35 Times Intelligent Adults With Numerous Degrees Acted So Stupidly, It Resulted In Lots Of Embarrassment

The OP's thread made quite a splash on Reddit, and we were curious to get their opinion, as to why the topic might have gotten so much attention online.

"I think the post resonated with so many people because a lot of us have 'been there' when dealing with well-educated people that had zero common sense and just did some really stupid stuff," u/SgtSkillcraft told Bored Panda.

"I made the post because I made a similar comment about education vs. intelligence in the Air Force subreddit," the redditor told us about the inspiration behind the thread.

"Someone in that subreddit had made a post about an officer with a PhD who bought a $10k 80 Watt laser and was shining it in the night sky oblivious to the fact that it could be detrimental to any passing air traffic. The guy had been an officer in the Air Force for some time, had a PhD, and had no idea why that could be a bad idea." And though we might not personally know anyone with a powerful laser, that story brings back memories of folks behaving in a similar unperceptive way.

Bored Panda was curious about why society seems to value education and IQ so much. "I think we value education too highly, and we prioritize it over experience. In a lot of cases, we only value the credential," u/SgtSkillcraft pointed out.

"In essence, if you have a degree, you’re 'qualified' for a lot of jobs vs. someone who has the relevant experience but has no degree. Hands-on experience is where you hone the necessary skills to be successful," they stressed the importance of genuine skills.

The OP also had some words of wisdom for anyone who might want to be more humble and have a more realistic perspective of their limits. "For anyone to be more self-aware and grounded, my advice would be to seek out feedback from those in your sphere, and then work on implementing that advice," they said. It always takes courage to ask for genuine advice.

The OP quoted well-known American theoretical physicist Richard Feynman in their r/AskReddit question, pointing out that people shouldn’t confuse education with intelligence. An individual with a PhD can still be—for all intents and purposes—an absolute idiot.

Someone who has various higher education diplomas is probably very good at following orders, memorizing facts, working with data, and adapting to the academic system’s demands, whatever they might be.

However, it doesn’t automatically mean that their research is very useful for society or that they’ve applied themselves in their studies to push the limits of their field. Of course, they might be fantastic academics and genuinely intelligent people! Then again, they might be oblivious in all fields but their own and only have so-called ‘book smarts’ without knowing how to best apply that knowledge in real-life situations.

A quote that we keep coming back to is one popularized by Bloomberg, “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?” This raises a very important idea, namely, that if we consider intelligence to be behavior that leads to (e.g. financial) success, raw IQ scores might not be what we should be focusing on. Instead, acting intelligently (in the broad sense) becomes akin to being social and working hard.

According to economist James Heckman, personality trumps IQ when it comes to financial prospects. Diligence, self-discipline, perseverance, and conscientiousness lead to good grades which, in turn, are a good predictor of success in adulthood. In short, it’s not just intelligence (in the narrow sense) that’s vital, it’s also non-cognitive skills like one’s ability to collaborate with others and to develop good habits.

During an earlier interview, Bored Panda had gotten in touch with Steven Wooding, a member of the Omni Calculator team, as well as a member of the Institute of Physics in the UK. He explained to us that quantifying intelligence objectively is a very hard task.

"The gold standard is the IQ test, but maybe a person that does very well on this measure would be ineffective in a real-world situation that does look like an IQ test question," he pointed out to us. "The other issue with the IQ test is that it gives you a score relative to the population, so it's not an absolute measure. Then there is emotional intelligence, which can make a person very effective in the world but is entirely missed by the conventional IQ test.”

According to physicist Steven, one way to stay grounded is to remember that everyone, absolutely everyone makes mistakes. No matter how intelligent you are (or think you might be), you will make a mistake sooner or later. 

"It's good to remember this if you're feeling very confident or you've rushed an answer to a question. Take a moment to double-check yourself," he explained that it’s important to stay humble.

Meanwhile, the scientist added that it can be very hard not to get frustrated if someone else doesn’t have the same knowledge base as you do. Changing your perspective can help. “The best way is to assume the role of a teacher and help those around you learn what you know. Over time, the gap between you and them will narrow, reducing the cause of potential frustration,” he told Bored Panda.