Anxious
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Everyone is smarter than I am

I can just tell by the way people speak to me, both on the internet and in real life. The memes and comments I see on Reddit, the outrageously witty and out-there jokes insufferable loud and silly and obnoxious 8-year-olds come up with on the bus. If I try speaking to pretty good-looking cool trendy hip up-to-date people of either gender my own age, that I wish I could fit in with, within like 5 minutes I am the subject of jokes and too stupid to join in with their banter. If I try consulting others for advice (older adults obviously, anyone younger than 30 will treat me like dirt) even then people tell me philosophy that I never thought of, they justify it with "life experience". All the time people on the internet accuse me of being much younger than I actually am, comments like "You are 13" "OP is the 8-year-old" "This was posted by a child". All the time people in real life think I look 12 years old when I'm actually 18 years old. And they treat me like one.
I feel like as of 2024, after having lived under a sheltered rock and diving into the deep end with a dramatic culture shock, like everyone (unless they're as stupid as me) is pretty much insane, they themselves do not think they are insane neither do my professionals but I deem them insane because I'm stupider than most other people, I can tell by the way they speak and also the clothes they would wear and their music taste and their mentality like everything about them. I've heard kids say:
"I don't know if your shorts are beige. They could be"
"Everyone is stupid including myself"
"You're such a clown"
"You're not as smart as you think you are"
"Only cowards use manners"
And my 9-year-old iphone-addicted stepbrother never takes me seriously and he constantly makes jokes about dying. My 17-year-old brother, that I have had a very close relationship with all my life, is a recluse (that is currently really into the late 2000s emo/scene aesthetic) that is overly judgmental and has extremely unpopular opinions.
There's adults in my life, such as my psychologist, my psychiatrist, members of staff from school/college, that appear to have good opinions of me. Every time I whinge about how dumb I feel they automatically tell me about how "intelligent" I am. I ask why and they explain "You're a deep thinker" "You're very reflective" "You overthink" "You like philosophy", either they are exaggerating that just to make me feel better (they assume it was because I have loads of unread Nietzsche books from my edgy nihilist phase at age 14 or smth) or I am like that but so is like everyone else except they aren't as open about it as I am.
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reflectingmonkey · 51-55, M
sounds like you just try to fit in with the wrong people. as you've said about the adults you talk with , I read your post and i see a very smart person. maybe you're like me. i'll explain. I am unable to do meaningless small talk or empty talk to make me sound cool. I can only do authentic conversation about life. if I talk with very smart, educated people I feel smart and I fit in, if I try to talk with regular, norm-following, trend-following people I can't relate and I end up looking like an idiot. people talk about what they ate for lunch and gossup and to me that is so far from where I am in my mind. while me if I see people talking about the Kardashians it makes me wonder what is the relation between a ultra individualistic society and the cult of personality that people have towards celebrities. that's where my mind goes, deep analysis of how this fits in with the rest of my world view. now I'm older and everyone I know are super deep, analytical, philosophers. my roommate is sort of yogi who spent years in India and and years in California growing ...tomatoes. and my landlord who is one of my best friends has a pHD in philosophy. my other best friend is a super smart gay artist who used to be a priest but gave it up because he realised it made no sense. Be as authentic and curious as you can and find the other authentic , curious ones. you will know they are your people because your people will freaking love you.