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Smack dab average, honestly. Within my carreer and special interests I’m knowledgeable, and I speak three (four if you’re generous) languages, i’ve learnt complex skills by myself as well, but give me anything numerical and I will choke. I’m also horrible at reading the room or social cues. I’ve also done some real stupid decisions before out of pride/stubbornness, and if that ain’t stupid I dunno what is.
I always felt I was “smarter than the average bear” (I think I just dated myself), but I had no solid evidence growing up, besides my mother insisting that I was very smart for my age. I almost skipped 2 grades in elementary school because I was reading adult books before I even started school, and I could write just as well. But my math knowledge was just average, so they didn’t want me to get behind if I missed a couple grades.
Despite this, I was a solidly C+/B- student for most of my schooling. I aced the tests placed in front of me, but I hated homework, so I just didn’t do it most of the time. I understood the material the first time it was presented to me; I didn’t understand why I needed to continually go over it in my free time. It felt like a waste of time. Plus, I had a hard time learning from the teachers. I did much better if I just read the textbook on my own, rather than sitting through a lecture.
In high school, I was failing a few classes. My mother thought I considered myself stupid and was afraid it was wrecking my confidence. Apparently, when she was a kid, she also thought she was stupid. She was failing a bunch of classes, while her eldest sister was getting straight-A’s. She got her IQ tested and found out she was actually the smartest of all her siblings - her eldest sister actually had the lowest IQ in their family!
So my mother made it her personal mission to prove I was smart. After all, you’re supposed to inherit your intellect from your mother, and my mom had a genius IQ. She hired a psychologist to give me an official IQ test, and to no one’s surprise, I tested in the genius range too. So I finally received validation that I was smart.
It didn’t fix my grades, though. It turns out, I was getting poor grades because A.) I refused to do homework, which lost me half my grade points alone, and B.) I was bored in class and didn’t really pay attention. I would find out 20 years later that I have ADHD, which is why I couldn’t pay attention in class. I have very poor auditory learning skills; when people talk to me, my brain shuts off. So lectures were the absolute death of me.
I joined the US Air Force right after high school, and unfortunately, the military requires you to blindly obey orders and not think too hard about things. Everything is dumbed down so the mission can be accomplished, even in the most stressful of scenarios. The Air Force has the strictest tests to qualify for service, and we tend to have the highest intelligent people in the armed services, but it was still a drag. I spent too many years trying to argue logic and reason with my superiors and coworkers, which fell on deaf ears. So I eventually got complacent and started doing the bare minimum to accomplish the mission and get through my days. By the end of my 2 decades of service, I feel like my brain has been through the blender and I feel much dumber than I used to be. Could also be some added PTSD, too.
Now I’m retired at a young age and living a quiet, relaxing life out in the countryside. I’m not too concerned anymore about being smart or dumb, just as long as I can live in peace.
Are you trying to make you home servers accessible to the wider public, or just accessible to yourself/family/friends?
If it’s the later, running a wireguard VPN server on a publically accessible, cheap VPS with your home servers and connecting devices as “clients” works well. I’m in a similar situation as you and did so to access my home automation and media servers from “the outside”.
I was tested as a kid with a 140 IQ but did my best to get that down to average levels with pot as a teenager. Every report card “… has a lot of potential if they applied themself.”
Sadly, I didn’t cure cancer. I got really into cooking and then computers, slowly realizing that while I might be smart on those tests, I am not really emotionally intelligent or particularly good at getting my crap together to make things happen.
Life kind of carried me along. I did lots of cool stuff but made major life decisions on a whim.
Everything changed when I met my wife (we weren’t married before I met her, that happened later) and combined my abilities with hers. I finally feel like I have a place in the world and know what I’m going to be doing a week, month, or year from now with some certainty. Feels good.
Anyone who says their smart overestimates themselves. Anyone who says their dumb underestimates themselves. How does anyone even answer this question?
I think it’s possible for someone to know that they are generally pretty smart or not very smart without over or under estimating. A lot of people will over or under estimate but if you’re just looking for a rough placement in a third of the bell curve, there’s a lot of feedback in everyday life to help.
Pedants who choose to make big deals over minor issues are always out to prove something and are objectively not smart.
Some people sincerely have trouble adapting to different precisions of language in different situations. I know some very smart and successful people with autism who struggle with this. It can be super annoying when they are way too pedantic for the context but I don’t think being deficient in this one area makes them dumb.
Their smart what?
Dude’s nouning an adjective. That’s a smart person move, and dude does it twice.
Exactly my point. Proficiency in language isn’t that important and pointing out minor mistakes knowing full well you understood what was intended is a combative and pedantic attitude. It serves no purpose other than to elevate yourself and try to make others feel dumber.
The language did its job in portraying information. Not everything needs to be made by an english PHD. Especially not in the world of internet comments.
I won’t guess where I am on any spectrum but from hiring and working with many people over many years, there certainly is a range. One thing I noticed is that about one person in twenty has a overall intelligence that just ‘gets it’ for lack of better word. They might be really good in one profession but can see how everything fits together. These are the guys that can be two or three times as productive as you average guy and generally they have the right answer. They typically know it as well.
Edit up top: you lose points for the wrong they’re. I didn’t even notice it until now, so I also lose points.
Fair enough answer, but plenty of ways. That’s the point of the question. To hear people’s answers. Their creativity.
If you win the Nobel prize, you should reasonably be able to say you are really smart.
If you voted for Trump, you should reasonably be able to say that you are really dumb.
Additionally, lots of people know Dunning-Kruger about how dumb people overestimate themselves, but that has another part: smart people underestimate themselves.
I’m smart. I work a smart person job with a lot of really smart people, which makes me feel not smart at times because a lot of my coworkers are smarter than me. I’m also insane though.
Imposter syndrome was a real problem for me.
One of the things that really helped with that for me was when a colleague I really respected confided in me about their imposter syndrome.
Sounds like something a smart person would say.
I think Socrates would say “Why are you asking the question in the first place?”
That’s what they want you to think.
If they come out and say “I am very smart” everyone will make fun of them.
Eh. That probably means you’re right.
I am really smart. I am really dumb. I am average.
(smart + dumb) / 2 = average
Dumb. Pretty dumb.
First, I often don’t get jokes and sarcasm (/j and /s are here for me)
But most importantly, I don’t know anything. I don’t even know how to start learning any subject. There’s so much information out there, and I know basically nothing. I can’t even program, which everyone seems to be able to do.There’s so much I’d like to get into, but where do I even start with each thing?
I’ll try to list some things. Sorry if they’ll sound stupid, I am stupid.:
I’d like to better understand GNU+Linux. Get into networking. Currently that’s only partially satisfied via CCNA courses provided by school, but Cisco != networking. Programming. C++ looks like a nice option. Learn Morse code. Currently I am doing that via cracked MorseMania app. Get some understanding in computer security by which I mean pen-testing area, and not by using existing scripts. RF electronics. Wouldn’t it be cool to design my own RF filters, upconverters, downconverters, amplifiers, etc.? Antenna modeling. I don’t want to remain stuck with a dipole forever. Learn using GNURadio. At least graphically using GRC, but C++ would be useful here. Digital Signal Processing. No idea where to start with that. I’d also love to actually understand various modern digital modulation techniques, not just acknowledge their existence. Math. For almost all of the above (and more) I need some better background in math. It should be easier if I could see the actual real world use cases.But I have no idea where to start with anything. And lastly, there’s the constraints of time. (And my smooth brain, of course.)
And lastly, social anxiety. I am afraid to speak with people my age. Especially women 💀. But, let’s be honest, that definitely saved me from embarrassing scenarios a lot of times.
For specialty interests, pick one at a time.
Start by picking up an intro book on the topic and reading it.
Ideally then find a community that discusses that topic and start researching the questions people ask and try to formulate answers.
This will both have you learn piggybacking on others’ curiosity, as well as invoke Cunningham’s Law for anything you get wrong in your answers.
As you immerse yourself, you might pick up other books or things you’ll want to read to understand more too.
After a little while, you’ll be much more well versed in the topic.
I’m either the dumbest smart person or the smartest dumb person. Depends on the day. Lol
I’d say I’m kinda smart sometimes, but kinda dumb sometimes. Supposedly I’m above average but I think it’s a wash.
A little above average.
An IQ test a psychiatrist gave me when I was a kid said I was just shy of a couple standard deviations outside the norm, one day I saw it in my parents’ filing cabinet.
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I’m hoping this is a joke or troll.
There are people that smart, but they should be smart enough to know that IQ is not for the super intelligent or the super un-intelligent.
It seems most likely that I’m average, just like you.
I’m smart enough to know that there’s a lot I don’t know, and I took enough psychology classes to know that IQ tests are basically made-up nonsense. Comparing your intelligence to others is a losing battle and a waste of time.
Could not agree more. I tested high as a kid but never took it to heart. A quick trip to the library (long time ago) showed how deeply flawed they are.
I am objectively quicker at some things than many people but I’m often humbled as soon as I step outside the areas I have specific knowledge in.
