We independently assess all our recommendations. Purchases through our links may earn us a commission.
The internet is home to a lot of smart people. There are a lot of legitimately skilled and knowledgeable folks you can meet out there on the web. All you need to do is hop on any social media platform and do a quick search to find professionals, experts, and academics.
Personally, I do that a lot. It’s always interesting to hear other perspectives and collect ideas that might make for a good article in the future.
Most of the time, you’ll be able to come across at least one person who’s legit and has a solid following to back up their credentials.
And then there’s the people who think they’re experts, like this guy here:
It’s equal parts funny and infuriating to see someone mansplain to a woman with more expertise on a topic than them. I’d know. I had a lovely conversation with a female psychologist on Discord but neither of us had the foresight to know that a rando would butt in with an opinion on how ADHD in women doesn’t exist.
It was almost as if he would know better.
Before I give myself another headache from remembering that exchange, let’s dive in on this list of posts that belong on r/IAmVerySmart. Who knows? Maybe one of them is a mansplainer.
This Facebook Philosopher
Okay, let’s dumb things down a little before this Facebook user’s sheer genius scares us all off. Neo-dadaism, sometimes shortened to neo-dada, is a countermovement to Dadaism, an art style and philosophy that believed in the lack of meaning in the world and irreverence for existing cultural icons and symbols. In short, neo-dadaism is all about that sweet, sweet existential meaning.
Maybe that’s why this user was thinking of Neo-dadaism? I wouldn’t know. I have no thoughts, only chocolate chip ice cream.
A Quora User Who Hasn’t Touched Grass in Ages
I’m not going to assume you had the same experience, but when I was in college the smartest people I knew spent their weekends getting absolutely wasted. While all that alcohol does have negative neurological effects, none of it seemed to make them lose IQ points. Probably because they had the smarts to not have to study 24/7.
Gifted student, wherever you are, it is okay to go outside and touch grass. I promise your books won’t spontaneously combust while you’re out. Besides, agreeableness helps you build connections with other people which can help you get your foot in the door in an industry, snag a promotion, or, at the very least, not be met with resistance when you try to achieve your goals.
For now, our dear Quora user will have to settle for being featured in this r/IAmVerySmart piece.
I Want This Kid To Finish My Law Degree for Me
I am not joking. If this kid is even half as smart as he claims to be, then he’s smarter than me. We’re talking an average IQ of 130. That’s child prodigy territory right there.
Plus, if he can monologue about Shakespeare, then he probably has a sharp memory. You know what requires a sharp memory? Law school. I don’t have that, not anymore. I drank my memory into non-existence back in college. If he’s the creative type, he may want a career as a theatre actor.
Kid, wherever you are, hit me up. I need your help.
A YouTube Commenter Who Hates the Natural Changes of a Language
It’s not just them either, there are another 286 people who are just too r/IAmVerySmart for internet vernacular.
Crash Course Linguistics does a great job of explaining why there’s literally no need to be this hostile about words. Simply put, words and entire languages are arbitrary. They are only true and correct for as long as the majority of people agree that they refer to a certain action, idea, or object. That means if millions of “idiots” on the internet agree that lit, hype, and lowkey mean what they mean, then there’s little Mx. Genius can do about it.
But would actual experts on sociology and linguistics have anything bad to say about it? Probably not. In my experience, they’re more likely to be fascinated.
Yes, Garbage Disposal Services, the Whole Elitist
Maybe this next person is smarter than me because I had to look up what 19 Crimes is. Apparently, it’s a wine brand with a criminal theme. Let me know down in the comments what wine would pair well with the saltiness of this Facebook comment.
This r/IAmVerySmart aspirant claims to have an extremely high IQ, but apparently not enough to understand that people can be multi-dimensional and like things that they don’t. And speaking of “Cash Me Ousside Girl,” her name is Danielle Bregoli a.k.a. Bhad Babie. She had the good sense to leverage her virality into a full-blown music career, turning her life around from a problematic teen to a charismatic young artist.
I don’t know about you, but that kind of business acumen and character development says real intelligence to me.
Bruh, Do You Even MBTI?
This is another entry that needs a bit of explanation, but I promise that I’m not patronizing you. The Tumblr post above refers to the Myers-Briggs Personality Test, a model of personality that sorts people into 16 different personality types. The popular 16 Personalities version of the test sorts these 16 personalities through binary choices between:
- Introversion – Extroversion
- Intuition – Sensing
- Thinking – Feeling
- Judging – Perceiving.
But there’s something dashing-dank-and-dapper is forgetting: It only measures preferences for making value judgements and seeing the world. It has nothing to do with your actual emotional resiliency or intelligence. If it did, my INTJ self wouldn’t ask a random kid on the internet to finish my law degree for me.
So, uh, maybe see a mental health professional if you fear showing emotions around people that much. Excessive paranoia may be a sign of underlying mental health issues.
A Genius Who Doesn’t Understand Human Interaction
Here’s an r/IAmVerySmart person that wasn’t smart enough to figure out how basic social exchanges work. Most people don’t like talking about their deepest, darkest problems and closely held hopes in a cursory interaction. Hate to break it to you, but having non-existent social awareness doesn’t make you a genius.
This One Speaks For Itself
The modern day stoics over at r/Stoicism understand the value of civic duty and I’d wager not causing harm to others is part of that. Stoicism calls upon its followers to fulfill their responsibilities, including civic ones. If there is a stoic take on the pandemic you should read, it’s this touching Reddit post by u/Stoicdadman, a modern stoic living his philosophy. The latest activity on his account is a comment posted a couple days prior to when this article was written, so don’t worry, he’s doing fine.
If you’re looking to gain a few extra IQ points without the r/IAmVerySmart level of cringe, check out these classic retro games that make getting smarter a fun pastime.
