People Explain How The Smartest Person From School Turned Out
Reddit user After_Crab_1921 asked: 'What happened to the smartest kid in your class?'
Every high school had the popular girl, the favorite jock, the weird kid, and the smart kid. Whether or not they were the weirdest or the smartest, the population always seems to come to an agreement about who should carry the title.
But sometimes what the smartest kid in school winds up doing with their life isn't what everyone might have expected.
Or, they might excel beyond even their peers' wildest dreams.
Redditor After_Crab_1921 asked:
"What happened to the smartest kid in your class?"
That Darn Mind-Gut Connection
"He got sick with a rare stomach disease and isn't doing too well."
- VoxMendax
"So, ironically, the smartest kid in our class was me (the bar was low) and my sisters and I all have a rare stomach thing."
"I presented first, got the shish-kabob treatment, and had a very sucky five years. Then it stopped, right around the time my older sisters started dealing with it."
"It will rear its head every few years for a month or just a weekend but overall I’m completely unaffected now (either that or my ability to adjust to a baseline is way op) but my sisters both deal with it daily."
"Their symptoms are less than I went through but have stuck around longer, I figure I speedran it on hard mode."
- Mimovich
"The stomach is closely tied to the brain. (Believe it or not)."
"Kids who underperform or overperform are often under extreme stress at home, and as a result are more likely to develop diseases related to the gut."
"It's a weird thing that has actual scientific studies going into it."
- Character_Tower_3893
Going Above and Beyond
"I believe he works for NASA."
"He deleted his Facebook a while ago (like the smartest kid in our class would do), but that’s what he was doing last I checked."
- gingeritis90
Double the Smarts
"There were two. They were twins."
"They're both geneticists now with PHDs, and they work at the same university."
- iARTthere4iam
It's Not Rocket... Oh, Wait.
"The smartest guy from my high school became an actual rocket scientist."
- TheKaptinKirk
Invented Themselves
"The smartest kid in my school was really popular and was one of my closest friends."
"But when he graduated he left everyone and everything behind, including his family. He even changed his name."
"I found out this little bit of information because a friend went to an academic conference and showed me a group photo and he was in it."
"I exclaimed, 'That’s my friend Pascal!' He kept his first name but his last name was an anagram of his original name."
- whittlingcanbefatal
"I knew a guy who did this! He was one of my best friends' older brothers. He got a degree in German and moved to South Korea for a little while."
"Next thing we knew, he had moved back to his native state but to a small town and had taken on a whole new persona. Different name and all. Apparently, he spoke with a German accent in his new life."
"We met a guy who only knew him as the new version. That conversation was wild."
- Zebulon_V
Too Tragic to Imagine
"He got a full ride to Harvard."
"He did an internship his first summer at Intel and was killed by a drunk driver a few weeks after arriving in California."
"I f**king couldn’t believe it when it happened 25 years ago. I still can’t really."
- bg-j38
Successful Careers
"There are two. I remember one of them crying when they got an A- on a test in seventh grade."
"One of them (the one who cried) is an executive in a Fortune 500 company. Nothing special but making a lot of money."
"The other one is a brain surgeon."
- iamacannibal
Important Medical Research
"She worked at John’s Hopkins doing research with Psilocybin for treating mental health conditions."
- ActorMonkey
Making Big Moves
"He moved to Poland and became a Molecular Biologist."
- AJCleary
Happy Ending for the Gamer
"He went to MIT, works for Apple, and has a very expensive home in California. He also has a wife and four kids and seems to be very happy."
"I remember he was programming games in high school and was valedictorian."
"A big nerd who became a wealthy big nerd."
- BullHorn100
A Unique Trajectory
"My best friend (at the time; we drifted apart and speak only rarely now). He got a Ph.D. at Harvard, studied science in Antarctica, and now teaches at an Ivy League university."
- TriTri14
Eternally Confident
"He's a superstar pediatric neurosurgeon."
"He's also the most confident person I’ve ever met. (Guess you’d have to be, to cut open a little kid’s skull and operate on their brain.)"
- Rainpickle
"I saw some interview during a documentary when a surgeon said something to the effect of, 'Yeah, I come off arrogant at times, but do you want a surgeon who’s not extremely confident in their abilities?'"
- followedbyferrets
"The gift is self-awareness here. I’d trust him with my life."
- Hormone_Monster69
"Yep. There's an infinite difference between narcissism and actual confidence."
- adamjfish
Going Down Different Paths
"I had such a big crush on her and told her."
"We dated, and then she moved across the country to study and is now a Doctor."
"I'm so proud of her even though our lives changed paths."
- No-Plantain8212
An Honest and Kind Life
"He dropped out of college to marry and support the much younger woman he got pregnant (he was 23 and she was 18, but he clearly loved her)."
"Now (30 years later), he owns a boardgame store with a large back room for mini painting classes and games, and he plays dad to half the neurodivergent kids in town."
"He's still married to the same woman, too."
"It's not a high-flying life, but he makes a difference to so many people."
- Yinnesha
Best Friends Forever
"He just accepted a full professorship at a big university in the States. He's a particle physicist."
"He's also my bestie."
- wscuraiii
While the nerds and the smart kids often get a bad rap during middle school and high school, it's wonderful to see how being true to their minds and their passions could truly pay off in the end.
I love knowledge.
And I've always been envious of those that have it in spades.
I can't watch Jeopardy because it makes me sad.
Yet I love learning about all of the facts.
I've been told that power, much like ultimate wealth, apparently comes with a cost.
Make me believe it...
Redditor GoodDepthwanted to discuss the more somber life details about intelligence. They asked:
"What is the sad truth about smart people?"
I want an IQ of 180. But all the studying in the world won't get me there. Sadly... tell me about being brilliant!
Lost
The One Where Estelle Dies Episode 15 GIF by FriendsGiphy“Intelligence is like four-wheel drive. It just lets you get lost in more remote places.' — Garrison Keillor"
No-Faithlessness5311
Mastery
"The smarter you get, the more you realise you don't know."
Crafty-Ambassador779
"I've noticed there's something weird with this, though. If someone hits a certain level of mastery in one area, they seem to think they can easily be an expert in all areas."
"As an example I used to be a professional carpenter that did work on mostly high end builds. The amount of Doctors and Engineers that were suddenly master plumbers, finish carpenters and electricians and 'knew' more than me after a few days of research was infuriating."
TheIowan
"facts and logic"
"They have no effect on dumb people's opinions."
theboomboy
"Persuasion (like teaching) is definitely a separate skill from intelligence. You can throw around 'facts and logic' all you want, but humans aren't robots. And what you/they consider factual and logical, may not be so."
ncnotebook
"I’ve found that people don’t like to be persuaded by logic and facts if they don’t have any logical facts to back their stance to begin with. They much rather go off hysteria and what they believe rather than what reasoning led them to that belief."
Vaxtin
Crushing
"Our school system (Australia) isn't built to deal with them. It crushes bright kids down to everyone else's level. The usual solution is just to give them extra work to do on top of the assigned work, when they finish that too fast. But to a kid, that's a punishment. In this way achieving beyond a certain accepted parameter is quietly discouraged."
theexteriorposterior
fools and fanatics
hocus pocus halloween GIFGiphy"They are full of doubt compared to people who are not smart."
F**k-Reddit-Mods69
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. -B. Russell"
Paddlesons
So brains don't automatically equal brilliance and happiness... Who knew?
I Know what I Know
Think Season 2 GIF by NBCGiphy"Being smart enough to know you're right while dealing with people too stupid to know they're wrong is soul crushing."
Stryker2279
"smartness"
"There's different levels of 'smartness' and different smart people go about life in different ways. But, I think universally young prodigies are typically isolated. They are at a level far above children their age, but are far younger than the people that match intellectually with (lacking life experience). Either way, a young prodigy can't connect with either group."
Firamaster
Potential
"They don't always find ways of living up to their potential."
Immediate_Aioli342
"To add to this, they're often told they should live up to their potential simply because it exists. The number of times myself and some of my current MSC colleagues have been told we are wasting our potential by not being physicians is soul crushing."
"And demeaning because it implies that pursuing anything other than the hardest, highest paid disciplines is a waste of you, regardless of what makes you happy. Truly sad to see smart people in careers or lives they hate because they did what other people told them they should do."
TinyBabyAlli
I should probably go back to therapy...
"Expectations. Never learning to study until it is too late. Being forced to learn outside of your age related interests. Being terrified of failure. Not being able to balance ambition and said fear of failure. Once again, expectations. My mother put so much pressure on me at such a young age I couldn't handle it. I have done well for myself as an adult, but will never be able to live up to those expectations set by her and others. I should probably go back to therapy."
Putty119
Levels
Praising John Goodman GIF by The Righteous GemstonesGiphy"There are different types of intelligence. Being good at physics doesn't mean that you should manage people."
oliverismyspiritdog
Well I'm glad to only have average level intelligence. Who needs the stress.
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Years ago, I was surprised to learn that a doctor I knew–a literal doctor–believed that the earth was flat. This astounded me.
Didn't she take history classes? Science classes? Didn't she go to medical school?
You'd think that someone with her resume and pedigree wouldn't believe in nonsense like that, but there you have it.
People have a way of surprising you–and disappointing you for that matter.
Turns out other people have been similarly disappointed (or have stumbled upon an idiot or two) and they were keen to share their stories after Redditor citizen_of_leship asked the online community,
"Who isn't as smart as people think?"
"Any television doctor..."
"Any television doctor, but a special shout out to Dr. Oz - who peddles homeopathic BS weight loss medicine that is legit dangerous for people."
GluttonAsteroth
How people can watch Dr. Oz (or Dr. Phil for that matter) and not feel enraged is beyond me.
"The neighbor's child..."
"The neighbor's child my mother keeps comparing me to."
Noelic_vi
Parents really shouldn't compare their children to others. It only breeds resentment.
"People who can..."
"People who can solve Rubik's cubes. We're not smart, we just want people to think we are."
dudeiscool22222
"I am a programmer..."
"Programmers. I am a programmer and I spend 10 hours on a misspelled word. I saw other programmers spending a long time fixing a misspelled word too."
YouTube-r
I feel like every programmer says this about every other programmer and they're probably all correct.
"You grow up thinking..."
"Parents - you grow up thinking they have it all figured out and know everything. Then you become one and you realize that it's all a facade you put on for your kids so they feel safe and secure. And there is something wholesome about that."
Christmas_Panda
Once I realized this and accepted this, I had a lot more peace of mind (and it improved my relationship with my parent).
"I can't believe..."
"Me. I can't believe the schools, career positions, and opportunities I've gotten just because I am very confident, well-spoken, and can crush an interview."
"Just because I have a large vocabulary and use "big" words, people constantly waayyy over-estimate my actual intelligence. I could be the literal poster child for 'fake it til ya make it.'"
purpelpeepleeater
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"They're not qualified..."
"Engineers. I am one, I work with a lot of them, most are some of the most inept humans I've ever had the misfortune to know."
"They're not qualified to do or think about anything other than the very specific thing they're trained to do, and yet they all think they're qualified to do any job."
YNot1989
I will refer to my prior comment about programmers – it's also true of engineers I've met over the years!
"People always overestimate..."
"Themselves! People always overestimate their own intelligence and it's annoying!"
C9Juice
I am guilty of this, too. I can admit it.
And so are you!
"While he's an expert..."
"Neil Degrasse Tyson."
"While he's an expert in his field, he has a tendency to over-extend himself and comment on areas in which he is not an expert."
"Over a decade ago, I saw him speak at my college, and I was stunned at how many things he said that were factually inaccurate. Being an astrophysicist does not make you an expert in, say, biology, and he said several things that were wrong or misinformed."
"And he said them with total confidence."
"I don't remember the specifics, but I went there as a young biology major and I remember the next day in my embryology class, everyone was like, 'Hey, why did Neil Degrasse Tyson say a bunch of blatantly wrong stuff about biology and evolution? Did we misinterpret it somehow or did he just seem to not know what the hell he was talking about?'"
"In years since he's said things on Twitter that were later disproven, and he never seems to have the humility to say, 'That's outside my field of expertise and I can't comment on it, let me refer to another expert.'"
"Part of being smart is knowing that you don't know everything, and I find Neil Degrasse Tyson to be insufferably arrogant."
IAlbatross
Did any of you feel personally attacked by any of these? It's okay.
I'm a writer. I've been guilty of self-importance. And I know quite a few people in this field who have not (and think everyone around them is simply denying them the opportunity to burst into brilliance).
Some humbling might be in order.
Have some observations of your own? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
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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.