Today's burning question comes from Redditor CreativeBorder, who asked the online community: "Who was the smartest person you ever met? How did you know?"
Listen up. You might learn a thing or two.
"The top ranker..."
The top ranker from the university in India where I graduated. The entrance exam is by far the toughest in India, and he scored nearly full marks on it. He graduated with a CGPA that was nearly perfect, like 9.99/10. Went on graduate from Stanford with a PhD, was CTO in Vudu etc.
I have never seen such a quick mind. One the one hand he could do complex calculations in his head. On the other abstract concepts in math and physics would come so easily to him. In national level crossword puzzles he would be streets ahead of the rest of the competition.
And also a very very nice person.
"Would add another guy..."
Would add another guy from the same college, just a few ranks down the topper. He was so down to earth and funny in the four years I knew him I never realized he was one of the few gold medalists at the IMO from India, at a time where there was little or no training. He has now made Non-commutative Geometry his prime field of interest, and was with ETH Zurich for a while.
"Debate assistant coach..."
Debate assistant coach at my college. He was one of the best in his years debating, winning the Canadian National Championships. He had a way in speaking that was so damn concise but well obvious that he was extremely competent in what he spoke on.
I thought he was just your standard assistant coach until after our first tournament, where many students were approaching him as a celebrity and praising him.
It was almost intimidating to be around him as it felt that there was nothing you could say to him of value. He was one of the nicest people you could ever meet however and probably inspired me to continue debating until he passed away the following year.
"I don't know..."
I don't know the details like if he graduated early or whatever but in college a high school senior was in my Calculus III class. A little bit into the first class we noticed he wasn't taking notes, the professor even asked him if he needed a pen or something. He was a goofy awkward kid but kind of endearing, he said he didn't need to take notes and we all kind of laughed a little, the professor said well okay but I really suggest you take notes and continued the class. This kid never took notes, didn't even bring a notebook to class, but got 100% on every assignment and test.
I swear you could see him just absorbing the information, he would sit there fidgeting with his hands working things out. The professor would give us a problem on the board expecting us to take some time to work it out, the kid would stare at the board for thirty seconds, raise his hand and have the correct answer. The first few classes it was kind of annoying but then it became just impressive. I sometimes wonder where that he is now.
"A classmate..."
A classmate of mine makes links between ideas and texts and disciplines astonishingly quickly. We'll be in a tutorial and while I'm struggling to even get my head around the basic material she's asking questions which are PhD worthy according to the lecturer. Also she can break down complex ideas into tiny understandable parts for the rest of us average people.
"The best part..."
GiphyA friend of mine I met when I was his manager and he was a delivery driver. He was just there to put himself through school.
He was one of those computer nerds that just loved everything about computers as soon as he encountered one as a kid. He learned all the computer languages he could get a hold of. None of those "For Dummies" books. He was farrr beyond competent by the time he graduated high school and was obviously looking towards a career in the field. Even though he had the knowledge, no one was going to look at him without some sort of degree thus, the delivering pizzas to get through school thing.
As soon as he had the paper, he was snapped up by a relatively local company and went to work designing software technologies. He's since worked for various companies and makes a very comfortable living.
The computer bit isn't even the thing that makes him smart. I know a lot of incredibly smart people, including two legit geniuses. This guy just has a way of grasping what you say on an intuitive level pretty much as soon as you say it. This is the kind of guy who will never tell you he's got a high IQ or even bring it up. He doesn't have to. You couldn't talk with him for but a few sentences before it's obvious.
The best part is that he's also quite socially adept and hilarious in conversation; none of that "awkward genius" routine.
"Classmate in law school..."
Classmate in law school. Had a PhD in science with kids from great school. Got highest exam on bar, highest grades in law school. He was a very sweet person. The way he answered questions it was entirely obvious he was an absolute genius. He respectfully answered questions without coming across as a know it all. Everyone annoys me but this guy was an angel (a term one of his employers (my older cousin) used). Smart guy started a law firm and is kicking butt.
"Not bad..."
Not much compared to others, but two of my friends are really smart. One of them got a masters from Oxford University in advanced mathematics - they contacted him to offer him a place. He's a wealth management consultant in London now and married to a consultant anaethesiologist. Another friend was a chief financial officer for a bespoke holiday company at the age of 26. Super smart. I knew he would be successful when he memorised every special move for every character on Tekken as a kid and was unbeatable.
Not bad considering we're from a small rural town.
"Grew up in poverty..."
My dad. Grew up in poverty, won scholarships to top universities, studied engineering. So intelligent that he dreamed in mathematical equations. But so kind that everyone loved to be around him and most had no idea of the scope of his intellectual and professional accomplishments. He died two weeks ago unexpectedly. The literal international outpouring from his colleagues and childhood friends was astounding. I will miss him for my whole life.
"Sounds cheesy but..."
Sounds cheesy but my father. Used to hold the world record for the most top grades ever received (in the 80s Britains education system is different now) and once won all the subject prizes apart from one (at his school there were prizes for the person who received the top mark in each subject and the only one he didn't win was geography) and went to a top exclusive grammar school. Then went on to be awarded a full scholarship to Cambridge (the joint best university in the UK with Oxford) and got a job in a pretty high bank as soon as he graduated. However socially he is extremely awkward and was recently diagnosed as autistic which explains a lot of his personality as if it wasn't for my mother and his hobby of playing chess (which my mum pushed him to join a club) he wouldn't have any friends however my mum makes up for it.
"He dropped out..."
GiphyMy grandpa. He dropped out of high school when he was 17 and was very much a basic blue collar man, but my god he was smart. I was struggling with a trig problem once when I was in high school and he just picked up the book, read the example instructions and solved the problem for me in 10 minutes and explained it to me. He also solved 100 levels of Unblock me in like an hour when I showed him the game for the first time. I always wondered what he could have done if he'd had the support when he was younger to go college.
"If years from now..."
My uncle. He's 'Good Will Hunting' smart. Never went to college but can solve any puzzle, work any math you place before him, fix cars, and has excellent recall. And with coke bottle glasses even in his 70s can shoot a bottle cap off a fence post with a 22 pistol from 50 yards away--first shot every time.
If years from now we find out he was some kind of CIA assassin I'd believe it. His intelligence is terrifying.
"By far the most intellectually capable..."
I had a 3rd grade student I was assigned to work with for 2 week's, but it turned into a 2 month job.
Kid was diagnosed with autism, and it was pretty severe and he had some strong paranoia and sensory issues that were never resolved because mom refused all forms of help. He would throw things if he got something wrong, anytime someone was laughing he thought it was about him, and he chopped his food up as much as possible because his preferred way of eating was for things to essentially be blended.
He also read at a high school level, was able to master any mathematic concepts taught to him (I think we got up to algebra and somewhat difficult geometry in my time with him, I'm no math whiz), extremely intuitive with languages and broke apart words into their smaller pieces based off of instruct (loved Latin for this reason), crushed any video game you put in front of him, and had absolute perfect pitch.
By far the most intellectually capable person I've ever met. I haven't seen him in years and I really hope the system/his mom came to understand his potential.
"Went to Harvard..."
My dad. Went to Harvard from a small farming town of 200 people, read more books about more topics than I could ever count, resume four pages long, but never, EVER treated a person like they were dumb or that he was better than them.
Could teach anything to any person of age and have them understand it without being condescending in the slightest. That's what made him smarter than anyone I had ever met.
"One of my best friends..."
One of my best friends who recently committed suicide. Brilliant interventional radiologist, trained at Johns Hopkins, good at EVERYTHING he tried! Memorized the lyrics to thousands of songs and quotes from hundreds of movies. Taught himself guitar and drums. Knew all there was to know about fishing and marine life. Amazing focus and observation skills. Also loved to party and enjoy life. I will miss him dearly.
"When I was treated..."
When I was treated for ALL at MUSC, I had a whole team of doctors. It was funny how many of the top doctors seemed to come from India though. My top doctor was also from India. The way I knew he was smart was because he was friendly, inquisitive, and I watched him get interviewed on 20/20 while I was being treated by him. He was apparently leading the fight against childhood leukemia.
Then I had a younger roommate 15 years later. He was also Indian. I knew he was intelligent because he lived with me in a very low income house in order to pursue his interests (robotics and tech) instead of his parents interests. (law and medicine) He had lots of friends, but chose to invest most of his time in projects he was working on and only allowed himself to go out and let lose about once a month. The best criticism he gave was that I reward myself too easily. Well he got invited into a tech group on the big island which he was a part of for a year and a half and last I heard he was moving to LA to pursue another group. He is in his early 20's and doing the wanderlust, finding himself thing, but on his own terms. What I mean is that popularity, money, his parents ambition, none of things have distracted him from his own goals which seem to be finding interesting possibilities in robotics and science and then following them as they impact the world in order to find out what he wants to do in a longer term sense. To me this was genius on a whole new level and though he's probably to busy these days to even remember me, I am certain that he will have an impact on our quality of life in some future sense.
"He was an artist, he was a surgeon..."
My grandfather. He had 4 doctorates and knew 10 languages (including Latin, could speak it fluently and knew all plants by their Latin names which today baffles me). He was an artist, he was a surgeon, a biologist and a mathematician. He did a test for intelligence when he was in his 60s and still today holds the record, of getting 98%. This test allows you to double your annual income ad a doctor if you get 50%. Which people study for 6months to a year for. (He didn't need to study and signed up spontaneously) I cant remember what the test is called but he literally won an apartment in a London high-tower for his score. Anyway enough bragging. I cant imagine having this kind of intelligence, you would feel so alone, no one to connect with. He would always say these things. Most people you meet are idiots about 1% are worth your while. Swimming is the best exercise, the government doesn't give a shit about you, and the banks and Mark's run the world. Always learn new things. Knowledge is the only thing they can't take away from you. And banks start all the wars. He also threw a clog at me when I was 9. I'm still confused if I like him or not. He passed in 2008, and donated his body to science, we only got his body back last year and he was cremated and his ashes lay with the native flowers of Belgium where he was born and raised.
"Many people my age..."
Many people my age just make decisions based on what comes their way, what inspires them, what they are feeling at the moment.
This fellow was in a similar situation as I, but made a career switch earlier than I. He was way ahead of his time, and even though we're the same age, he started his career switching course 5 years before I did.
I still think he's the smartest person I know. He plans ahead. He's human like us all and circumstances brought him to where we were 5 years ago, but he was able to decisively do the right thing while I took many years more to do the same thing. And I do consider myself smart as well.
His talk is full of wisdom and the reason why he's the samrtest person I know is because the second smartest person I know is mainly book-smart, but cannot interact with people, cannot plan his career, just good with grades and his ego affects him.
"This guy..."
This guy a couple grades above me. He was always known for being smart, but this story made me think he was a genius. He had gotten into a pretty bad car wreck and he was in a fugue state for a while. He missed a lot of school and about 6 units in AP Biology. He shows back up on the day of a test. The teacher says he doesn't have to take it, but he does anyways. This guy realizes he studied for the wrong unit, finishes the test, and gets the highest grade in the class. He would also take AP exams for classes our school didn't have and passed them. Dude's a genius.
"Valedictorian of my HS class..."
Valedictorian of my HS class was a legit whiz at everything. Everybody was wondering what he'd eventually go into... equally good at math, science, literature, social science, maybe a slight edge on math. Ended up being a math professor at a PhD at a big university. I'm proud that I can just manage to explain he did his dissertation about injecting chaos into hard problems and making them more solvable. Soluble. Whatever.
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Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.