go about his business. I's hard though when you want to help out a friend.
JohnCasey3306@reddit
Approximately 50% of school leavers now go on to university ... By definition therefore there's no real relationship between "clever" (relatively speaking) and going to university. Hence the slump in value of having a degree.
MeteorSwarmGallifrey@reddit
Guy I went to school with. Was jumping ahead of everyone in various subjects with the help of the school, to the point he started some maths uni modules early (not taking them officially, just studying so he'd be ready for when he joined), was eerily good at chess as well. Everyone just assumed he'd go to Oxbridge and then do whatever he wanted.
He didn't even apply. He didn't like people or the pressure, so he kept with his main passion of reading and last I heard works in a local book store.
iDidNotStepOnTheFrog@reddit
This genuinely made me realise that success is a multi faceted thing that looks different for everyone depending on what is important to them. I have been struggling with the battle between feeling the need to be successful and not actually wanting to do any role that would be associated with traditional success (corporate roles, doctor, solicitor, account or having to be the best at whatever you choose to do). I genuinely think you telling me about this man may help me
CaptainVigelius@reddit
For those of us who were "on track" for traditional success and then "blew it" for some personal or external reason, getting a handle on this stuff isn't really optional. The longer it takes to decide a path, the more options close. In some ways, it seems like a good midlife crisis is the entry requirement before a happy life. The other option just hurts like hell, all the time.
iDidNotStepOnTheFrog@reddit
Feels like you’re looking into a window on my life…
CaptainVigelius@reddit
Takes one to know one, friend.
ShoePillow@reddit
Congrats, live well
UKRico@reddit
It's a liberating feeling, isn't it? Comparison is often a thief to joy.
Short-Price1621@reddit
This is something I see rather often. I’m fortunate enough to have worked with and have friends who are very successful Drs, lawyers and some notable figures in their fields.
I’ve always viewed this as there being different types of intelligence including different types of what many may broadly say is autism. Often I’ll meet someone who is head and shoulders above everyone else in X but can’t fathom Y.
There’s a few examples I can think of. A notable one was a straight A student who won some national awards for her work. The world was her oyster but as soon as she got out of uni she fell out of 2 training contracts and went into a deep depression. Turns out her autism (which was diagnosed) made her perfect for acing uni but she couldn’t maintain eye contact, take instructions or otherwise offer anything tangible.
inevitablelizard@reddit
Not diagnosed autistic but have suspected it based on a lot of research and that last sentence is pretty accurate. In my case I had a strong interest in a subject which I did a degree in, but once I'd done my degree I didn't have any of the typical graduate "soft skills". Having a strong interest counts for basically nothing, because it's difficult to put that into a job application unless you've done something specific like led or been involved in an organisation.
Short-Price1621@reddit
It’s a shame. My suggestion would be that universities need to gear themselves away from autistic friendly traits.
pajamakitten@reddit
A much better solution would be for workplaces to best figure out how to incorporate people with autism into their company.
Short-Price1621@reddit
My wife is autistic and many of those I love are but frankly no. Most that I know who are successful aren’t supportive of such initiatives; it seems only to be those who aren’t who feel they should get a leg up.
To be clear, it’s the line between enabling and humouring. Autism in my experience is an incredibly broad category which I would more accurately suggest falls into several smaller categories. Providing excessive support to humour one person deprives resources from those needing support to enable their success.
As with the example I gave in my prior example. The young lady who was getting all types of support to get through uni would of likely benefitted from someone tapping her on the shoulder to explain uni wouldn’t always be there to prop her up and objectively clients wouldn’t care if she was neurodivergent or not. The recourses she utilised to honour her through degrees to a job she would never be able to do impeded many who needed those resources to best enable their success.
Vivid-Combination-74@reddit
Which although this seems corny as fuck, if that’s his passion and he’s happy then that’s an above average life.
I work in construction and development and know a hell of a lot of very financially wealthy but deeply stressed and unhappy people.
Success comes in many forms.
Relative_Sea3386@reddit
There are also low earning and deeply stressed people, and lots of comfortable middle class types who cleverly milk the corporate system without commensurate stress of either end.
Vivid-Combination-74@reddit
Yes very true sir
Glittering_Vast938@reddit
True - many will have got a foot in the door from being well connected or could afford to volunteer for free (while being supported by well off parents). You see this a lot in charities.
ToastedCrumpet@reddit
Honestly as someone with a similar start to him and I’d have been way happier with a job in a bookshop or library to going uni.
He’s right about the pressure. I’ve been uni twice but still get asked “why didn’t you become a doctor?” by family 20 years later like that’s the pinnacle of success
ShoePillow@reddit
What did you end up doing?
ToastedCrumpet@reddit
Ended up currently in hospitality management somehow and looking for an out
williw5495@reddit
What did you study at uni ? (Twice ?)
b3ta_blocker@reddit
Ear-scraper.
Not_Alpha_Centaurian@reddit
The guy was so smart he figured out what he wanted to do with his life when he was still in school and then he went off and did it. Not all that many people can say the same.
b3ta_blocker@reddit
100%. He is clever enough to know what a happy life looks like.
fergie_89@reddit
My dream when I was a kid was to be a doctor. Then my dad died so I couldn't fix him, so I wanted to be a vet. Then my dog died and I couldn't fix it. So I stayed in school, did not bother with university and now am unfortunately important to the firm I work for.
I would love to work at a book store. Being happy is key and the majority of us aren't happy.
m205@reddit
Not corny in the slightest.
Imperial_Squid@reddit
Based, love that for him!
I had similar thoughts about not going to Oxbridge, just seemed too elitist and high pressure, I ended up going to Aberystwyth instead and had a fabulous time! (I ended up doing data science work anyway lol, so not like I avoided the calling forever)
Youppi27@reddit
Is this Good Will Hunting?
ElectricYV@reddit
True success comes from happiness. Good for him.
Unable-Object-8469@reddit
I've been working since I was 16 and the best job I ever had was as a bookshop assistant. Not because of the pay, even it wasn't bad for a student like I was, but because of the role.
taeji@reddit
i had a guy like that too, he used to sit at the back of gcse maths doing alevel papers. he now works for AQA the exam board, as an examinations officer
Loose_Avocado4670@reddit
Tbh, it's better than sticking at something you hate.
Sounds like he made a smart decision!
pb-86@reddit
I knew someone a bit like this, though I only knew him at work. But he was incredibly intelligent, well spoken and compassionate person. Quiet, polite. I liked him, you knew where you were with him. He worked on the flower arrangements at our place earning 20p above minimum wage. He had a PHD in (I think) political science, but he just liked working with plants so never quit his uni job 🤷♂️
GayLiquidSpellSword@reddit
Comfy sounding life, I can think of far worse ways of living really.
Tightropewalker0404@reddit
It sounds like he genuinely made an intelligent decision
ShinyHeadedCook@reddit
My dad. Super intelligent but just worked as a train conductor before retiring early dur to poor mental health.
I have a similar thing. I never achieved my true potential as I have terrible anxiety, I climbed the ladder once in my early years and couldnt cope. Ended up taking drugs, drinking heavily and hated life. I do a fulfilling job I enjoy, but it doesnt pay great
Doomergeneration@reddit
I read that there is a correlation between high IQ and mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety
Reallyboringname2@reddit
The smarter you are, the harder it is to ignore how badly we’ve all been taken for a ride and how much of a car crash we’re careening toward at the slow.est.speed.poss.ible…
pajamakitten@reddit
More that you just over-analyse everything generally. A conversation at work can be a minefield as you try to over-analyse every comment and bit of body language.
Eckieflump@reddit
Im considered bright, but know many with minds immeasurably superior.
It has always occurred to me that the more you know and understand the greater the overwhelming sense what a beautiful and fascinating world we inhabit, yet as a species are hell bent on beating the next asteroid to destroying.
Infamous_Tough_7320@reddit
Once you actually get your mind around the levels of irreversible greed on this planet, it's very hard not to get upset. Most people never do and they just get on with their lives and I'm partially envious of them not being in the know. Ignorance is bliss they say
TheDoctor66@reddit
Wait that car crash is supposed to be slow?
Reallyboringname2@reddit
Well, the impacts of climate change are prolly 10-20 years ahead of schedule, hello El Niño!
50% of the world gets 25% of their calories from rice (or something like that) and the decline in how much rice the world can produce vs population growth, etc, etc!
geekroick@reddit
Hence the inverted saying, 'ignorance is bliss'...
itsmetsunnyd@reddit
Living in the world and understanding how evil it is will do that to you.
BeKind321@reddit
A completely unscientific study, look at Neil in the inbetweeners, happy as Larry !!
summerDom@reddit
Being able to accurately gauge the difficulties of life makes it harder to act boldly because of that knowledge
You need to be slightly predisposed toward reckless optimism in order to venture forth than retreat
It's like winning a UFC fight. If you truly understand that one punch can cause life altering brain damage or death it's hard to act properly in a fight to win it
avalanchefan95@reddit
This is <> true.
Adorable_Click_7071@reddit
Wouldn’t be surprised if
PoetOk1520@reddit
How do you know he’s really intelligent
ShinyHeadedCook@reddit
How do you know anyone is ? I made him sit a series of exams and he scored high
PoetOk1520@reddit
Such a dumb response. It’s a perfectly reasonable question to ask. You can generally tell how intelligent someone by how well they did in school/exams and which uni they went to
ShinyHeadedCook@reddit
He did extremely well at school, college, uni. He is a very knowledgeable guy on loads of things
AdhesivenessLost151@reddit
I knew an old guy who had been an engineer his whole life.
At his retirement do he said he’d enjoyed being an engineer but if it had his time again he’d have worked on trains because he would have got to go on a train everyday.
Adorable_Click_7071@reddit
Sorry to hear that. X
Otherwise-Eye-490@reddit
My grandad was really intelligent (not so anymore - thanks, dementia 😞). His family were dirt poor and he had to leave school at 13 and work. He did become a skilled tradesperson (in a now dead trade) but he always said he regretted never being able to get a proper education. He read voraciously and wrote poems and stories. He could design and manufacture all sorts of things. He was just really smart and I think in another life would have been an academic.
h00dman@reddit
That sounds a bit like my grandfather.
He was born on a farm, grew up on that farm, and when he got married and moved out it was farming that he fell back into.
He had an intuitive grasp when it came to electronics, and if the option had been available to him I think he would have gone down that route instead.
OptimusLinvoyPrimus@reddit
Makes you think about how many geniuses have been born in places or times where they had no opportunity to use their intellect, and wonder what the world has missed out on as a result. If the person with the potential to be the most gifted writer or artist in history was born as an illiterate peasant, or if someone with the most incredible aptitude for science or engineering was born as a woman in rural Afghanistan or Sudan, we’ll never get to know what they could have achieved.
One of many reasons why access to education is such an important cause.
pajamakitten@reddit
It has been talked about a lot throughout history and is why some people are so passionate about education being available to all for free.
s_car8@reddit
Absolutely agree. I work in ESOL and come across a lot of people with varying degrees of education. I met a woman a couple of years ago who had only basic primary education and had been a farmer all her life, but somehow managed to reach a strong conversational level of English in about 18 months. She wanted to work as a nurse for the Red Cross or MSF!
You never know what people can do unless they are given the chance to do it.
Classic_Contract301@reddit
Absolutely why I think equality of opportunity is so critical across all income groups. So much wasted potential.
DrMoneybeard@reddit
I think about this so much.
greytidalwave@reddit
That sounds a bit like my grandad. He grew up on a farm in Ireland and moved to the UK to find work. He got a job as a miner, then got into engineering and became a precision engineer. Later decided to join the fuzz and retired as a Acting Chief Superintendent in the 80s. He'd always been a tinkerer though, he had welding machines, enjoyed woodwork, fixed his own cars, did his own plumbing and tiling (his tiling wasn't great though) and built his brick shed in his late 70s.
apple_kicks@reddit
You can try to get his poems published happened few times that late poet works are published by family
AnxiousNumbat@reddit
What was the trade, if you don’t mind me asking?
Otherwise-Eye-490@reddit
Blacksmith
youllbetheprince@reddit
Custom ringtone composer
FlowKey777@reddit
Penny farthing combobulater
CriticalBrickery@reddit
just out of curiousity, what was the dead trade?
Otherwise-Eye-490@reddit
Blacksmith!
SammTheWizz@reddit
Funeral director
Sharp_Jacket_6032@reddit
Sounds similar my Grandad, he had a mechanical and electrical aptitude (he built a TV from scratch out of parts, after borrowing and dismantling one....in the 50s). Also built an electric engine from scratch to boot.
Alas, he can't read or write (we think it's moderate/severe dyslexia, as my brother and I have it, and possibly our Mum did too). Obviously that wasn't really a thing back in the 30s/40s, so he just never learned.
Silly-Network-4551@reddit
My sister..very intelligent three different degrees..but she also have can’t handle stress and too much socialising, so she has a low pressure job. She’s recently been diagnosed with asd in her 30s
WesternChemistry8593@reddit
My brother. Insanely intelligent, photographic memory and just naturally gifted, especially in maths, computing etc. Hated discipline and still does. Has never held down a stable job, semi-functioning addict but has taught himself how to code, built websites for companies and his latest endeavour is actually grave restoration. We’re fairly sure he is undiagnosed autistic. With the right support he might have had a very different life, but it was the 80s and as it is he was just categorised as “wasting his potential”.
jonpenryn@reddit
A friend was a washing machine fixer in Wales. Got into small boats and sailing, made his own boat, started a business making pleasure boats , as he discovered no one knew what they were doing when designing boats, they sold very well. Made his own 47ft steel sailing boat sailed to Med to shattering disillusion with humans, boats and everything. Sailed here to live on the dole until he passed away. He was shockingly intelligent with virtually no education. Hydrodynamics, aerodynamics he self educated before the internet existed.
emimagique@reddit
Not to sound like a dick but probably me - I'm not a genius or anything but did very well academically and went to Cambridge, however, my career has been a total flop ever since. It's not for lack of trying but the trouble is my lack of direction and slightly below-par social skills (got diagnosed as autistic at 29), plus my subject was kinda useless
Similarly, my dad is really intelligent but by his own admission didn't have the work ethic and quit A-levels halfway through. He worked a pretty normal job for 20 years but this was back in the day when you could do that and still afford a family, house and car lol
inevitablelizard@reddit
A lot of this sounds like me. Socially pretty useless. Suspected autism but not diagnosed. Sailed through school without much effort (though was struggling a bit by A levels), did a useless degree I was interested in, but no direction at all and fell into the shit dead end job trap after a period of unemployment.
I feel I'm good at strong theory knowledge of various topics, including my degree subject which is my main obsession, but also things to do with politics and philosophical stuff. I feel I notice patterns in society and history most others miss, perhaps due to being a bit disconnected from it all. But none of that is any use career wise because I don't have the skills to do anything with any of it.
emimagique@reddit
Ahh I'm glad it's not just me! I really struggle with work due to the lack of structure, repetitiveness, and needing to "play the game" - at school you could just hide in the corner never speaking if you wanted and still do really well, but this is absolutely not the case in the world of employment. Over the past 10 years I've just taken any job that gives me an offer, but I get bored or burn out and leave after a year or two.
I'm really good at learning new things and have a few talents but they're either things that are insanely hard to do professionally or things that employers just don't gaf about
bitesizejasmine@reddit
This whole thread is affirming I'm glad someone asked it tbh. I've had countless opponents but been unable to act on them. Dying with shame every day but do what I can to make others lives better.
emimagique@reddit
I feel you so hard on the shame! I'm constantly comparing myself to people I know from uni who are successful and beating myself up for not amounting to anything. Good on you for trying to make others' lives better ❤️
SignificanceSudden87@reddit
Narayan and sudha Murty
WhatevahMingah@reddit
I suspect a lot of people experience burnout and never fully recover from it.
PoetOk1520@reddit
Why do you think this baker you know is very intelligent ?
SpunkSacks@reddit
My late Aunt. Went to Oxford, spoke Mandarin. China was her forte but she could famously answer every question on university challenge.
She never went to China though. She couldn’t.
She worked in a hardware store then became a house maid for a posh old lady.
Ambivalent-Axolotl@reddit
She sounds like an absolute legend!
Ariel333@reddit
My mum. She supports a politician to be successful in government when she is far more capable. In her 20s she worked for a well known politician (not going into it!) and he told her she'd have to sleep with him now if she wanted to get to the next level. She didn't and quit. End of career.
Trudisheff@reddit
Your mum sounds like a boss.
Sburns85@reddit
My auntie. Has three degrees. Went to uni the lot. Works in a local shop for minimum wage while renting
Lopsided_Snower@reddit
The Upper Calder Valley is pretty special
GayLiquidSpellSword@reddit
A baker is vastly more useful to society and the world at large than getting a advertising degree or some such. Nice to know you are actively providing something to society rather than just dragging the world down being part of MegaEvil Inc while earning lots of money,
A lot of people seem to think/though I was going to go places but honestly I'm just of just chilling/accepting the circumstances, I don't have a flash car, haven't had a holiday in a decade, I don't have expensive clothes or a big house but I feel the sun on my face and have very little desires while simply doing jobs that give me enough to live that don't make the world a worse place. Doesn't help that the world makes it so hard to try and improve your lot in life but I've always been fine with appreciating the little things, but I don't think others should be expected to live like I do, the fact that people who work hard get fuck all is a sin and the working people here should be getting enough to enjoy their lives.
massivejobby@reddit
Corporate job = evil.
Wow what an enlightened take you must be so intelligent
Limp-Biscuit411@reddit
melt
GayLiquidSpellSword@reddit
Nestle killed tons of children and steals water, Coca Cola had death squads killing workers, Ford made a car that exploded and didn't recall it, Hugo Boss worked with the Nazi's, Boeing pushed out defective products that caused crashes and quite a few other events show that big companies largely will just do evil things for money. Past a certain size, the only way you can make more profit is through removing your soul and just making the world a worse place.
UnhappyAd6499@reddit
Me. Im a complete failure according to my potential.
Ok-Tangerine-7557@reddit
I know someone who was top of his class for GCSEs and A-Levels but works as a janitor because he doesn't have enough years in the UK to claim student finance
appendixgallop@reddit
I know many high IQ people, mostly seniors like me, whose lives don't, as you say, "correspond". Most, in fact, likely because we all have that difference in common and are drawn together. I've met a scrap metal dealer, SAHMs, electronics tinkerers who live in subsidized housing, furniture makers with no retirement. Some of these folks are in the top 1% international association. And that's just in a first-world country. What keeps a highly intelligent person from the status and success you are envisioning? Things like childhood neglect, trauma, cruelty from peers, lack of educational support, undiagnosed neurodiversity like ADHD, Asperger's, and issues like dyslexia, bipolar. Plain vanilla poverty can reduce the educational "nutrition" that gifted kids need in order to survive and thrive. With savage cuts to education in the USA (both financial and otherwise), I expect to see lots more of these people fall out of or drop out of "productive" life.
DietRadiant9360@reddit
There's a scruffy guy lives around the corner from me in a scruffy council house with a scruffy garden etc. He's always kept himself to himself but when my neighbour started home educating he joined a conversation we were having and it turns out he's a science professor and super clever. He gave his support to the family, doesn't agree with the state of our education system and offered to help. He just wants a simple life and doesn't conform but he's SO intelligent.
double-happiness@reddit
Me, I have two degrees and a post-grad, but I'm on £28K 😢
MonsieurGump@reddit
Bartender with Dual Honours in Astrophysics and Applied Mathematics.
Went on to be an estate agent.
NeedleworkerSecure13@reddit
I know a man in Florence who works as a cashier in a local supermarket his whole life.
My boyfriends family are italian- and they know I have an interest in history of art- so they put me in touch with this man who they knew held such a deep and genuine passion for Florence and its magnificent history of art and culture. He took us across Florence and gave us the MOST detailed and fascinating tour.
He knew just as much as a professor in History of Art! To the extent he could find us all the unknown sites, all the Michelangelo’s tucked into street corners, the history of buildings - I was particularly blown away by how he could conjure such a strong sense of history by telling us what a certain road would have smelt like as there was a certain baker there, and this other shop here… and whatnot (excuse me it was a few years ago now and I’ve forgotten the details). It was amazing. if only he could become a professional tour guide or even a documentary host, his knowledge was unparalleled. ❤️
He said that he didn’t have anyone to talk to about his fascination with art and his city, because his family aren’t interested. He didn’t want payment, so we bought him a meal out- and he was genuinely so happy to share with “people who cared”
bannanawaffle13@reddit
Forgive me, if this comes across as bragging, I am not, I come in humility but possibly me. I always did really well at school without trying; I left school at 16 as I hated being in the classroom and joined the army, where I failed at all but the academic parts of it, leaving after 5 months with a healthy dose of PTSD due to a incident that happened. I plodded thought the next few years getting mental health support and ended up in a private ambulance company. I did really well here, it's a job that is outdoors and requires a lot of thinking on you feet, but the company went insolvent owing me about 8 thousand pounds. I then worked in health care as a home carer, I gained a drinking problem due to the stress of working during COVID and in this found God. I quit this and used my savings to do an access to higher education diploma in health care, which I completed but in this period my faith deepened and felt a calling to the monastic life and priesthood, which takes me to now, in the discernment process which is really engaging that intellectual part of my brain again, but working part time in a dead ended job to give me the time for God and discernment and have never felt happier, taking each day as it comes, still reading viraocouscly and excited for the future, I'm never going to be a millionaire but my life has purpose and direction.
I think we measure success wrongly, I've met people who are very well who are more miserable to others I've met on the bread line, the difference is purpose, direction and love. Yes, it may be nicer to live in a mansion but if you spend all your life working to reach this, are you really living?
Stingin_Belle@reddit
You start to realise as an adult that most successful people didn't get there through their intelligence, sometimes when you realise their levels of power it's scary!
EspaaValorum@reddit
A baker is prestigious. Maybe he is happy with what he is doing. That's something we should all strive for.
This notion that you need to be a doctor or something like that to be considered succesful is so narrow-minded...
argotepowell@reddit
My Dad has an encyclopedic knowledge of geography and history, as well as music. He's endlessly curious and so intelligent. However, in school he was given no chance at all because of his handwriting and left school at 15. He enjoys his job in goods in at a warehouse but I'm sure he would have liked to have gone to uni to study tudor history or archaology.
Jumpy-Jello-@reddit
I like to think I'm smart, but I'm also floored with disability so have a pretty uneventful, sedentary life. There are lots of people in my position.
mcnoodles1@reddit
I think intelligence and mental health issues are heavily linked. To the point it's worrying because you would assume they know better so their negative outlook is probably right. Curse moe than a gift maybe?
Astonednerd@reddit
As someone who was very much on the gifted kid -> depressed adult trajectory I personally found antidotes in stoicism and gratitude. I can't make humanity less greedy or destructive at any significant scale but I can make my immediate community much better, and be grateful for just how beautiful life can be.
Adorable_Click_7071@reddit
100% a curse.
DeifniteProfessional@reddit
I know it sounds incredibly egotistical and narcissistic, but I truly think I'm more "switched on" than most people I know. I notice things around me, I connect puzzles, and I question everything, even if a little internal process. And I don't mean this in an intelligent way, I definitely don't have the knowledge, but I have the process and comprehension.
And off of that, I constantly feel depressed, anxious, stressed, and stuck.
I've always put it down to ADHD tbh. Hyper vigilant, always trying to understand things, but when the juices ain't flowing, I'm just a nervous wreck
Possiblyreef@reddit
I wouldn't say 100%.
I'm moderately intelligent, got academic scholarship to a private school but didn't go because the travel would have been hell.
The biggest stressors I found in life so far were money related straight out of uni. The day before my first paycheck i had £16 to my name and was at -£1984 in my student overdraft. Eventually I got a decent job on the merit of my academic ability which after 5 or 6 years resulted in my next job on a stupid wage for my age and it just went from there.
I'm very aware that without my aptitude I wouldn't be in the same position and I'd almost certainly have a lot more stress
Adorable_Click_7071@reddit
You should’ve take that scholarship.
Infamous_Tough_7320@reddit
Some people deal with high levels of intelligence wonderfully, others really struggle. It's all about perspective
LongleafSoul@reddit
The saying, "ignorance is bliss" makes so much sense in this context
Justboy__@reddit
Yes all of the happiest people I know a little bit hard of thinking if I’m honest.
Infamous_Tough_7320@reddit
Literally all of them 🤣🤣
lena_love@reddit
Not to toot my own horn (!) but I was always very gifted academically, went to one of the top universities in the country (and globally) and speak multiple languages. My verbal IQ in particular is extremely high. I was expected to pursue a career in medicine or academia, but I chose a quiet and happy life working part time as a receptionist. The rest of the time I am a SAHM and my greatest joy is just hanging out with my family. I have suffered from crippling anxiety for as long as I can remember, and the simplicity of my day to day keeps this in check. I spend a lot of my own time reading and learning and I find this is fulfilling enough.
NebCrushrr@reddit
Like pretty much everyone I know?
SufficientBox3389@reddit
my dad, he is very clever. not just saying that because he is my dad he genuinely is, he came from a rural irish village. he was offered a £80k job with the irish army but his dad wouldn’t sign the forms for him to join. he moved to england alone at 19 and has always done hard physical labour, he’s 64 now and still doing it. he wants to retire but he’s had money problems from divorce and a failed business, he had a bad mental health episode from stress as well. he would still want to work but not do such physical building work all the time.
he would like to teach history at a further education level, i’ve heard you don’t need a degree to do that so i want to see if there’s anything he can do to have a job like that.
it makes me sad how he’s never got to pursue what he loves and how he’s worked so hard but never got the lifestyle he deserves.
Spirited_Ordinary_24@reddit
Couldn’t pick one, but loads of people who are really intelligent living average life’s. Including those working in areas that are filled with intelligent people, they just don’t have much prestige and pay is often below average for what they do.
On the flip side, I know a lot of people who are average but live above average lives because they can function well socially and willing to do what it takes to get themselves more money. (They usually think they are smarter than they actually are).
Some_Environment_351@reddit
My friend at Oxford uni despite being top 10 in his year for maths- turned down Morgan Stanley to go be a ski instructor in the winter, surf instructor in the summer. Has a wonderful wife and kid and is one of the happiest people I know.
Forward_Win_4353@reddit
Myself.
I used to be in Mensa and tested with an IQ of 152. I did very well throughout education, finding most subjects easy. I was exempted from spelling tests and given extra advanced work in primary school, then proceeded to go to a good grammar school where in subjects that I made an effort, I was always top or near the top. (I didn’t care about all subjects as I was going through a difficult time back then, but nonetheless I effortlessly achieved 10 GCSEs grades A*-C).
At university I graduated top in my year, by a significant margin. Everyone told me I had such potential. I did easily get a job as a software developer as soon as I graduated. I couldn’t decide whether to do a PhD or work in industry so I chose the latter.
All this sounds as if I’m showing off. I do know that I’m very intelligent. But unfortunately I couldn’t cope with the world of work. I’m autistic and although the technical side of my job was fine, I found certain aspects of full-time work extremely difficult. In the end, I developed burnout. I would arrive home from work, go straight to bed and sleep until the following morning when after struggling to get up, I’d go back to work. It was a kind of horrible half life.
I developed severe depression and anxiety, and for several years used drugs to self-medicate so I could continue to work. In the end, I’d be rolled in a trembling ball paralysed by anxiety every morning, and had frequent absences. Eventually I was forced to give up work. Fortunately I now receive disability benefits so I can survive, although I don’t have many luxuries and rely on my mum for rent. I’d be eligible for PIP but can’t bring myself to apply as I’ve heard it’s a total nightmare to get approved.
I’ve been out of work some years and recently I’ve got back into programming for myself, as a hobby. I’d like to have another go at working now that I’ve grown and matured a bit, but it’s my bad luck that AI is quickly taking over my field and I wouldn’t enjoy using AI to program as coding was always a form of art to me, that it satisfies me to produce. So I’m not sure I’ll be able to find any suitable job that I can cope with, yet I also live in unstable housing and never have enough money for everything I need, let alone all the things I once hoped for in life.
Because of my current situation, my depression hasn’t got better, and I don’t see how it can. I’m very afraid of the future.
anatomicalbat@reddit
Don't give up. There will be a lot of work for people who can actually program for a good while yet, including fixing the garbage that AI often generates. (I think its very much worth continuing to learn/practice programming in its own right as an intellectual and creative exercise). Give it a few years and there will be a dearth of mid-senior level developers because people are being squeezed out of the junior level roles by companies trying to do it all with AI. Also it tends to do well with commonly used languages because they represent so much of the training data, but there will always be more esoteric, niche things popping up that might capture your interest.
There are neurodivergent-friendly, remote-first employers out there - not saying it's easy to find them and there is a lot of lip service paid to inclusivity - but they do exist. I work remotely for a software company where I'd be amazed if at least a handful weren't autistic (I'm one of them!).
And maybe don't rule out using AI altogether. There's no 'one way' you have to work with it. I work in design and have no interest in it generating my work for me. But I've learnt to use it as an occasional assistant to poke my first drafts for any usability holes I've missed, suggest alternative routes. It can be used thoughtfully to improve the work you already do. (The future is also uncertain - consumer level AI tools are vastly subsidised by the hyperscalers and it remains to be seen if companies will still get enough return from it once token costs inevitably spiral upwards).
Mysterious-Snow1414@reddit
Sad that this thread doesn't mention more women. So I'll go ahead. Everyone thinks of intelligence differently and I know memory ≠ intelligence. But it doesn't stop me from being amazed by it. My grandmother on my father's side. 75 years old, and more social than some people I know in their 20s. She has an incredible memory. She can tell you with great detail the events of a random day in 1995. She can remember dates, times, people etc in amazing detail and I'm always in awe. She could be making it all up is what some people in my family says, because she does talk a lot. But I don't think she is. Or id like to believe she isn't. The level of detail is just too much for her to have made up. I value her memory because it keeps the past alive. Again I know memory isn't intelligence but I feel as though it is.
relatablepotatable@reddit
Cherish her and record her memories! It would be great to pass on her recollections to future generations
min_mus@reddit
In my experience, far too many intelligent women had their lives derailed by unintended pregnancy.
Emeloth@reddit
You are right about the derailing power of children but I challenge the idea that the women who became mothers are wasting their potential. Women take on extreme and usually hidden mental load for their children. There's a lot of knowledge and insight in raising a child well. You have to kindle their emotional intelligence, encourage their curiosity, keep them safe. I've found it helpful to be up to date on the science of child development. It's been the biggest learning experience for me since I attended Cambridge. I don't need a high flying job to be fulfilled; I make enough to be comfortable. I'd rather raise a couple good people and have a loving family around me.
Katskan11@reddit
Any books on child development you suggest?
Emeloth@reddit
I usually read research papers so I don't have any good books to recommend unfortunately. I do like r/sciencebasedparenting for seeing the scientific evidence around various parenting questions and decisions
fairkatrina@reddit
Yep, my nan aced the 11+ and got a spot in the grammar school but her brothers hadn’t got in so she was sent to the secondary modern they’d attended because it wasn’t fair for a girl to do better than the boys. She spent her life mad about it.
CeaselessWatcher00@reddit
My mum passed the 11 plus but couldn't go to the grammar school as the uniform and travel costs were too high for her family ☹️ She wanted to be a primary teacher (tbh she would have been great at this as she had a lovely way of dealing with children and lots of patience) but it wasn't an option from her school and although she looked into it as a mature student when I was a baby (she would have got a full grant etc) there were no family nearby to look after me. So she carried on doing basic office work when she could have done much more.
Bottled_Void@reddit
It's a general trend that for men, you get a wider spread in many attributes.
So often the smartest and dumbest person that people tend to know turn out to be men.
CarpetGripperRod@reddit
The accepted reason for this used to be that this is because males are the derivative sex and are not strictly necessary for reproduction. Sexual reproduction is relatively new on the great scale of life, and we (males) have yet to iron out some of the weirdness that comes with that novelty.
Sex was "invented", so to speak, to mix things up. Maybe male extremeness is part of the plan?
Fungi get a pass ofc. Nobody knows how those fuckers (pardon the pun) reproduce.
I'm a divinity grad, not a biologist, so, you know, who the fuck knows?
MaxieMatsubusa@reddit
That’s only at either extreme of intelligence - I doubt most people know someone who is so intelligent we have to invoke some sort of gendered statistical distribution for IQ. Most people are mentioning stuff like ‘my dad was in the gifted English class’ which gives no indication the dad is some sort of ultra genius. It’s more likely people don’t perceive their female family members as being highly intelligent.
icklebitcrazy@reddit
Sounds like Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory. It’s pretty rare. People who have HSAM apparently aren’t better at remembering other things, such as lists of words, than other people but can remember vividly each day of their own lives. Sounds like a blessing and a curse- I know there are some days I’m happy to forget!
DecompressionIllness@reddit
Most intelligent out of everybody I know that lives an average life?
I don’t want to be big headed but it’s me. My mental health struggles and poor physical health became too much. I chose to underperform for my own sanity.
CappriGirl@reddit
Honestly, the richest man I ever met had a son addicted to drugs and a wife who left him.
I worked for a long time for families in HNW situations and I don't think, beyond a certain point, money makes you necessarily happier. Being able to pay your way out of emergency situations and for any medical care you need would be great. But better to live a happy stress free life in the long term.
Intelligence does not always equal success. You can be smart in many ways.
BroldenMass@reddit
My old boss and now friend is probably the most intelligent person I know. She doesn’t flaunt it at all, but get a few drinks in her and start a conversation going about an interesting subject and she can hit you with knowledge for hours about so many subjects.
She’s got something like 3 degrees, at least one of which she got in her spare time just because it seemed interesting to her, isn’t related to her job at all.
When she was my boss we worked in animation, she ran a whole department and was incredibly knowledgeable. Unfortunately the tv industry is shit and chews up and spits people out. After that company went bust I think she’d just had enough of a shitty industry. Now she’s a registrar who does weddings and she seems really happy doing it every time I’ve spoken to her. Honestly good for her, she deserves all the happiness she can get. One of the nicest people I’ve ever met.
Adorable_Click_7071@reddit
My dad. One of the most intelligent, well read, interesting people I know. I love having conversations with him (when he’s in a good mood lol) because I always walk away feeling like I learned something new or gained a fresh perspective.
Sadly, he’s struggled immensely with mental health and addiction issues on and off, for around the last 20 years, and he went through some extreme childhood trauma that has deeply affected him.
It’s upsetting, not seeing him be who he could’ve been, but I love and adore him none the less.
Infamous_Tough_7320@reddit
Continue helping him through whatever he's going through. He's clearly a very valuable human being. Let him know he's appreciated
Adorable_Click_7071@reddit
I always do 🩷
Skibur33@reddit
My dad never passed a single exam but he’s exceptional at quizzing. Just remembers everything and it never leaves.
He’s applied tonnes and just can’t get on the shows.
apaperweightcat@reddit
My grandad was a very intelligent man, I’m sure if his family could have afforded to support him through university he could have had an amazing career, but his family weren’t very well off and he and my nan got married and had children young, so making a living would have been more important. He was quietly intelligent, he didn’t make a big deal out of it but he’d know every answer to game shows or would come out with the most insane explanation/fact about something he’d have no business knowing. He was also very content with his life, though, and so generous. He made enough to look out for his sons and grandchildren, and that was always enough for him.
His mum, my great grandma, was also crazy intelligent. She was a woman born in the 1920s, so she didn’t exactly have the resources to chase a better education or career, but much like my grandad she just retained information like a sponge. I never met my great grandfather, but apparently she was obviously smarter than he was, which he apparently didn’t like.
oblongunreal@reddit
Me. There's more to having "success" in life than intelligence.
Haxuppdee-85@reddit
My A-level maths teacher - the guy was an absolute genius. I’ve got no idea why he was teaching maths to teenagers. He was a lovely guy, very quiet - not that suited to the rowdy comprehensive secondary he worked at
Quick-Celebration-17@reddit
My brothers!!! They are so freaking smart but chose different paths. One of them use to build computers from scratch. I'm not sure if he can do that anymore.
Rh-27@reddit
You'll have to elaborate here... Building computers or assembling them at least, most early teenage PC gamers can do this.
Thalidomidas@reddit
Agreed - they'd better be making their own processors from 74HC logic chips
RubberSoldier@reddit
Chris Finch. Reads a book a week.
BadShi-6@reddit
I once had a very intelligent friend that refused to work or better themselves. It’s the worst waste of a life I’ve ever witnessed, genuinely.
He’s a really smart guy, there’s not really anything he didn’t know or couldn’t find out about. His main forte was computers and science — he was just so full of knowledge it was unreal. You could ask him anything and he’d give you full, in depth and detailed responses. He also used to build really intricate mini buildings all from just folding sheets of A4 paper in various ways, I wish I still had photos of them to share here but they were mindblowing.
All he wanted to do was smoke weed and sit in his home all the time. I used to beg him to go out into the world and use his brain fully but he never has. He’s just stayed locked away, getting high and wasting the talent. It’s devastating really.
MistressMercury@reddit
Had a friend who got joint valedictorian at university. Dude was smart and worked so hard on all of his university assignments.
He didn’t get a job out of university, he struggled a lot with his autism that was diagnosed late. He was working on publishing his Dissertation but not sure how that went. He should’ve gone and done a masters and doctorate and gone into research but no one really helped or guided him. I’m not sure what he’s doing now, we graduated 7 years ago.
We drifted because our lives just went in different directions I guess.
Sea-Still5427@reddit
Me, perhaps. When I was young there was still an expectation that a woman chose between career and family - not within my own generation, but you're raised by people with different values.
mr-ajax-helios@reddit
If the pay was better and hours reliable I would never have quit bartending even after university
ScottyDug@reddit
My mum. Dux of her school when she was younger, had the opportunity to become a British ambassador, turned it down because small village mentality said travelling like that wasn't the done thing for a young woman 60 years ago. Spent most of her life in admin/training in the NHS. Bloody good team member to have on a quiz though.
CeaselessWatcher00@reddit
My dad. He was incredibly intelligent, well read, and had a natural gift for languages (he spoke German, Greek and Arabic, all of which he picked up purely through conversation)
However he was born in the 1920s into a working class family. Narrowly failed the 11plus, left school at 14. Put himself through night school to learn shorthand and typing as he wanted to be a journalist or writer...but the war intervened, and he ended up spending the rest of his life doing unskilled/ low skilled manual work.
I'm a lawyer with an Oxbridge degree; I have no doubt that if he was born in a different time/ circumstances he would easily have surpassed anything I've achieved.
cuppateaangel@reddit
Too many to mention, it's extremely common.
I work at a university so I'm surrounded by smart people, but I also worked in lots of "crap" jobs in the past and I met just as many smart people in many of the jobs , especially the most menial jobs weirdly (the exception was an office job I worked in - nobody particularly smart there).
It's why I get frustrated when people say "we don't need so many people going to university". It's just inaccurate. University should be free and open for anyone who wants it. Education is a public good, not a privilege.
yukit866@reddit
My ex.. he was brought up middle class and did a PhD in creative writing. The best writer I have ever had the pleasure of encountering. His way with words was amazing. He helped many of his family and friends with applications for promotions, bursaries and grants, and many of them were successful.
The problem was that he was a massive narcissist and used his intelligence to manipulate people. Probably the most intelligent and also the meanest person I have ever met. We stayed friends for a few years after the relationship broke down, mostly because I was still in love with his intelligence, and I let him walk all over me in the process.
We eventually fell out for reasons I have forgotten. He could easily have gone down the academic path but after teaching at a university for a couple of semesters, he just gave up on that dream and is now working as a freelancer. My guess is that he was a terrible team player, and academia requires a lot of schmoozing, which he probably didn’t enjoy. He always felt and acted as if he thought he was more clever than everyone else around him.. and he probably was.
Frubesyting@reddit
Chris Finch. IQ of 142, one of the cleverest blokes i know.
Stevevilla1982@reddit
I went to school with a straight A GCSEs and A level girl who could have had her pick of careers. She left six form at 18 married at 19 and by the time i was still stumbling out of nightclubs in my mid twenty’s she had 3 kids. Last i heard she was working part time in a supermarket. I was never sure what her husband did but was nothing to fancy I don’t believe. For some that’s success I guess. I always wanted to be a vet but old nothing between the ears here had no chance. I would have loved just a sprinkle of her intelligence. Academics just seemed to come easy to her.
ConnorMartyn@reddit
My mate Finchy - Chris Finch. Reads a book a week. Bloody good rep.
Classic_Contract301@reddit
Old mate of mine I’ve not been in touch with for yours, two years older than me, lived on the same council estate in the Staffordshire Moorlands. Super super bright lad, took his maths O level (I was 2nd year of GCSEs) aged 14 and got a top grade. Went to college but didn’t put the work in, has been working in a Stoke theatre as a lighting tech for decades now.
Taredar@reddit
One of my mates is one of the most intelligent person I know, you can talk to him about just any topic and he would know so much, is a really fast learner and very articulate. But he's always been lazy and never bothered to go to uni, even the job he's on now (car paint warehouse logisticien) was because I got him the interview.
I've told him so many times that he could do so much better, but no the warehouse isn't far from his flat so he'd just stay there.
Cerxa@reddit
Get him to watch good will hunting, he sounds just like him
Taredar@reddit
We've known each other since year 12 and we're in our 40's now, I don't think I'll be able to Robin Williams my way through his thick skull now :)
throwaguey_@reddit
Could have adhd
Radiant-Mycologist72@reddit
I dont know how theyre doing now, but one of the smartest kids in our school left to work in an HMV as a regular clerk. I saw him there many years after still as a clerk. I have no idea what he is doing now.
Historical_Project86@reddit
One immediately springs to mind. When I was 16/17 I got a Saturday job in M&S, in the warehouse. There was a guy there who I worked alongside, who was very intelligent and explained that he was very happy in his job because it gave him hours every day to just think. Actually at that time, 1985-1986, working for M&S, especially in the warehouse, was pretty good money, so life would have been pretty good for him, especially with overtime.
BTW I wouldn't say his life "did not correspond". Straightforward intellectual ability is not a guarantee of "success" (I guess we mean money here, because it can't mean happiness as my guy was happy), indeed it often is a blocker to success. The more self-aware you are, the more likely you are to be unhappy working in a bureaucratic administration such as a company hierarchy.
Much_Leader3369@reddit
I know far more lower intelligent people that live an above average life... People that for whatever reason have managed to get into a corporate job or a career that is well paid.
I remember a very well paid UX'r that seemed to have a complex about it and started trying to extend his vocabulary using flowery words in stand up meetings to the point where nothing made sense. He must have thought now he's earning a lot, he needed to sound intelligent.
I also worked for an E-commerce director who spoke like someone from a rough pub. Mannerisms and sayings all in keeping with it.
Given post interview feedback I've had about, not sounding right for roles, or not being clear enough when presenting etc (sometimes picked apart for very little) I really wonder what path got these guys where they are. A bit pissy of me to compare my experience, I genuinely don't know how they've done it though and wish I had some of the obvious luck that they had.
Pretty typical, but I've also worked with recruiters a lot that earn huge amounts but would struggle to read a kids book. Past a certain point the correlation between earning and intelligence stops correlating. A base level is needed to get so far, past that and the rest is probably your network and luck etc.
Don_Tommasino_5687@reddit
Chris Finch. Bloody good rep and reads a book a week. Cleverest bloke I know so certainly the cleverest bloke you know.
Intelligent_Put_3606@reddit
A student I taught in the 1980s, who was unquestionably very gifted (was watching OU programmes in year 9). He achieved good grades at GCSE, but because of family background, didn't even stay on to do A-Levels. The last I heard, he was working for a chemicals company, but very unsettled mentally. I felt that it was a criminal waste of talent.
Mr_Cripter@reddit
Who says success means high achievement?
Maybe the really intelligent option is choosing a life of peace and freedom.
BG3restart@reddit
He's dead now, but it was definitely my dad. He was deserted by his parents and raised by his poor, widowed grandmother, so was the 'man of the house' from a young age, which meant missing a lot of school to earn a few eggs or a chicken by helping the farmer. After 14 he didn't go to school at all. However, he was very well read and would stay up until 3am reading. He enjoyed medicine and history, particularly anything concerning Eastern Europe and Russia, but also read reference books. He became a jeweller and repaired watches and clocks, but there wasn't anything he couldn't fix. Neighbours would bring round their TVs, vacuum cleaners and gramophones and he would go and repair their washing machines, motorcycles and their cars. I've no doubt that he should have been an engineer and, with an education, would have done great things.
_Rookwood_@reddit
I remember a girl in my A level chemistry class who seemed to breeze through the course without any issue. I was also at school with her and she was in the top set. She went onto become a nurse, probably an exceptional one but she could have easily been a very good doctor.
UnusualActive3912@reddit
Probably me. I could read at the age of 2, but the only people who want to employ me are scammers.
Allydarvel@reddit
I'm not sure of intelligence, but definitely had the best schooling etc. I once went to a marina in the west of Scotland. There was a guy in shabby, dirty overalls working on the boats. My mate knew him through his dad, so we stopped and chatted for a bit. The guy had a posh accent, and I said to my mate, unusual for someone with that type of accent to be painting boats. Mate said that he was the heir to the House of Fraser company, but he said fuck that shit, I just want to mess about with boats
BobBobBobBobBobDave@reddit
I reject the concept a bit that they were necessarily living "below average lives" , but...
In older generations, class boundaries were such a powerful thing that even very intelligent people would end up living where they were born and working an average job. When I was growing up, I knew quite a few people in my grandparents' generation (so would be over 100 now if any were alive) who were very smart, well-read, great communicators and conversationalists and the like, and they worked down mines or in factories or served in cafes or shops. There wasn't much chance to do anything else!
My grandad was a very well-read man, taught himself a lot of science and mathematics, read history, etc. and spent his whole working life at a coalface.
In modern times, I knew a few people from university who were brilliant at their subject but went on to do fairly humdrum jobs unrelated to their field because it was a life that suited them more. E. G. There were two people in my year who were considered quite brilliant mathematicians. 25 years later, one of them is a maths professor and last I heard of the other one he works in an off licence.
Allydarvel@reddit
Part of that would be the working class itself. I've seen it happen. There would be plenty of chances to actually rise above..take the 11 plus, get to grammar school and university, but their parents didn't see the value of making their kids study for the exams, or even if they got the offer, making them go to ordinary school. There's one above who's gran couldn't go to grammar as her brothers failed the exam.
unbelievablydull82@reddit
My dad, which I know sounds a bit clichéd, but he is remarkably smart. He grew up in rural Ireland in the 40s and 50s, and came to England on his own at 14 to work and make a better life. He can't read or write English very well, but he is the most insightful, sharp person I've ever met. As for the average life, well, that's tricky to say. He was a builder for 50 years, still lives on a council estate on the state pension, but he has met incredible people by just being around. He's met former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson, a few times at baptisms, knew Johnny Rotten, met the astronauts a year after they went to the moon, and saw Muhammad Ali fight in Highbury. He is a genius at living, and having incredible experiences most working class immigrants don't get to have.
Allydarvel@reddit
My mates dad had a life like that, but he did do pretty well. He was once called the most dangerous man in Ireland by a prominent bishop. Mate said growing up, he would be sitting on the knee of one of the Dubliners as they played. He knew everyone. He died last year and the President attended the funeral and took pics with the family
Balodifanio@reddit
It’s not just about being intelligent, it’s about being able to apply that knowledge under pressure, I’ve seen some of the smartest people I know do the stupidest things when pressured
anarchtea@reddit
That's just one aspect of intelligence, and is usually down to exposure and training of similar situations than anything else. Military training is a good example.
Many people, regardless of their intelligence, will do stupid things under pressure because the situation is new and to some extent the body will take over. The real question is whether they make the same mistake again (and again.)
-myeyeshaveseenyou-@reddit
I’m a pastry chef, but only because I couldn’t afford to stay in university in Ireland (very different system to the uk). I was studying civil engineering. Left secondary with highest exam results in my school. I’ve qualified for Mensa (not a member as I think it’s a bit prattish, as is anytime you discuss you own intelligence). My brains have still been useful to my career, I have generally taken over paperwork and EHO compliance in most jobs I’ve worked in. I also tend to be the person to go to to amend recipe quantities when it’s a random percentage instead of just half or double etc. I can usually out talk most of my colleagues as well in a disagreement, just because I can use words that most chefs don’t understand (not all, I’ve met a few other very intelligent ones as well) I’m not however paid anywhere close to civil engineering money and I do point this out when ever a colleague mentions my intelligence because at the end of the day we are doing the same job.
My children’s father is gifted but bombed out of his A levels by getting arrested the night before his law exam. He was invited to parliament to speak on Palestine last year, he campaigns where we live in the north. After this he was invited to be part of a task force. He declined as we live no where near London but I’ve always thought he could be a politician or something better than that. He’s worked for charity most of his life but could have been much more as he’s a literal genius.
But we are both happy for the most part.
The hope is that our children manage to get further with education that either of us did. Our oldest is also gifted but also has a chronic autoimmune disease so misses a lot of school.
Necessary_Tour_5222@reddit
Does your eldest get medical attention for his autoimmune condition? Mine ruined my life as a fellow gifted person and I spent 15 years as a vegetable
-myeyeshaveseenyou-@reddit
Her autoimmune disease is not curable. The approach to her disease is watch and wait as treatments can be pretty bad and not even guaranteed to work. She had had a decent amount of hospital stays, the main issue is than normal bug’s become very complicated for her and land her in the hospital
apple_kicks@reddit
Grandmother, smart enough to go to top universities but at that era her options were housewife
piernut@reddit
From my experience, it is always autistic people who underachieve, either due to being socially inept or just poor mental health / low self-esteem.
I work in IT support, and our L3 tech just seems to know absolutely everything about computers and can diagnose complicated issues from a description of the problem and knows the exact solution from memory. His talent is completely wasted in his £ 36k-a-year or so job. Unfortunately, he is condescending, terrible at documentation, a massive hypocrite and quite racist.
He says he hates bureaucracy, which seems to be an argument against moving on to better roles, but I think it is more his personality quirks holding him back.
Another lad I used to be friends with, a massive chain smoker, yellow teeth falling out, was in a dead-end, minimum-wage office job, but he is extraordinarily articulate while being highly technically proficient and having an encyclopaedic knowledge about all sorts of things. Not spoken to him in years, but I think he is doing alright for himself now, doing some sort of Salesforce shit.
I’m an autistic underachiever, but my intelligence pales in comparison to theirs. Which is annoying for me. I am slightly less socially inept, though.
vargmo@reddit
My aunt is a very intelligent and highly educated woman with 2 different degrees and training and experience as a professional photographer. The job she settled with for the last 15 years of her professional life? Home carer for the elderly. She said she just wanted a simple job where she could meet and chat to interesting people and she was way happier doing this job than she had been before.
It was noticable the response she got from people when she said she was a home carer without elaborating on her background. Assuming this was not job she took out of choice but necessity and many people seemed judgemental. I think she just made a mental note of those people and carried on.
She would use her knowledge to advocate for her and her colleagues when mistreated or taken advantage of by higher ups though.
gareth1229@reddit
Many!
You can consider Intelligence as just another tool. You need to consciously envision and then strategise how to use the tools around you in order to achieve something effectively.
Maybe your baker friend is contented and consciously decides to live a simple unambitious life. Or maybe he isn’t conscious at all. Or maybe something is holding him back. I would not know.
Blayd9@reddit
My grandfather for sure. He left school at 16 to join WWII. He used to make clocks completely from scratch, hand machining each cog and gear without any instruction manuals. When he got back from the war he spent most of his life working in various factories and tool workshops. He turns 100 this year!
Low-Cauliflower-5686@reddit
I have a former colleague that excels in his job and knowledge in job. Has that squeaky clean image. He loves his work but when outside the work environment it is evident the mask has holes. I suspect is on the spectrum but it's never spoke about.
Unable-Object-8469@reddit
My dad was very clever before having dementia. He could do any mathematical operation without a calculator, you could ask him anything. How much is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx times xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx? And he would do it and be correct. He had his own business and for some time we lived a very comfortable life, but I know if he had been born into another family he could have achieved more.
I'm really bad at maths. When I asked him how he could do all of that without a calculator, he said it was easy, he just saw the answer in his mind. My brother is good at maths and my daughter too, but me, I'm so bad at it.Those genes skipped a generation 🤣
Jlaw118@reddit
A guy I used to work with, we’re still really good friends but his knowledge on transport laws and legislation is phenomenal. But he seems to have knowledge on just about everything. He’s especially talented with DIY and can build absolutely anything out of pieces of wood. He’s just built himself a large workshop in his garden that’s about 150 square feet, literally single handedly.
He’s got money behind him from some old shares and inheritance but still enjoys working and his hobbies. Lives with his partner and they don’t have kids. But he does generally live a quiet, average life
Unable-Object-8469@reddit
That's amazing that he built his own workshop. I've always wanted to try woodworking, but I'm so clumsy I know I'd cut one of my fingers haha. It would be amazing to be able to make your own kitchen spoons or furniture though...
mx_sidequest0@reddit
I’ve met people like that before where after talking to them for 10 minutes you realize they’re incredibly intelligent, but life circumstances, money, mental health, or opportunities just pushed them onto a completely different path
touchmypenguinagain@reddit
The class swot and straight A student ended up pushing trollies at Morrison's for years. Unsure where he's at now as I moved away, and maybe he is content so I don't wanna knock him, but it felt like a bit of a waste considering his intelligence.
suzienewshoes@reddit
My late uncle was the cleverest person I've ever known. He had a brilliant depth of general and specific knowledge. As well, he was so, so funny. However, he wasn't ambitious in the slightest and chose to become a hospital porter because he loved the interactions he would have with people and it brought him so much joy (and vice versa, he was very well loved).
mikehippo@reddit
Famously the great philosopher Wittgenstein worked for many years as a hospital orderly at Guys hospital.
AI says that "He took this menial job out of a desire to contribute practically to the war effort and to escape the confines of academia, which he despised and considered intellectually dishonest"
Angryleghairs@reddit
Barry. Capable of anything, works part time in a pub
reddithoggscripts@reddit
I lived in a dormitory with my coworkers while teaching abroad in Taiwan. The dorm had a few of these types.
We all lived off pretty meager wages and slept on floors in teeny tiny rooms on super thin rice mattresses (although we tried to collect as many as possible and stack them to make a somewhat comfortable beds). You had to be university educated to get the job so most were just there for life experience - maybe it doesn’t fit the mold exactly but considering the conditions we were living in, it was a pretty humble existence.
There was an American/Vietnamese girl who was a med student that went to Brown University (extremely prestigious school in America). Shes a doctor now but at the time, she had the same job as I had, living off a pretty meager wage. She was quiet and shy so this stuff slowly came out about her - where she went to school, what she studied, even that she had an IG account where she posted food photography that had hundreds of thousands of followers.
There was a British guy who later became an environmental scientist. He definitely came from money but he was whip smart, insightful, kind, way too wise beyond his years, and spoke a few different languages fluently because his dad was a diplomat and his family moved around a lot as a kid. My guy could do 3 hits of acid and still speak coherently about the fall of the Roman Empire.
That dorm was full of interesting, colorful and very bright people but those two stood out as being hyper intelligent.
momwgi@reddit
I’ve met several growing up in the north. Typically, a lack of information, a low expectation environment, and alcohol/drug abuse typically stopped them from reaching their potential.
Iwentforalongwalk@reddit
My Grandma. She was a gifted painter but back in 1920s and 30s you got married and raised children. She was very happy and loved my grandpa so much but I wish she'd have had a chance to be an artist.
Used-Meaning-1468@reddit
A big, hairy, tatted, bearded biker. Looks scary, but is actually one of the kindest mental health nurses I've met. He is so intelligent and articulate. He never has a negative thing to say about anyone.
Friendly-Writing8593@reddit
went to school with an incredibly intelligent girl. she got mostly As and GCSE and was always super smart in Maths - always top of the class since primary school.
she couldve walked med school or law school. she chose midwifery, which is obviously a very noble career, but i think all our teachers were suprised. she studied at our local uni and lived at home then got married young.
none of this is to be sniffed at but she had the world at her feet.
Consistent-Pirate-23@reddit
My now deceased mate.
He was agrophobic (or however it is spelt), an incredible problem solver despite the fact his numerous meds best efforts.
Passed away a few years back, I miss his massively analytical fb messenger messages
Educational-Angle717@reddit
Theres a barman I know who has stayed in the bar game for many years and many pubs in the area but has a masters degree and is a very intelligent bloke. He could easily be an academic but instead just works in pubs well into his 40's
ChaiSlytherin@reddit
Ah it's my future lol. I have a masters degree but am stuck in coffee shops atm
Silverdodger@reddit
Free beer? Genius
Have_Other_Accounts@reddit
Knew someone in college, by far the most intelligent person I've known. He was taking further maths and getting A*.
If students asked a question to the teacher (computing A level for example) he'd literally interrupt the teacher and explain it better, but he did it so well that it didn't cause any issues, it was kinda strange. It was awkward the first couple of times I was fully expecting the teacher to lose it and shout.
Whilst everyone was talking about uni because that's what we were funneled into, he was the only one who was confident on not going (It stood out to me at the time). He just got a decent job straight away. Owned a home by like 22 whilst everyone else was in/finishing uni, or starting over in careers not related to their uni subject.
lavender_cookie_@reddit
One of my close friends. Very intelligent but very poor growing up, and has cared for his mother most of his life. He is a butcher and works really hard but I do think to myself what he could have achieved if he had a supportive family and supportive partner.
Sensitive-Vast-4979@reddit
One of my closest family members has a top 1% in but works in a corner shop , used to be a staff member at an accountancy firm but just wanted a boring calm normal life so went to work at shops
Z_odyssey@reddit
My dad's friend is a chippy and has working understanding of physics. He had emailed a professor at a top science University with a theory (cant remember what for) and the professor came back extremely interested and wanted to talk more. Unfortunately, my dad's friend decided not to pursue it any further and continued with his average life.
alfienoakes@reddit
My best friend and me.
Independent-Loan-581@reddit
Boyfriend. He has an IQ of 138. He became a person of interest at 19 landing him an unaccessible job for the average person. Now jobless and chilling.
Thelorax42@reddit
Friend of mine called Tim. Graduated third in his year at imperial college for physics (14th best uni in the world for the subject) with a staggering 93% average.
Moved back home, became a butcher in a small Irish town and died of a brain aneurysm.
RIP tim.
devildance3@reddit
The most intelligent guy I knew at school is now a stay at home dad in Sweden married to an heiress. Yes, it’s as good as it sounds.
magical_matey@reddit
Oh yeah. My friend is a maths teacher and is the smartest person I know, he’s too good for those kids. Others in my peer group have way more lucrative careers with a fraction of the brain cells. On the other hand, it’s almost a bit of a civil service giving career potential to help the upcoming youth. I’m thankful to have had a fantastic maths teacher (many years ago) who brought us actual learning, as I’m sure my friends does for his students.
shadow__boxer@reddit
Mate from school now Managing Director in a large Investment Bank - well above average life.
nibor@reddit
My stepfather was this, he was early in the computer scene in the UK and actually made some money from coding, he also ran a shop when the odds were all done on blackboards with chalk. The problem was he drank. It was not until his 50s that he was formally diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and it was recognised he'd been self medicating with alcohol since his teenagers. He was good to me though.
ScottyAlex1909@reddit
Yeah me, IQ of 142, dumb as a sack of rocks. Always seem to make the wrong decisions in life because I’m afraid to take chances
Necessary_Tour_5222@reddit
Me before medical negligence left me a vegetable for 15 years. Oh and racism.
Was hyper intelligent as a child, was reading material years beyond my age, learn violin, excelled in swimming and athletics, naturally good at advanced maths. Tested at 139 IQ when doing entry exams for grammar schools (exams I did well in but still wasn’t accepted to, while a white girl I knew scraped by and was accepted).
But alas racist white teachers (mainly white women) would bully me, a quiet well behaved pretty black girl. Leading to attempts of sabotage.
Mostly though, I developed an autoimmune disease and went from straight A student, top in my year and on multiple sports teams, with plans to do medicine at Oxford to being a vegetable for 15 years. Went to the dr when I first developed the symptoms and told him I thought it was my thyroid and that I had all the symptoms and even had symptomology as a child and he did tests and told me they were fine. Went back to drs every year saying the same thing for 15 years and for 15 years they would tell me I was fine.
Meanwhile I was extremely depressed, gained 100lbs, was abused and bullied as I looked weak and wasn’t succeeding (making female friends secretly so happy). Which resulted in a psychotic breakdown and cortisol almost 3x the normal level. Dr’s only recommendation was to go for long walks in nature.
I went to a private endocrinologist, she finally diagnosed me with autoimmune thyroiditis and I was put on medication. Brain started working and my personayhas come back in last 2 years, not in a state of dissociation.
All this to say to black women- do NOT trust drs. They are untrustworthy.
I lost my life, and while I managed to get a stem degree from a red brick uni, finishing my last year while I was already in my nervous breakdown and having some acute psychosis, I haven’t fully recovered and will probably be underemployed or unemployed for the rest of my life. I have severe ptsd and have been waiting for nhs to get me emdr as talking therapy hasn’t helped.
As you can tell, I’m bitter. Because I had so many plans for my life- not to climb ladders but I was someone who was so diligent and when interested in something, became disciplined and dedicated to it. I fully gave my 100%. I enjoyed studying and reading just for the fact. Was knowledgeable on so much.
I still want to see if i can do something, hopefully the emdr helps. Lets see.
Current_Crow_9197@reddit
I am sorry this happened to you. However, saying you were a vegetable for 15yo is very misleading in this case as one would think you were actually in a vegetative state due to medical negligence.
Necessary_Tour_5222@reddit
I get what you mean but I pretty much was in bed 18-20 hours a day (on a day I left the bed) but was in bed all day for min. 4 days a week. I went to 15 lectures my entire 1st year and was in bed for the rest of the
myheart14@reddit
My brother. So unbelievably clever and knowledgeable.
Sadly an alcoholic with MH issues and severe anxiety. Now the alcohol is damaging his brain I fear.
Makes me very sad to wonder what he could of become.
Grouchy-Split5667@reddit
It's strange, I also knew a ludicrously intelligent ex-baker. He seemed to have an encyclopedic knowledge of middle eastern history and geopolitics, among other things.
I met him while working a minimum wage production line packing job. Seems like he could have been doing a lot better.
Fabulous-Salt-1323@reddit
If he had extremely deep knowledge in pretty specific areas he could have been autistic and struggled with more demanding jobs.
Crayon_Casserole@reddit
Maybe he just liked the dough.
RepublicWarm2383@reddit
Academia ≠ intelligence
AskUK-ModTeam@reddit
A top level comment (one that is not a reply) should be a good faith and genuine attempt to answer the question.
nandos1234@reddit
My great grandfather. He wrote poems and even published a collection locally, his dad died when he was a teenager and he took over the family farm as a result. I wonder what would have happened if he had the chance to go to university or meet other writers.
ladybigsuze@reddit
My partner is really into science and maths but works in a warehouse. They were undiagnosed autistic and didn't cope well in education setting, so didn't even compete A-levels and didn't go to university.
cloudmountainio@reddit
I know a plenty of people I consider intelligent with “normal” jobs. I also know people who in my opinion aren’t that intelligent who have great qualification’s / jobs.
Also, how are we measuring intelligence? People often tell me I’m intelligent, which makes me laugh, because I’m actually pretty thick to be honest. I just happen to have easily picked up facts throughout life which help in conversation and probably gives the illusion of reasonable intelligence. I also don’t ever pretend to know more than I do on any given subject which probably helps. Nothing worse than someone harping on about something they clearly know nothing about. If I did an IQ test I’d be average at best. I actually had to have an assesment at uni for a SpLD and the report was humbling. My working memory is shocking and I have the fine motor skills of a toddler 😂
So I guess its intelligence is probably subjective?
I think lots of people find sticking to the academic path very suffocating / difficult tbh unless they have a very specific subject they’re drawn to.
Suspicious_Dealer222@reddit
My contact lens optician colleague is very smart and would have been a GP but in the 80’s when he went for an interview, he was asked “who is a Doctor in your family” in which he replied “no one”, for that reason he didnt get accepted to study to become a GP, so he settled as an optician.
SpectreSingh89@reddit
All I can think of is probably my former colleague, David Lloyd.
Subject_Feature_9833@reddit
My mate did a degree in engineering or physics or something when he was 16. I think it must’ve been space related because he was offered all kinds of jobs for space companies.
But he’s worked in a model shop for about… 15 years. He just dicks about all day making Airfix and Warhammer and has absolutely no interest in doing anything even remotely stressful.
-Rhymenocerous-@reddit
Fella called Ray I used to bump into at bowling practice on thursdays.
The guy was on another level of intelligence. Easily 125+ IQ and he worked in a pet store. Fella loved animals more than anything.
Eccentric as fuck but I liked that about him.
sputnikandstump@reddit
I know I'm biased but my boyfriend. He never vibed with school and is a facilities manager for work. He's so bright and can solve any problem in his sleep, really good mix of quick thinking and pragmatic but also great social intelligence. He defaults to thinking he's thick because that's what teachers told him for years, but it couldn't be further from the truth.
Also my Nan, who is a very talented artist and got into Chelsea as a teenager but had to go to work making Clarks shoes instead to contribute to the family. She worked on National Rail for years, then retired got bored of retirement and worked bar in a hotel. She ended up working her way up to some kind of head of personnel and made it a thing to hire care leavers and people out of prison. She's so, so bright and skilled with people.
I found school really easy and did well with academics but both of them can run circles around me with practical, people focussed intelligence. It's so underrated.
Big-Teach-769@reddit
Smartest guy I ever knew also had zero emotional intelligence, and was a bit of a narcissist and so went nowhere in life because people couldn’t stand him once he showed his true colours. But he was so clever it really took a while for people to realise. A master manipulator, but lived his life in cycles of two or three years at a time. About the time it took for people to realise he was a prick. And then he would start again. New job, new place, new friends, rinse and repeat. Very intelligent though. He could discuss any topic with any person and appear to be a master expert on any subject. Not just surface level knowledge either. He could discuss things with people that really knew their shit on a said subject and hold his own. Remarkable person really. In a messed up way.
cursed_cucumbers@reddit
I think you've just described a classic high functioning psychopath... Charm, manipulation, flat emotion, self-absorbed, easily bored
Djei_Tsial_III@reddit
My friend's older brother is fiercely intelligent in a number of topics, a talented artist and writer, taught himself Polish and German, plays guitar and mandolin. But he struggled with social anxiety and didn't leave the house for a number of years (probably how he was able to dedicate so much time to it all). Despite his intelligence and talents, I don't envy his life.
SkarbOna@reddit
When learning polish wins with going outside - it’s bad. All the best to your friend.
Lost_Garlic1657@reddit
My uncle would have made a great lawyer. He works as a security guard but his side hustle is helping people with immigration papers. The people “gift” him money or gold. I suspect that he makes more from this than his security guard income.
MojoMomma76@reddit
I know two men who are both exceptionally bright, who both ended up stacking shelves and working on tills. One was an anarchic punk who did not want to end up like his alcoholic father who was a surgeon. The other is a writer in his spare time and is probably on the spectrum and just doesn’t want to have to deal with all the social interaction.
TremorThief12@reddit
I went to high school with a guy who was a rain man with maths. Went to uni to study applied mathematics but dropped out. Last I heard he was working as a delivery driver for a catering company.
giveitsometechno@reddit
a below average life?
Blind_Warthog@reddit
Half the people alive have a below average life.
PolarLocalCallingSvc@reddit
I know a university VC who has been on UK government committees, been an advisor to the UN, WHO, WEF. He walks around town and sometimes cycles, as if he's a normal person. If you ever meet him he will offer a palm up hand shake and chat to you as long as you want.
He cares a lot about his work but he's a far cry from snobbish and will chat to anyone and everyone. Ok I've never seen him in McDonalds with a Big Mac but it's not like he has a private chef or dines out at expensive wine bars every night. He's just a normal member of the community.
CheekMaleficent3654@reddit
I know someone who works as a taxi driver has an IQ of 145 and was a multiple winner on countdown.
Loose_Avocado4670@reddit
At the top of my head....my grandad.
In his youth, if you came from a well off family, you had the chance to go to college/university, however he grew up in care so he just never had that opportunity regardless of doing really well in school, and went straight into the workforce at 15. Brick yards mostly but when I was a kid, before he retired he drove a forklift truck.
My grandad is genuinely extremely intelligent and I 100% believe that if he came from a nicer family with their heads screwed on a bit....he would've done really well academically and had an amazing career.
mist3rdragon@reddit
I play competitive TCGs as a hobby (Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic: The Gathering), and some of the people you meet at the top level of those games are incredibly intelligent, have incredible memory, creativity and pattern recognition skills, and you would never know but for them playing a game in which those attributes are valuable. It doesn't help that learning to play those games well is a massive timesink too, and even very intelligent people aren't necessarily the best at priorities in their late teens and early twenties.
h00dman@reddit
My dad was incredibly intelligent. He grew up in poverty, was lucky enough enough to be discovered as gifted by one of his teachers, and he eventually worked his way up to become a doctor.
In his spare time he would read books and papers on scientific subjects, and if he ever met someone who worked in one of those fields, he would stump them time and time again with his questions.
Unfortunately he was an alcoholic, and he was forced to retire early on account that his drinking was causing him to become a danger to himself (luckily before he became a danger to his patients), and after my mum couldn't take it anymore he moved out and pretty much rotted away for two years before dying of a heart attack.
I'm not remotely as clever as he was, and as I've gotten older I've come to realise that this made me the lucky one.
Temporary-Bread08@reddit
My mum tbh. Mental health issues have ruined her from a young age, and she wasn't able to reach her goals. Now she is not been able to work for quite some time and it is heartbreaking for me to hear her speak of wanting to do so much, but knowing how unlikely it will be as she's getting older.
Adorable_Click_7071@reddit
Awh, I just left a similar comment about my dad 💔 it hurts so much, I know how you feel.
Temporary-Bread08@reddit
😢
Ruu2D2@reddit
Lots of highest achiever i know have burnt out ( a* , a played mutiple instrument/ loads extra curriculum )
GlumAd9856@reddit
Me. I have a PhD and haven't quite reached the 40% tax bracket yet.
having_an_accident@reddit
My barber - my local bossman - is from Armenia and knows a lot about every period of history
cluelesstwonk@reddit
I have a mate whose both parents were head teachers, grew up in a house with no TV, it was books or radio. He took numerous O and A levels years early.
Has 2 degrees. - his first job after getting his 2nd degree was as cleaner in a factory until he landed his dream job - Odd jobbing at a country park.
He’s been a bin man and now works for a water company doing reports on wildlife.🤷♂️
LadyInAllPower@reddit
My lifelong friend’s brother did extremely well at school, he decided to become a maths teacher but I’m sure he could have gone on to do great things. Not just technical but he’s very insightful politically and knowledgeable of history etc too
pickindim_kmet@reddit
I'd say my great grandfather is up there. His parents absolutely made sure he went to a top, top school with all his brothers and war got in the way once he left school. One brother went to Oxford, and my great grandfather came back from war and went into the railways. Spent 40 years being promoted, drinking, demoted repeat.
It trickles down. My side are all hard working but nothing super brainy in terms of jobs. The side of his brother are all academics. I think it's just how they're brought up.
SdanoG@reddit
My dad was very intelligent really switched on and an amazing mechanic pre computerised cars…. Also he was a gifted musician which in 1959-1960 earned him £115 a week (do the math) hecwas loaded but, packed in the famous band to go fixcred buses in Liverpool
xxx654@reddit
I have a mate that is happy to live very frugally with a mentally untaxing part time job. Spends the rest of the time reading books, travelling, listening to music.
He sailed through school and uni. Got offered all sorts in academia and after. But declined it.
I think in some ways it’s stopped him from being with a partner because he’s never really had the drive but he seems happy enough.
I did tell him that it was possible to get some corporate jobs that were cushy and paid more but he has zero interest.
I do wonder how it will goes as cost of living squeeze increases though and as he heads towards retirement.
Dissidant@reddit
The most intelligent person I've ever met was a middle aged homeless electrician from London who regularly attended a community hub I used to volunteer with. We mainly did signposting to other services had a small workshop, food bank and had coffee mornings
I'm not the sharpest tool in the box but am fairly well read but the intelligence on that one was frightening, such a nice person as well, and humble, should had been some sort of public speaker (politician or something)
When I'm out and about you do see homeless people around, and can't help but wonder if he managed to sort himself out
IamNATx@reddit
Me.
My mental health issues prevented me from being able to go to college & after a breakdown whilst being in a mundane call centre job I've been unable even stick that out... progressively got worse & now physisically disabled due to my nervous system being wrecked by unsupported mental health issues/needs & even now I feel more intelligent than most people I know when I'm alive enough for my brain to work.
So embarassing when people from school / teachers would see me & ask what I was doing now & be like 'lol, nothing, my life derailed' & them being like 'WHAT?!'
Full of wasted potential due to medical negligence.
poo_on_my_scarf@reddit
My brother is a consultant doctor but is fucking retarded so there's that
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
Yes though he opted out of the rat race. He works a job that allows him to travel and enjoy hobbies. Your baker may prefer that life. I also know a person who is very intelligent but also wouldn't want or be suited to a lot of roles.
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