Can someone be too smart for school and too dumb for a job?

So i recently started to work again (since i'm masochistic ig?) and thinking of quitting next week. As usual, everyone thinks i'm a retard and i started to think maybe i really am not smart enough? I've always been called very smart at school and never understood that either I'm just very good at memorizing things like formulas, that doesn't necessarily mean someone is smart? Anyway, i don't really feel bad about it since i think being smart is overrated anyways but my question is, has anyone else ever felt this way? I wasn never too good at college either so maybe college-level intelligence and high-school level is diferent? I wish the education system was good enough to differentiate between these type of things..

there are, supposedly, 3 kinds of intelligence, IQ (intellectual intelligence - the one that we all know about), EQ (emotional intelligence - the one that aspies are dire at) and SQ (spiritual intelligence - which most aspies aren't too interested in). so, it's perfectly possible to have good IQ (school) and bad EQ (work). indeed, much of life, that is interacting with people, depends, of course, on EQ. and this does become apparent the further up the educational system one progresses. the mix of IQ and EQ required definitely shifts from the intellectual towards the emotional, as this is how most people relate to each other and such relationships become almost essential for gaining advancement.

I knew that about IQ and EQ but it's actually not the interacting with people thing i struggle with. The cases seem too complicated to me, people often need to explain things multiple times for me to understand, and i don't remember much information from my college days. I also can't concentrate when people are talking so it seems more of a learning disability for me. I wouldn't value myself less for being dumb anyways, just can't understand how someone like me could even go to college for law? Doesn't make sense..

-- Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:08 am --

I knew that about IQ and EQ but it's actually not the interacting with people thing i struggle with. The cases seem too complicated to me, people often need to explain things multiple times for me to understand, and i don't remember much information from my college days. I also can't concentrate when people are talking so it seems more of a learning disability for me. I wouldn't value myself less for being dumb anyways, just can't understand how someone like me could even go to college for law? Doesn't make sense..

i don't think this is a matter of intelligence, per se. aspies often much prefer written, as opposed to verbal, communication. it gives them the opportunity to comprehend what is being conveyed at their own pace and allows them to formulate a response in a similar manner. people often think that things like talking fast are a sign of intelligence. apparently, this stereotype is used in the performing arts quite extensively, especially in america. but this just isn't so. the ability to communicate effectively isn't intelligence. it's the ability to make connections.

I agree with this i often can't concentrate when everybody is talking at the same time.. And sometimes i do think and talk fast and people get "left behind" so to speak? I wish i knew how my brain worked lol. Anyway i noticed i often get along better with people from the poorer, less-educated class, they tend to be more mature and understanding.( And lawyers definitely aren't like that) Well i'm thinking of quitting anyway so it's all good..

there are a lot of people that are simply too clever for their own good. and they choose to use their cleverness to manipulate those around them. what they don't seem to realise, or perhaps simply don't care about, is that their lack of sincerity can be very transparent. and, once they've been rumbled, they'll never be trusted again. i have an innate dislike of insincerity - it quite literally makes me cringe. and it's something that i'm very sensitive to as well. this seems at odds with my lack of social skills. i can only guess it's developed as some sort of self-defence against such manipulation. so, yes, i do tend to agree that simpler, less educated folk can be more sincere. but this isn't a hard and fast rule. as i mentioned, it's a choice such people make. they don't have to be manipulative. and i do know some very clever people that are very sincere too. and, whilst i agree that intelligence is often over-rated, because we're all individuals and because intelligence takes on so many forms, it's often difficult to know just how intelligent someone really is, anyway. this whole thing about intelligence seems to me to be only an obsession with those that think they are and think that this gives them some sort of authority over those that they think aren't. it's pretty easy to see how completely egocentric and flawed such a view of other people is. such a view lacks humility. and that, i've found, is an essential quality in people, irrespective of social or educational background. and another thing that i've found is that often those people that have humility are likely to be spiritual in some way too. spirituality isn't something that tends to go down too well with aspies. it's too intangible for them to grasp. all too often they dismiss it as irrational. however, as one of those aspies with a life long interest in spirituality, i've certainly found this to be unfounded. people can be both rational and spiritual, and their very spirituality can be underpinned by rational observations too. i just wish that other aspies could acually see this for themselves.

Perhaps you have work-related anxiety (or performance anxiety)? I'm supposedly smart but there are moments where I get anxious and I lose pretty much 98% of my brain function I also get quite clumsy too.

TwilightVanguard wrote:Perhaps you have work-related anxiety (or performance anxiety)? I'm supposedly smart but there are moments where I get anxious and I lose pretty much 98% of my brain function I also get quite clumsy too.

I have anxiety as well, but i genuinely think i have some kind of learning disability too. It's like i have trouble processing information, especially fast. Though i used to get into times exams for college so i don't understand how this wasn't a problem then..

shock_the_monkey wrote:i have an innate dislike of insincerity

I agree with this when i'M with people i actually like but when i don't like someone i tend to get distant and fake-polite with them (esp. at my job) Also i agree that spiritual/religious people tend to be kinder and more humble, probably because they have a fear of God/karma. So they're more careful not to hurt people. My father who is probably an aspie hates religion type of things but it's probably because there are a lots of religious extremists in my country..

Definitely. Responsibilities are very different in school than in a job. School is for you.

We need to remember there are different types of smart And intelligence. You can have a high IQ and know nothing about street smarts. Or have a lower IQ with a it of street smarts. In todays society e need both. In my own experiences people with a high IQ are rarely street smart.in order to really understand the world one should have an equal balance of both.

Having only high Intelligence is not enough to have a full discovery of the world and how others live. There are many different types of lifestyles that is reality.

Humility is possibility the most attractive characteristic in humans. With high IQ often comes big egos and little soul. You don't have to be poor to have a good soul however there seems to be a pattern of those with less from food to money and shelter that are authentically in tune with kindness and compassion which also is a genuine characteristic of those with less.

Id rather have a real genuine conversation with a poor man than an intelligent conversation of a man with no heart and soul.