Are you intelligent but sometimes lack common sense?

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It would be interesting to see how many people respond to this thread. This is because, even though I am often considered smart, there are some instances when I lack what others perceive as 'common sense'.

Here are some examples that I have done:
- Pouring kettle water into a cup of tea, forgetting to boil it first.
- Making silly but obvious mistakes in maths mock exam papers.
- Forgetting obvious instructions, e.g. when I stayed at a university for a few days and we were being guided to our rooms based on our door keys. For some reason, I nearly went into another room even though it was not that of the key.
- Doing things which seem logical, but come across as stupid to other people, e.g. we were doing some lab work in Chemistry today and we all have our own boxes to keep apparatus in. I put several clamp stands and burettes in there (WITH chemical bottles). Even though I considered it logical and procedural because of the security of having it in MY box (so that I wouldn't have to get new apparatus, I was somewhat told off by my teacher and she said that sometimes I leave my common sense at home.
- Not keeping in touch with current affairs, and sounding slighly inept when asked about them.

Is this explained by Asperger's? I can't think of any other explanation, because if it can lead to motor clumsiness then might it also lead to lack of what is considered 'common sense'? It seems that sometimes, even though I am considered 'clever', I often do things that demonstrate a lack of common sense and give a completely different impression of me.

Does anyone else find this? Is it an annoyance? I'd be interested to hear.

Yes, that's me all over! Very smart, but seem to have lapses in common sense here and there. I definitely think it's explained by Asperger's. I think it's partly theory of mind and partly having a logical mind, when not all situations call for logic. Fortunately I think most people are quite tolerant of these lapses in common sense here and there.

No, I have good common sense.

I wouldn't call what you are doing a lack of common sense just different priorities that make sense to you may not be "correct" . But also I know that often my mind is so busy elsewhere I do similar odd and potentially disastrous things.

Sometimes lacking common sense? For me, it happens more often than I care to admit.

Ha! yeah that happens to me alot it seems so normal at the time but when you think back it seem so stupid and weird why you would think that way

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I think that I have common sense, but sometimes (well, often, actually) it fails to show up on cue. If I were taking a test with short answer or essay questions, and I was given a hypothetical scenario, and asked what the logical/ sensible course of action would be in that situation, I would most likely give the correct answer. Even if this question came up in an interview, and I had to give my answer verbally, the odds would be in favor of my answering correctly. However, when I'm actually in the moment, dealing with an actual situation, there's a significant chance that the sensible course of action won't come to me on time. Thus, my behavior in said situation will make it seem like I lack common sense, and that's what any observers are likely to think. If I have a chance to think about this sort of situation after the fact, the sensible course of action is generally painfully obvious.
I'm not sure exactly why this is the case. It could have to do with the fact that my verbal IQ is *much* higher than my performance IQ. I know that when I have the chance to sit down and think/ reflect/ write/ talk about something, my thinking is generally much clearer than it is when I'm out there doing. This could also have to do with the fact that I tend to overfocus on one or two details of a task or situation, and overlook all other crucial details.
Of course, to anyone who doesn't live in my head, none of these things are apparent, and I just appear to lack common sense. *shrugs*

It happens when I overanalyze. That's why I keep it to a minimum nowadays...

Yeah, I do stupid stuff too. I forget crucial steps in things I do quite often. I never thought about why it happens- it's the same reason your mind wanders when you read. Some call it A.D.D, some call it forgetfulness, you call it a lack of common sense, but it's not that uncommon.

In my case I think a lot of it is due to a having a preoccupied mind. Being over-focused on too many things.

Besides generally having a racing mind, there's the AS trait of being deficient or clumsy when it comes to social graces. If I stress over it, then my mind is preoccupied with that. If I don't focus on it and end up saying something inappropriate, then I'm preoccupied with the aftereffects - usually getting mad at myself.

The things that you mention sound more like ADD than "lack of common sense", IMO.

And yeah, I'm right there with you. If I could get my act together enough to see a psych. to figure out what's up with me, I'm 99.9% sure they would at least say "ADD" (or ADHD-I, if you prefer. Same thing.)

Just a few days ago, I was doing an experiment to heat a test tube with baking power in for some reason (I think it was gas being released, or something). After the practical, I went to put the equipment away. I thought "Okay, grab the test-tube and empty it out.". I tried to pick up the test-tube, forgetting I had just heated it .

I make some very stupid mistakes because of my poor short term memory. My brain is unbalanced where I'm above average in verbal skills but below average in short term memory. So yes, I can act stupid for the fact that I can sometimes forget something within ten seconds when my brain is not focused yet I can remember something that happened 15 years ago.

I am not sure if this is relevant to the thread but I can be very impulsive - I have been known to make bad decisions on the spot (especially when I should think about them first). I do not do this constantly but I have done it often enough in the past to regret it. Sadly, I have not learned not to do this.

Yes, and in reading the other responses you could have all answered for me. I can eagerly discuss politics, history, movies, music and other things I'm into--in great detail; but a lot of the everyday mundane stuff other people take for granted, I'm Mr. Oblivious. Sometimes I forget things, esp. people's names; I can be clumsy, lack social graces, say stupid things, can't do math in my head, be really socially awkward, my mind tends to wander, I honestly don't know how people put up with me!

Yeah, ive had this happen to the point that ive been declared far too ditsy to be a guy