Many of us like to think that we’re fairly smart. But it can be a very humbling experience when you’re in the presence of someone who actually has a vast intelligence and knows how to use it. And aside from feeling humbled, you might also feel slightly weirded out.
Folks took to an intriguing AskReddit thread to share the times that they’ve seen geniuses use their IQ in quite creepy ways. Their stories make for a fascinating read, and we’ve collected the best ones to share with you. Scroll down to check them out.
#1
Had a genetics professor as a freshman in undergrad. Class was 100 kids on the first day and ended with 40. She would take attendance in her head—students moved seats every day—and she would also measure how many times each student looked at their phone during every class; she did this while teaching inordinately complex information without a single note. One day, late in the semester me and a friend went to her office hours. She asked him why he had looked out of the window so many times during a class from over a month before, and she knew the date. I never once saw her stumble on a question no matter how out of scope it was. Also, this was not in her first language.
134points
#2
I sat next to a Russian exchange student in a college course. She would regularly take notes with both hands at once, in separate notebooks, one in Russian and the other in English, sometimes German too. She would also doodle incredible drawings with one hand while she took notes with the other. She could do all of this with either hand, interchangeably. She often seemed bored.
129points
#3
I used to run a bar that was a little hole in the wall. This guy would come in every couple of weeks and down near a bottle of Jim Beam by himself and stumble home. Never really talked. I always just thought he was a drunk. He looked dirty and unshowered. Old ratty clothes and just a hunched over posture most of the time. Rarely ever spoke to me. One day it was slow so I tried doing a sudoku puzzle in a book I had gotten. I got maybe halfway through one and the bar had a few people walk in so I put it down to take care of them. While I am taking care of them the guy walks in and sits at the bar. It must have been maybe 30 minutes after I had gotten him his drink I go over to ask him if he needed a top off. Low and behold he finished the puzzles. Everyone single one in a brand new book. Must have been a 50 or 60 page book front and back. I was blown away. He says he just kinda sees numbers. That's when I learned his job was balancing nuclear reactors with harmonics. Never judge a book by its cover. He told me so many other stories, that man lived a wild life.
124points
While it’s difficult to settle on a single definition of a genius, it’s often a person who is incredibly intelligent, creative, original, and has the ability to think in novel ways.
According to WebMD, there is likely a genetic component that affects your level of intelligence. “Certain types of genes influence how much intellectual power you have. Your child’s genetic influences affect their motivation, confidence, and other traits. They greatly impact how well they perform in school or on tests that measure intellect.”
Furthermore, geniuses tend to have more gray matter. This is the part of your brain that’s responsible for computing and processing information, directing your attention, memory, language, perception, and interpretations.
#4
I once knew someone who could predict how group arguments would unfold with uncomfortable accuracy. Not just who would get mad, but the exact phrasing people would use once they felt cornered. They explained it as pattern recognition from years of watching small social tells stack up. Nothing supernatural about it, but seeing it play out in real time felt eerie. It was like watching probability applied to people instead of numbers.
99points
#5
I once worked with a guy who could tell exactly who was walking down the hallway just by the rhythm and weight of their footsteps.
One afternoon, we were in a windowless office and he stopped mid-sentence, looked at the door, and said, "The boss is coming, and he's pissed." Three seconds later, the boss swung the door open looking for someone to yell at.
When I asked him how he knew, he didn't just say he recognized the sound. He broke down the specific "heel-strike" frequency of different coworkers and explained that the boss’s stride was 0.5 inches shorter than usual, which indicated he was walking with "aggressive intent." It wasn't just a lucky guess; he had subconsciously cataloged the walking patterns of thirty different people. It was impressive, but it also made me realize he probably knew exactly where I was in the building at all times just by listening.
One afternoon, we were in a windowless office and he stopped mid-sentence, looked at the door, and said, "The boss is coming, and he's pissed." Three seconds later, the boss swung the door open looking for someone to yell at.
When I asked him how he knew, he didn't just say he recognized the sound. He broke down the specific "heel-strike" frequency of different coworkers and explained that the boss’s stride was 0.5 inches shorter than usual, which indicated he was walking with "aggressive intent." It wasn't just a lucky guess; he had subconsciously cataloged the walking patterns of thirty different people. It was impressive, but it also made me realize he probably knew exactly where I was in the building at all times just by listening.
82points
#6
I was coming back from a high school JROTC competition and we stopped at a Denny's for breakfast. We had 56 students, 2 teacher chaperones, plus the bus driver.
The waiter took down everyone's order, their drinks, etc. with 100% accuracy. Thia included customizations. For those that ordered coffee he asked what flavor creamer pod and how many. He got all those right too.
Guy made more in tips than the manager's salary by a long shot. He said sometimes people would insist he write down their order. He showed us the notepad he would use. Nothing but random doodles and scribbles.
The waiter took down everyone's order, their drinks, etc. with 100% accuracy. Thia included customizations. For those that ordered coffee he asked what flavor creamer pod and how many. He got all those right too.
Guy made more in tips than the manager's salary by a long shot. He said sometimes people would insist he write down their order. He showed us the notepad he would use. Nothing but random doodles and scribbles.
79points
What’s more, geniuses and gifted individuals also tend to have more active white matter, which is responsible for the communication between different parts of your brain. This helps with quick and complex thinking.
Moreover, in some cases, they can also experience so-called ‘superstimulability,’ which is increased sensory sensitivity and emotional processing. In other words, they’re more sensitive to other people’s emotions, which can be overwhelming.
#7
My son has never taken a sculpting, molding, or art class. However he makes/molds perfect 3d models of any and everything at scale down to miniatures with a picture and medium (usually clay). It takes him minutes. Has done this since he was about 5.
None of us know how but it’s amazing work and we have hundreds around the house and they are so very good.
None of us know how but it’s amazing work and we have hundreds around the house and they are so very good.
77points
#8
Idk if this counts as “creepy” but my 6 year old randomly spouting the exact note of the clink of a bottle took us by complete surprise. After testing him with a tuner, we found out he has perfect pitch. It blows my mind. I’ve tried asking him how he knows and he just shrugs like it’s nothing and says he can just picture where the key is on a piano and just knows how they sound. It will never not be cool to me.
76points
#9
I would get so mad at my dad for reading further in a book (in his head) than we were reading out loud. He would be reading me chapter 5 of a Harry Potter book but when I would look at the page he was “reading” he would be almost to chapter 6 reading in his head while speaking out loud the chapter we were on but not actually looking at it. He never forgot a single word and had voices for each of the characters that he used for the whole series! When I asked him why he did that he said “sometimes I like to read ahead a little”.
68points
As per WebMD, some signs that your child might (potentially) be a genius include things like:
- Need for mental stimulation and engagement
- Ability to quickly learn new topics and process new and complex information
- Desire to explore scientific topics in-depth
- Insatiable curiosity and constant questioning
- Emotional depth and sensitivity
- Learning quickly and tackling educational material ahead of the current grade
- Excitement about unique topics or interests
- A mature or unique sense of humor
- Imaginative and creative solutions to problems
#10
My Commander (when he was a Captain) a weather guy could predict accurate weather down to the minute. It was scary. Like biblically scary.
One time we were deployed and he forecast a sandstorm 7 days out down to a 5 minute window on arrival and departure. He had this calmness about himself.
For context, his accuracy was at 98% for everything, cloud heights, rain start and stop, dust storms, hail, tornadoes and snowstorms/blizzards. The average accuracy ranged from 70 to 85%.
Funny thing was, he wasnt a typical meteorologist. His bachelor's was in Engineering. He just read all the books on forecasting and atmospheric physics and got good.
I think he is retired now. He was a great dude too for context. He was always trying to teach us and make us smarter and see the world how he saw it.
One time we were deployed and he forecast a sandstorm 7 days out down to a 5 minute window on arrival and departure. He had this calmness about himself.
For context, his accuracy was at 98% for everything, cloud heights, rain start and stop, dust storms, hail, tornadoes and snowstorms/blizzards. The average accuracy ranged from 70 to 85%.
Funny thing was, he wasnt a typical meteorologist. His bachelor's was in Engineering. He just read all the books on forecasting and atmospheric physics and got good.
I think he is retired now. He was a great dude too for context. He was always trying to teach us and make us smarter and see the world how he saw it.
67points
#11
My dad told me about the calculus graduate teaching assistant he had in college. Last day of class he asked the class to give him random problems from the text book and he’d solve them in his head, he solved the hardest problem just with a few seconds of thought. The display of brain power stuck in my dad’s head for years. He even remembered his name…Ted Kaczynsky.
66points
#12
Had a physics teacher who was so smart, he broke down how you could predict collisions in space using complex math. Every lecture I would walk out with a headache trying to keep up with him and his breakdown of things. He was a no kidding genius and saw the world totally different than anyone I met. He was also banned from a ton of casinos for counting cards.
61points
In the meantime, some of the signs of genius in adults may include things like having an excellent memory, valuing alone time, preferring to work late hours, living in slightly cluttered living areas and workspaces, and being fluent in swearwords.
WebMD notes that there are also overlaps between extreme intelligence and being on the autism spectrum.
That being said, “every brain and each person are different. Genius is not a standardized measure.”
#13
In my first job in Australia, there was a guy named William.
The first odd thing I noticed was that he liked to program this old PDP-11 computer we had there, by toggling in machine instructions one at a time on the front panel. He had memorized the whole instruction set, in binary.
Later, I found he knew where every postcode in Australia was located. He had a train hobby, and apparently the postcodes followed the train lines.
Then he moved on to buses. He memorized all the bus routes in our major cities. He had a source for getting periodic updates.
We could ask him how to get from A to B in Australia, and he'd tell you the best train + bus route, down to the street in the bus routes, kinda like we can see in Google Maps today, but this was 1982.
Last I heard , he'd done similar for ISD phone prefixes globally. He claimed to have figured out the Pope's phone number on the basis of this.
The first odd thing I noticed was that he liked to program this old PDP-11 computer we had there, by toggling in machine instructions one at a time on the front panel. He had memorized the whole instruction set, in binary.
Later, I found he knew where every postcode in Australia was located. He had a train hobby, and apparently the postcodes followed the train lines.
Then he moved on to buses. He memorized all the bus routes in our major cities. He had a source for getting periodic updates.
We could ask him how to get from A to B in Australia, and he'd tell you the best train + bus route, down to the street in the bus routes, kinda like we can see in Google Maps today, but this was 1982.
Last I heard , he'd done similar for ISD phone prefixes globally. He claimed to have figured out the Pope's phone number on the basis of this.
59points
#14
I went to college with a guy who would be given a coding assignment and after a few moments thought would type out the whole thing with zero bugs. He’d be done in 15 minutes, the rest of us spent hours troubleshooting. He was the most frighteningly intelligent person I ever met.
54points
#15
When we were kids, our friend Dan was hit by a car and suffered a major brain injury. Afterwards, he could multiply large numbers in his head.
We would do “calculator battles” where we’d try to come up with the answer using a calculator and he’d usually beat us. So something like 1576 x 78 and he was usually faster than the kid trying to punch it in. This was 6th grade.
We would do “calculator battles” where we’d try to come up with the answer using a calculator and he’d usually beat us. So something like 1576 x 78 and he was usually faster than the kid trying to punch it in. This was 6th grade.
53points
Who are the smartest people that you personally know, dear Pandas? What’s the coolest or creepiest intelligence-related thing that they’ve ever done?
If you were to be objective, how smart would you say that you think you are, compared to ‘regular’ individuals? What areas and activities do you excel at, and where do you struggle? Tell us all about it in the comments at the very bottom of this post.
#16
A very good friend of mine is a profiler. The level of accuracy is astonishing. He can pick up information within a nano sencond on your education level, where you where educated (city, county side) your salary range, what you do for work, your positives and negatives skillsets, what your intentions are what your hiding and your injuries to name a few.
51points
#17
I knew a man who we all thought was a know it all, because of how he lacked a filter, and would spew out “facts” he knew about something randomly to those around him. He also had an interesting life, was eccentric, and idolized Einstein, somewhat having a similar look. He said he loves space and sees numbers in various color because growing up etc etc.
I bought a great course on space, out of interest, and we watched it together. I don’t recall the specifics of the question, but it asked along the lines of “how long would the sun burn if it were made completely out of coal?”
I paused the video, and mockingly asked him “alright Heinstein, cuz his last name was Heine, and that was his nickname, “how long?” He got this look on his face, looked to the sky while doing some finger movements, and 8 seconds later blurts out an answer. I unpause the dvd and the lecturer says the exact same answer.
He had no access to the video previous, and long story short he doesn’t surf the web, well not very well, because of various life problems like recovering from a traumatic brain injury, and working and raising kids, not enough time to learn, etc. and he said he didn’t already know the answer. It took knowing all of this for me to believe him, and after that I never doubted the random facts he would blurt out, wasn’t bothered by his abrasive personality, and would try and learn to learn for myself.
I bought a great course on space, out of interest, and we watched it together. I don’t recall the specifics of the question, but it asked along the lines of “how long would the sun burn if it were made completely out of coal?”
I paused the video, and mockingly asked him “alright Heinstein, cuz his last name was Heine, and that was his nickname, “how long?” He got this look on his face, looked to the sky while doing some finger movements, and 8 seconds later blurts out an answer. I unpause the dvd and the lecturer says the exact same answer.
He had no access to the video previous, and long story short he doesn’t surf the web, well not very well, because of various life problems like recovering from a traumatic brain injury, and working and raising kids, not enough time to learn, etc. and he said he didn’t already know the answer. It took knowing all of this for me to believe him, and after that I never doubted the random facts he would blurt out, wasn’t bothered by his abrasive personality, and would try and learn to learn for myself.
50points
#18
My calculus and advanced linear algebra professor probably fits the bill. The guy could solve two completely different problems on the board at the same time with his two hands. As in one problem with his left hand and one with his right hand AT THE SAME TIME. School told him to stop because students could barely follow one incredibly complex problem, let alone two at the same time. Really odd guy, incredibly intelligent though.
50points
#19
I had a professor who remembered the names of about 100 students in our class after saying their names once on the first day of class.
42points
#20
My Greek teacher in high school had an endless memory. One morning I ran into him on the train and told him I couldn’t chat because I had a history oral exam (not his subject). He asked what topic it was on and then started explaining, in incredibly detailed fashion, the dynamics behind the decisions made by the rulers of that particular period.
He never prepared a lesson: he would walk into class and ask, “Where did we get to?” and from there he’d start explaining whatever came next. About anything.
Once he told me that this ability of his was also a curse, because he could feel any pain he had ever experienced in his life — including losses — as if they had just happened.
He never prepared a lesson: he would walk into class and ask, “Where did we get to?” and from there he’d start explaining whatever came next. About anything.
Once he told me that this ability of his was also a curse, because he could feel any pain he had ever experienced in his life — including losses — as if they had just happened.
42points
