Do You Hide Your Intelligence When You Meet "Normal" People?

[DarkLady]

I dumb myself down sometimes, but I tend not to be all that smart to begin with. I just end up reciting random facts all the time that I memorized.

 

[Structrix]

No, I never hide my knowledge nor make an excuse for it. When I see other people do it it annoys me. Anti-intellectualism bothers me.

 

[WildCat]

I really don't have much to hide to begin with - I mean, I'm no Einstein or Da Vinci here, but I'm definitely far from slow. If I'm in a sarcastic or teasing mood I'll do it for the sake of such, but other than that I'm not going to sacrifice myself to gain a couple nods of approval.

 

[Harrison]

At my stage in life I can generally go along with NT social conversations until I get bored. Problems only arise if the topic switches to something that was/is one of my past/current specialities. Then I'm off like a greyhound from a trap, usually there is a friend or two to reel me in.

 

[Nolan1971]

In my youth I did especially during high school to fit in more easily. I basically chose my social life over
academics but did not hide it from my close friends. I greatly enjoy showing it now trying to push the limits
of my gifts preparing to be a teacher.

 

[Cyllya]

I haven't needed too. Possibly I'm not that intelligent

In elementary school some other kids gave me crap about being in the "extended learning program" but I didn't understand it at the time, and there wouldn't have been much I could do anyway.

 

[hurtloam]

I would say that I've learned to be tactful rather than shooting people down when I can see a flaw in their logic. I've got the kind of brain that thinks when someone makes a statement, "is that true, what about if x happened or what about y?" Everything can be questioned, but I understand to some people this is a tiresome way to have a conversation and I just go with the flow most of the time. I'm not sure it's about intelligence, just more about how analytical my brain is. There's no point rubbing people up the wrong way over a trivial statement no matter how little they've actually thought about what they've just said.

 

[Daniel]

With me, I think it's more my manner of speaking and the way I carry myself that makes the difference with people. Very formal, and to the point. It comes across as a confidence that comes with intelligence, and I can't hide that. I consistently remind myself that people aren't looking for long, detailed diatribes; that used to be all I wanted to do when talking to people--trivia brain-dump!

One thing I've realized/learned lately is that people communicate to fulfill needs. Most of the time, that need isn't to get detailed information. Usually, people just want to be comfortable and to feel liked, and silence does neither of those things. When I think about that, I realize that I have very limited "intelligence" in that area, where intellect does not apply.

I have a capacity to make others comfortable some of the time, but it takes a lot of energy. I'll typically say nothing if I can't come up with anything to make someone comfortable. I actually wouldn't mind developing some "common folk" areas of knowledge for casual conversation. It's not a high priority, though...we'll see! (In Canada, you can just follow hockey and you're covered for practically the entire male gender.)

 

[Anon88]

I've always had a bit of trouble keeping my opinions to myself. I guess I've gotten better at it over the years. But before, the conversation would end up one of 2 ways: either my strong opinion would end up revealing that I was smarter than I originally let on and ppl would be shocked yet intrigued or my opinion would just offend someone and make a bad impression. Now it's kinda like, ok pick and choose ur battles.

I used to when I was younger, but have outgrown this habit (mostly don't care anymore what others think of me), but I've learned when to keep my opinions to myself...most of the time

 

[Cerulean]

Sometimes. I don't always know how to use the big or obscure words that I like without sounding like a pretentious ass.

 

[hurtloam]

I have had a lot of confused looks from people when I use words they don't know. When I explain it they say, "well why didn't you just say that." So I do come over pretentious when I don't mean to. I just love language and I love words so it's natural for me to use the word I feel fits the situation best.

 

[Randomperson]

Could not if I would, I find the taste of my own bile repugnant and thus choking it back to feign ignorance as it were, is nigh upon impossible.

And to be fair, with that I know nothing of, neither do I hide my ignorance.

 

[SyAn]

Apparently not . . . Mostly I exhaust people with my insatiable curiosity though

 

[apsie]

I would say that I've learned to be tactful rather than shooting people down when I can see a flaw in their logic. I've got the kind of brain that thinks when someone makes a statement, "is that true, what about if x happened or what about y?" Everything can be questioned, but I understand to some people this is a tiresome way to have a conversation and I just go with the flow most of the time. I'm not sure it's about intelligence, just more about how analytical my brain is. There's no point rubbing people up the wrong way over a trivial statement no matter how little they've actually thought about what they've just said.

This. I find it harder though, "no matter how little they've thought about it" its a big problem for me. I still can't accept folks spewing out things assuming and believing its the truth because they're heard someone else say it.
So I don't intentionally "hide", I just shut down because it does my head in.

 

[hurtloam]

This. I find it harder though, "no matter how little they've thought about it" its a big problem for me. I still can't accept folks spewing out things assuming and believing its the truth because they're heard someone else say it.
So I don't intentionally "hide", I just shut down because it does my head in.

What I do is repeat to myself "Everyone has a different way to view the world."

 

[2aspirin]

Sometimes. I don't always know how to use the big or obscure words that I like without sounding like a pretentious ass.

I relate. I pause and stammer if trying to construct more appealing sentences verbally. Substituting vaguely correct common words for ones with truer connotation and denotation is mentally tiring.

 

[Charlotte Antell-Collins]

I do sometimes have to hide how smart I am

 

[AsheSkyler]

I'm not sure where I stand on the smart scale, honestly. I've had a lot of people tell me I'm smart, but other than stray facts, I don't seem to know anything different to other people I meet. (Except for somethings I had assumed to be universal, like have the oil regularly checked in your car!) I do adjust the amount I talk about random facts depending on who I'm with, not everybody is as interested in some things as I am, the same way I could really care less who in Hollywood is now gay, dead, divorced, engaged, pregnant, in rehab, or whatever. Besides, I was raised around country people and rednecks. There is a certain pleasure to silently enjoying each other's company or talking about simple things without a desire to know every intricate detail how the world works. They've taught me a lot about being content and happy. =)

 

[Licorice]

I hide my enthusiasm, which serves to "dumb me down" quite a bit. I just know that most people, even those who are interested in such things, don't want to discuss the fine details of a subject. People who are interested in computers don't actually want to talk about things like hard drives or programming normally.

 

[icesyckel]

I did when I was younger, in school, b/c my dad told me I would get picked on/bullied less if I didn't "talk over" the other students.

Most adults tend to like smart people, though, so there is no point in hiding it. Doesn't mean they want me to talk about olive oil for 15 minutes, I have learned, but they don't want me to play dumb either (all these rules...).