Feeling stupid

Sasukefan · Oct 19, 2018 7:04 AM

No matter how much i read or study. I still feel like i am intellectually inferior to some other people i know. I just don't know how to deal with it sometimes.

Mr. John · Oct 19, 2018 4:49 PM

It's hard to feel like you're getting anywhere, when you study or work-hard and it dosen't result in much. Don't ever feel inferior or like you're getting anywhere. You can only do what you can. It's rough at times, believe me though the hard-work pays off. Keep on studying, and working and just do what you can. Maybe it's not at the level of others but keep trying and giving you're all. Sorry hope this helps in some way.

36IStillLikeSpyro36 · Oct 20, 2018 3:38 AM

i can be self-conscious about my intellect. i shouldn't be. you shouldn't be. Mr John is right smile but we are anyway i guess. and all i can say is, if it bothers you, learn. retaining some information is better than retaining no information. is it a school subject like math? learn about math outside of the classroom. read websites, Wikipedia articles (Wikipedia can be pretty biased about "controversial" stuff, but with normal stuff like math it should be fine), try to google different kinds of math terms (trigonometry, calculus, etc.) and learn what you can from the websites that show up. when you're bored and feel like drawing, writing, or something like that, do math problems. write random problems / formulae / whatever, and try to solve them. an important thing is getting a foundation to build this knowledge on. in this case, the "foundation" can just be whatever you've learned in math class so far.

something that interests me a lot is theology. not a school subject, it's just something that's important to me. so i use the Bible as a foundation, and then i learn about other religious texts (old and modern). the people who wrote those texts. it also requires some knowledge about languages, because sometimes old languages don't translate very well into English. they had words we don't use anymore; we have words they didn't have back then (an obvious example is the word "internet", which didn't exist when the Bible was written). so i often look at commentaries, compare the languages side-by-side, etc. and try to figure out the meanings of things that confuse me. i also look at other ways of interpreting them, even if i don't agree with those interpretations. like.......... let's say there's a verse in the Bible. i think the verse is meant to be taken literally. God is literally telling us that this thing happened, exactly as it is written. other people think the verse is a metaphor, that this thing is just a story meant to teach us a lesson, not be an actual account of human history. i don't see it that way, but i still learn about those other views, because it still helps me build on what i know.

.............. and obviously this is a lot of stuff. i don't retain everything i learn. and that's fine! i can still walk away from my research, knowing that i learned something that day, and as i pick up more tidbits, it builds up.

this applies to pretty much anything smile take the ideas i mentioned with math and theology ("googling words", "comparing ideas", etc) and apply them to whatever you want to learn about. learn more than you have to, and keep learning. through that, you'll learn something, and over time, those somethings will grow into a vast knowledge. smile

it sounds more difficult than it is, trust me tongue if it were too difficult i wouldn't be doing it

hopefully this helps in some way.

edit: oh, and don't be afraid to branch out a bit. using the math example again, if you want to learn about "geometry" but find yourself on a page about "algebra", don't be afraid to check it out a bit anyway. learning about side-stuff like that, can help you fill in gaps later on. using the theology example again, i've had to learn a little bit about Latin, Greek and Hebrew in my studies, even though i'm studying theology, not languages. but that's fine, because knowing what i do about those languages, helps me when i try to understand old texts. like i said, it helps you fill in gaps along the way.

Last edited by 36IStillLikeSpyro36 (Oct 20, 2018 3:45 AM)

Stormy · Nov 02, 2018 10:49 PM

In addition to what they both said (which was great advice), remember that it's better to be surrounded by people who are smarter than you than to be the smartest person in your social circle. Don't think of it as you being stupid; just think of it as knowing a lot of smart people. I have friends whose IQs I'm sure are higher than mine, and we have great conversations that make me think about things in different ways.

celophi · Dec 14, 2018 5:10 AM

Hi, I wanted to say, that I feel like this all the time. I definitely know where you are coming from, and I still don't know the best way to deal with it.
For example, I have some research projects that I am working on, but I have been stuck on them for years. I'm not sure if I will ever be able to figure them out or learn. It's really tough.

There are people I talk to who are so smart, I can't even understand what they are trying to explain to me. It is quite humbling at times.
I actually had this experience today, and I'm struggling to understand how I can learn what they know.

The above posts have some really great advice smile
When I try to recall what people have told me, I can think of a few things:
1) Be patient.
2) Break things up into small pieces.
3) Ask for help even if you think your question is stupid.

#1 Oct 19, 2018 7:04 AM

Feeling stupid

#2 Oct 19, 2018 4:49 PM

Re: Feeling stupid

#3 Oct 20, 2018 3:38 AM

Re: Feeling stupid

#4 Nov 02, 2018 10:49 PM

Re: Feeling stupid

#5 Dec 14, 2018 5:10 AM

Re: Feeling stupid

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