People Are Sharing The Signs Of Intelligence They Noticed In People Who Didn't Know How Smart They Were, And It's Impressive

Note: This post contains mention of suicide.

Sometimes, we can see things in others that they don't see in themselves. One of those things is intelligence. Whether through life circumstances or due to how intelligence is presented as singular in most education curriculums, some people don't realize just how smart they actually are.

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So u/thejamessmarianooo asked, "Have you ever met a really intelligent person who didn't really know how smart they were? What was your experience with them?"

1."Criminal defense lawyer here. I had a client who was a low-level drug dealer and gun runner. Most street-level guys have a very different type of intelligence that doesn't translate well to the white-collar world. Many of my clients ask to read case law, but I've only met one who could read it, digest it, and discuss it intelligently with me. He'd do his own research from the jail — which isn't uncommon — but this guy did it well and would actually send me relevant cases that were helpful to the issues in his case. When I'd explain to him why some were not helpful, he got it, asked good questions, and used that discussion to inform future research. There are a lot of inmates who consider themselves jailhouse lawyers — this guy was smart enough to actually be one. I think about him a lot and wonder what his life would have been like if he was fortunate enough to be afforded the same opportunities during childhood that I enjoyed."

2."I'm a volunteer staff member at a math summer camp targeted at children who like doing math. Most of the kids that we get are the standard 'doing well in school with good grades to prove it' type. However, it frequently happens that some kid is signed up, and the parents tell us that their child doesn't really do well in school in general or math in particular, but they just like doing math-related puzzles. That's cool because that's all we ask for. Often enough, these kids come with very interesting insights and solutions because they happen to approach the problems from a different angle than the majority. They may be quite intelligent, but not in a way that expresses itself well within the standard framework of education."

3."When I was in uni, I took part in a project called Inside Out. We'd go to a prison and have criminology lessons with the inmates. We didn't teach or observe them; we were all learning together. This one guy was just a genius. He had this way of describing a phenomenon he'd noticed without realizing that it was an actual theory that existed. We'd studied them in class so we knew about them, but he'd come up with them from personal experience. From labeling theory to functionalism, he'd outline them like he'd thought of them in the shower. It was extraordinary. He was also a bit unstable and prone to bursts of anger, often toward himself. He seemed to become frustrated very easily if he couldn't explain or understand something perfectly. One day, he stopped showing up. The guards told me he felt like he was too stupid for the class. He was convinced that we were all smarter than he was and that he wouldn't be able to keep up."

4."My dad. He's dyslexic, and growing up in the education system in the '70s didn't provide any support, so he's all but illiterate. He left school at 15 with no qualifications. He always says he's stupid, and it upsets me so much. He won't believe it when we tell him he's not. My mom, my sister, and I all have education beyond degree level, and he's smarter than any of us. He's eloquent but sometimes mispronounces new words that he's heard in a different accent. (Our accent is heavy on the R sound, so I've noticed him adding it to words that don't have R's, but of course, he's never seen it written down to know.) He watches historical documentaries and tells us about how that links with the one he watched a couple of years prior. He once drove me to university three hours away using the route he'd driven in reverse once without checking a map. I wish he could see himself as intelligent."

5."I knew a guy who was very smart and possessed the ability to be extremely manipulative. He always got good grades in school — often without studying much. What was more impressive was his ability to read people's body language, vocal tone fluctuation, and micro-expressions. Often, he'd know what emotions someone was feeling and how best to proceed. The guy was a master at subtle communication, like mirroring, and framing conversations so he would be dominant. He was able to use this social intelligence to get with girls, but he'd also use it to get people to do things he wanted. Once, he got his friend to break up with his longtime girlfriend. His friend's girlfriend was kind of a drag and tended to annoy the group. So, he subtly started to slip in emotional and logical 'suggestions' whenever he saw his friend in a moment of emotional vulnerability. Within a week, his friend ended the relationship."

—u/NattyStatus

6."People who are great teachers without actually being a teacher. I've always thought people who can teach others are incredibly smart. They're aware enough of what they know to present it to others in such a way they can understand it. The guy I used to work with was a phenomenal teacher of all things paints, powder coating, and color matching/blending. He had a real passion for it, and it showed in the manner in which he taught and demonstrated what he was talking about. In saying that, he was also very highly strung and had some mental health issues that held him back from doing great things and so believed he was an idiot. He wasn't, but no amount of telling him would help."

—u/tissuesforreal

7."As a psychiatric doctor, one of my jobs is community management of patients right after they finish an inpatient admission — so they're only slightly better, not fully recovered. One guy came in, and my boss described him as 'a bit simple.' I don't know if she was trolling me or just completely misread him because he is one of the smartest patients I ever had. He rocked up in high-vis gear with concrete on his work boots and spoke in a broad accent, often saying, 'Oh, I don't know about any of that,' or, 'Mate, I haven't got time for this.' But he was sharp as a tack. Any time I'd bring up points of psychoeducation to help him understand his bipolar disorder, he'd grasp the concept before I finished explaining, and it was better than whatever I was going to say. He got well really fast. He understood things so quickly and was so open to new information. He could apply anything new to his own experience instantly. Uncanny."

8."I work in manufacturing, so we get a lot of uneducated people. There are a lot of people out there who are smart but, for various reasons, weren't properly served by public schools. They might be barely literate or can hardly string two words together coherently, but they solve problems beautifully, always have workable ideas, or talk about ideas rather than people or events. It's hard to quantify, but you know it when you see it."

—u/feverishdodo

9."I had a classmate who never took anything seriously, skipped class, brought alcohol to class, and did numerous other things. You name it — he probably did it. But man, he knew his shit whenever he paid attention. He understood things when other people were struggling to learn whatever was being taught that day (math, science, English, reading, etc.). It makes me a little sad because he was always a troublemaker, but deep down, I knew that he was very smart and was capable of doing good in school. He just never chose to do it or generally just didn't care. I think he got involved with the wrong crowd early on, unfortunately."

10."My mother. She was raised in a poor, abusive family and left school very early to escape. Even now, she'll say how she is uneducated — which is true, but she ain't stupid. She raised a bunch of us without much money and was always resourceful in making ends meet. She can do fairly complicated math in her head, does extensive research before making large purchases, and forwards me screenshots of quite sophisticated scam emails while telling me why they're fake. She's 78 now and has always embraced new tech. Has no trouble using her smartphone or her PC. She even troubleshoots for her neighbours. She still lives in the same poverty-stricken area we grew up in and is often helping her neighbours advocate for themselves, writing letters, telling them who to contact and what to say. I wonder what she could have done if she had the opportunities she made damn sure we had."

11."Former coworker of mine. He came to Germany as a refugee in his young teenage years, and he had trouble in school due to the language barrier, lack of support, a tough family situation, and typical refugee problems. He was unemployed, so Jobcenter (the part of German welfare dealing with unemployment) sent him to the security company I worked at because conditions of employment are almost nonexistent in this field. When he was on my team for an event, I (as team leader) had to show him the ropes. The event lasted 10 consecutive nights, and we faced several different challenges that were part of the job. Every now and then, he had a genius idea for how to solve the particular problem. The following year, I got him on my team whenever I could, trained him, and when I left the company, he inherited my position as team leader."

"I don't actually know whether he knew about how smart he is, but he was so insecure in the beginning I boldly assume he didn't." —u/WickieTheHippie

12."My dad grew up believing he was dumb and would never amount to anything. His teachers all hated him, and the first time he went to university, he was kicked out. Around the same time I started university, my mom finally convinced him to try again to get a higher education himself. He's often said that he's too stupid to go back to school, but he speaks about six languages fluently, has so many new interesting history facts — whenever we watch any movie, we always have to pause at least four times for a lengthy discussion about it — and he remembers more book quotes than anyone I've ever met. He grew up in communist Hungary and East Germany, and he has since then climbed mountains and been scuba diving in the Atlantic among a bunch of other adventures. Whatever the discussion, he's got a story to tell. He dreams of being a teacher one day. He will be the best teacher his future students could ever wish for."

13."We have a paid summer internship program for college juniors and seniors pursuing construction management degrees. Five years ago, we had a young woman who came into the program in her junior year. She was very tiny in stature and very quiet, but we soon learned she was giant in intellect and loud where it counted. Each intern spends three weeks on a different project, learning a different role within the organization. After each period, I received a call, praising her ingenuity and ability to adapt and improvise in any situation. At the end of the internship, we have a Plus/Delta review of their performance. Based on that review, we determine whether to offer them a place the following summer. In the case of a senior, we determine if we want to extend them a full-time employment offer. Every review she received from each department all said the same thing: 'HIRE HER NOW.'"

"We extended an offer for a salaried position, part time, from that point through her senior year, along with tuition reimbursement. This young lady still amazes everyone every single day. She's 25 years old, making an amazing salary, and absolutely dominating any project she's given.

If she doesn't know it today, she'll practically be an expert tomorrow. She's incredibly impressive. I can see her having my job one day (Operations Director). Hopefully, it's after I retire." —u/[deleted]

14."I think some people just choose a quieter and more simple life despite their intelligence. I worked as a hospital porter for a few years when I was a teen. One of my fellow porters was this brilliant chap who'd skim through the paper on his break, and then go off on some glorious leftist rant like the leader of a union back in the '70s. His political knowledge was unbelievable, and he could easily have been a Member of Parliament but was happier as a porter."

15."My brother. Everyone used to tell him that he was just average because he got average grades — but this kid is so fucking smart. He's a huge history buff. One time, he spent about a half hour explaining to me the importance of some Civil War battle and how it was pivotal in helping the Union win the war. I don't remember the exact details because all I could think about was the level of depth he got into just explaining and analyzing. Moreover, he explained it in a way that helped me to understand. My brother's intelligence is the definition of quality."

"I'd shout that from the rooftops because as his older sister, I'm so fucking proud of him." —u/bubblegumbop

16."My current girlfriend is actually extremely smart. Her intuition is very good with people, her problem-solving skills are impressive in situations where she is comfortable, and she has a very deep understanding of the human psyche. However, her mother has been gaslighting her since childhood to keep her fully reliant on her. I have held my tongue at points just to not be that boyfriend that ruins a relationship. Instead, I show her how smart she really is. Wherever she might have a weak point that I may be able to help with, I walk her through my thought process, and she picks it up very quickly. I've always wondered how far she could be at this point in her life had her mother just supported her instead of tearing her down."

"Just in the short time I have been dating her, I have seen her grow a lot. I am very excited to see where she can soar off to. I just hope that she takes me with her." —u/nikky292

17."I've got a PhD and work in a field where so many people have PhDs that they don't even mention them. To this day, I suspect that the smartest person I've ever met was a kid I taught at a GED learning center in the middle of a pretty rough area of a big city. I've met plenty of people who were exceptionally smart in one or maybe two dimensions, but this guy was across the board. He'd turn it on now and then — like when we were playing chess, or one time, he made a reference to something in French of all things — and then he'd just kind of smile. It was enough to just briefly show the rest of us how smart he was. It was almost like he was a self-aware Will Hunting — not that cartoonishly smart, of course, but very, very smart, aware of it, and aware of his station in life. I have absolutely no doubt that if he'd had my advantages since birth, he'd be a rock star in whatever field he was in."

18."The people that strike me are the ones that eliminate the wrong conclusions (somehow) before solving an answer. The wrong conclusions just do not dawn on them. I met a lady who went to an Ivy League school. She could talk to you and hold a nice conversation, and then she could turn around and talk to someone else at a higher level. When asked a technical question out of her field of expertise, she could give you a complex answer. She spoke to people on whatever level they were speaking on."

—u/SLObro152

19."I have a friend of the family that took every class at a community college before going on to get his degree. He retained all of that information. Interestingly, he liked to speak in basic terms and hold everyday conversations. If he got shunned at a party, he would initially ignore it and keep hanging out with someone else. Eventually, as the people who shunned him came to a point where they had to stop their conversation, he would butt in. They often could not figure out the answer to what they were talking about, so he would just chime in with a smile, explain the rest of the concept to them, and then turn back to the original person he was hanging out with and keep bullshitting."

"I've seen him do that multiple times." —u/SLObro152

20."I taught algebra to inmates briefly, and the number of guys who told me they were too stupid to learn math while being able to convert odd measurements between metric and imperial in their heads on the fly was too damn high. I'd like to go back in time and kick all those elementary school teachers who told them they were stupid. Actually, I've run into plenty of racist, classist elementary school teachers currently teaching but still haven't kicked them, even though they deserve it. It was also amazing to see how their 'illiteracy' improved once they finally got a pair of glasses."

"Even the guys who already had glasses when they got in were often still using prescriptions from 20 years earlier." —u/Bayfp

21."My stepfather is a genius. He grew up in agriculture and knows agriculture. He legitimately thinks he's not smart because he doesn't read a lot, but he can tell you how to change the feed ratios on your fowls just by looking at their feathers. He still doesn’t believe me when I tell him he's impressive."

22."My husband was always told in school he could do better. His parents have told him, in front of me, that he's not very bright. They assume because he 'works with computers all day' that he just plays video games all the time. He got terrible grades in school and dropped out of university. He got terrible grades because he was told he'd do badly by his parents, his teachers — basically everyone in his life. When I met him, we were working in the same company. I witnessed that company hold him back for five years because he was useful where he was. It was very good timing when he applied for a different job in the same company but in a different department and location. He got the job because a higher-up was on annual leave and couldn't object. The original department had to hire eight people to replace him when he left. While he can't do simpler math without a calculator, he can do complex quantum equations in his head."

"His father had the audacity to say, 'You've always been bad at math,' to which my husband — who has had enough of his parents' bullshit — replied, 'My math might be bad, but it's good enough to know I earn more than you combined,' in reference to both of his parents. I'm a super-proud wife.

He's since been hired by a different company and is flourishing. He's had several promotions and pay raises, is on good terms with everyone in the company — from the group CEO to the cleaners in his office — and is treated with respect by everyone he works with." —u/jenjudges

23."I went out with a girl who, at first glance, looked and behaved like the worst 'trailer park trash' you could imagine. She had very few social skills, and she was clumsy, rude, threatening, and semi-literate. I bought her a beer and just got chatting, and I learned that she was bipolar and had a chaotic childhood. We began to see each other around and started a relationship. I was moving away to go to university, so I asked her to come with me. She did and got a small job, growing into it as her confidence grew. She began taking an interest in my course work — I was pursuing an MSc in structural engineering — and started to go to lectures in her free time. Ten years later, she had a PhD in fluid dynamics, had learned three new languages fluently, and had taken up an analyst job at a hedge fund. She is now a multimillionaire, married to a guy as smart as her, and has three kids."

24."I was 22 and teaching a rural high school in the Bible Belt. Billy sat at the end of the second row. One day, I was going over the definition of science, and Billy said, just loud enough for me to hear as I walked by, 'Oscar Wilde said, "Science is the record of dead religions."' Here's a 15-year-old pulling Oscar Wilde quotes off the top of his head. A voice in the back of my head said, 'This kid is smarter than you. You can't let him figure that out.' He took an interest in me and would stick around after school. We'd talk about black holes, time travel, or whatever he'd think up. I got to know him and told him he was one of the most frustrating students I ever had. He was incredibly smart, but when I asked for homework, he'd dig around in his backpack and never find it. He could answer any question on the homework from memory but couldn't be bothered to submit it. He got a D because he did the bare minimum needed to pass."

25."Someone mentioned already, but people who can easily teach others complex systems or ideas. My husband is this person — microbiologist, workflow management, plays D&D on his downtime. He can analyze a difficult concept, distill the relevant information, make it easily accessible to someone, and teach it in a patient, unassuming manner quickly without making the other party feel stupid or uninformed. He's modest as hell. He has no idea how hard it is to educate people. He's never trying to one-up or show off his knowledge. He's charismatic and emotionally intelligent. Honestly, he has no idea how rare his level of kindness and intelligence are in others. He's the best person I've ever met."

—u/sadbear424

Do you know any really intelligent people in your life who don't realize how smart they are? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.