Do people see you as a complete idiot or a complete genius?

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I do act idiotic, so no wonder people consider me an idiot. I've never been called an idiot, but people have hinted that they think I'm one. At the charity shop where I vollunteer, I have said several times that I don't like being on the till and prefer sorting upstairs, and the manager still makes me go on the till, without considering my feelings (plus she knows I get overwhelmed with the customers). But there were 3 other people there who have said they don't like the till, and the manager has never asked them since, and they're NTs who have more of a knack with customer servicing than I ever will. So the manager knows I am too stupid to react to things I don't like, and so will make me do these things. That proves that people do think I'm stupid.

I am seen as both. And at times, I am one or the other.

I am rarely viewed as an idiot, but I am either very smart or a genius to people. In fact, this has been a downfall for me in school. I have been told I am too smart to (fill in the blank), but at the opposite end, I have been treated as if I am as dumb as a rock. This was mostly when I was younger though.

Now, people tell me all the time that I am so smart or that I am a genius. I usually shake my head, thank them, and tell them that I am just really good at some areas, but at others I am average or below. It is just who I am. I think one reason people think I am as smart as they think is because what I talk about is beyond their comprehension.

I hate the IQ numbers. They are just a silly label. I know mine, but unless it is relevant to the conversation, I generally do not tell people what t is. It tends to change the way people treat me. I want to be treated for who I am, not the stereotypical way someone with my IQ is sometimes treated. In the same sense, I am sure that my daughter's IQ number is not accurate. The only reason I even worry about it is because they place her in classes because of this number. Because of this, she has been bored out of her mind while sitting in classes totally inappropriate for her.

Mostly a complete idiot but sometimes a genius as well. When I am talking about my special interests people think I am brilliant. But when people get to know me they see the truth. I can't figure out simple things in day to day life. My IQ has been tested at 82. In Oregon before I moved to Washington State the schools repeatedly called me stupid and dumb. I have the total opposite reaction when people first get to know me. I impress them with psychology knowledge and my opinions of current events and politics. Then they say I have a huge vocabulary in which in reality I have a vocabulary that of a 1st or 2nd grader with the exception of my obsessions. Also, I have been bullied severely in Oregon and being called dumb and stupid from the teachers and students. Knowledge doesn't stick with me. I could read a book and forget the entire thing. My long term memory is very good and above normal but my short term is so bad that most of the time I don't even know what date or day of the week it is! Thank God I have a watch. Once I was in the mental hospital and they took away my watch and was lost without it.

A little bit of both... It depends on the person and situation, and especially the conversation. One minute I can be a genius, and the next minute I get schooled on how to mop correctly by my boss... My life

This describes me pretty well. I have had several people tell me that I am the smartest person they know, but if that is the case they must hang out with a bunch of baboons or something. I have met many people who I would think are much smarter than I am... and also much more well-rounded. In certain aspects of my life I feel like a complete idiot.

Sometimes I get people responding to me as if I'm an idiot. Depends on where they encounter me and usually, what I'm wearing, or how neat my hair is or whatever. First impressions are frequently quite shallow right? I'm probably as guilty of that as others occasionally.

The more I talk with someone usually the better their impression of me becomes. People who have known me for a long time are likely to respond genius. Also I get a lot "WTF are you doing with your life?" which I am currently in the process of trying to answer.

Once people get to know me, they are amazed. I make a lousy first impression.

Most people who ask this question aren't doing anything worthwhile with theirs.

Complete idiot - my best friend used to comment that I used to act dumb (in the sense of acting like a dumb girl because girls are expected to be dumb) but this was not the case at all, apparently my genius doesn't convey itself very well

I use to find myself trying to prove myself as being smart, but this never seemed to work out because people seem to assume if you're not at the same level as everyone else then you must be behind everyone else, it doesn't seem to compute that you may be at a whole new level of understanding and thought.

Of course, as I've pointed out before, due to suspected strokes I'm fairly certain I'm no longer anywhere close to the uber genius I once was, so between this and the fact I could never afford to attend university (thus rubbish jobs, unemployment, and no career prospects) I get treat more and more like an idiot these days.

Haha, didn't think of that, thanks!

The variety of answers to this question is interesting. I see several people mention IQ. There's problems with IQ testing and results, or standardized testing in general. The single largest one being, "who determines what is the correct answer?"

It all comes down to how well the test taker can predict the frame of mind or reference of the panel of experts who determine what a correct answer is, and for those experts sometimes, they're doing the same thing when they set an answer. If everyone taking a test is an expert in a particular field, all of a sudden the correct answers may shift, from the situation where the panel of experts are experts but the test taker is expected not to be. If a person who is a mathematician asks a test-taker expected to be a mathematician the question "1+1=?" in order to get a 'correct' response, (I'll say, it's _not_ '2' and I've been at some times, a mathematician, and a darn good one), there needs to be an open dialogue between the person asking and the person answering, where they can discuss the axiom system, or reference frame, for the asking of the question. This dialogue could go on for quite a while. Which is why when you want to see if someone is ready for a degree you don't give them a standardized test but interview them live before a panel of experts. Needs that 1-1 living interaction.

Which is why standardized tests are BS. Not so much in short. Darn I do tend to be long winded. Sore subject in part, but I guess it is for a lot of other people here too or has been at some time.

idiot. If by my age, you haven't a brilliant career, and a few kids also, you're seen as a slacker. Also, I am sure I come off as an arrogant jerk. By now, I'm pretty jaded about society, and how I've been treated, and how I fit in (NOT!)

No, it just proves your manager is a twat.

Most people consider me a genius (must be the glasses), even my friends. However, some people do know I can be a complete and utter failure at completely obvious things, so I don't think they think I'm very smart. The whole intelligence thing is massively overrated, though. Everyone is only good at what they know or what they're talented at.

I have never had a serious IQ test. I do not particularly care and would only really take one because I like numbers and have an ego the size of the Kilimanjaro.

I noticed others' perception of me tend to be more polarized than average, though I don't think anyone has described me as a genius besides my math teacher (And someone in math class.).

Since inevitable prejudice is always present in the observer, I give the prejudice the cause of the paradox of much of my life being regarded as one amongst the characters in the works of Dostoevsky, and his various versions of the iurodivyi. If Uncle GodBucks allows me my share of the family fortune, I would might more closely match the central character in the book "The Idiot", but at least that would be further from the genius of "the devil pretending to be good pretending to be evil".

Tadzio

My mum used to constantly tell me I am stupid, an idiot and really immature, but that was her way of abusing me and I no longer live with her thankfully.

However loads of people give me praise about my intelligence, especially people in my mental health team. I don't know how to respond.