(no subject)

[alicevangeline]

I was thinking about how, culturally, being smart is a good thing - although there are some folks who do not value education. I mean, we call it gifted and/or talented.

However, humility is also a good thing --  we are not better than anyone else, and have as much value as our fellow humans. 

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So I have a problem with admitting that I'm 'smart', and occasionally I recognize that other folks aren't grasping stuff the way I would, and my whole psychology does a little dance about 'we all have different strengths and weaknesses, maybe you have more experience with this topic.' 

And the only reason I'm saying it semi-out-loud is that you might have this issue and probably more than I do, reader :).
 
I'll be real here:  I am not smarter than you, and I'm not better than anyone, but there are people I am smarter than.
Honestly, being smart might be factual information, but I was raised to somehow not give myself compliments? 

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Anyway. What does it even mean?  Is it 'can solve crosswords in 10 minutes' or program videogames ..... or here's my big Wonder that made me go on here -  know that meme that's like 'hey gifted kids of the 80s, how's your AuDHD doing?'  I think it's maybe getting things mixed up.    I'd like to look up the differences between 'academically talented' or whatever the appropriate term is, and AuDHD .

Comments

[replyhazy]

The thing about being one of the smartest in the room about a particular subject is how much resentment it breeds. Take a team game of trivia. If you know all the answers in History, then you're the History person, hey that's great, you got our backs in History! But if you know ALL or MOST OF the answers in all the categories... you're some kinda KNOW IT ALL, who do you think you are? In other words, you are exhibiting NONTEAM behavior! How dare you.

Years ago, B and I were at a holiday gathering with his extended family. Few of them were college grads, mostly tradespeople who are big sports fans. All small town folks.

They decided we should play Trivial Pursuit in teams of two. Because B and I were the new cute couple, they put us together. They got out the game.

It was Trivial Pursuit Junior, Disney edition. We were shocked when we heard the questions. "What are the Gobi, the Sahara, and the Kalahari?" "Who let down her hair so she could be visited in the tower?" Like that. We thought, oh this will be a brief game!

No. They didn't know anything. I mean, yeah, they had sports locked up pretty well, and they knew Disney movies, but that was IT. "Name the longest river in the world." Nope. "How many planets in the Solar System?" Nope. And meanwhile B and I just keep answering and answering and going further and further. It was EMBARRASSING. So without any conversation between us... we started to throw questions. We'd get one or two right and then one wrong. We were almost to the end and I was desperate for one of them to win. "What's the name of Mickey's dog?" I looked at B... "well, it's Goofy or Pluto, which one, I always get their names mixed up..." and B hesitated, and said: "Goofy!" That wrong answer cost us the game and I was so relieved. One of the women even said, "see, now once you have kids, you'll know all the Disney stuff!" Yikes.

We didn't really play games with them again.

[alicevangeline]

Yes! Exactly! I forget that there are people who don’t actually know how many planets in the solar system, Pluto notwithstanding. I guess it’s a privilege to know things, but also not, because you have to, like, actively manage how much you reveal to avoid resentment?

And also it’s not polite to talk about it unless you’re teasing the smartasses.

I like the challenging Stealth Game you invented ….

Idk. I just forget other people have different operating systems from mine and then I meet someone whose does run like mine and it’s an Aha moment