Is it normal to be smart?

81% Normal
28 Comments

I generally get very high marks in school (98-100), which has resulted in people saying this isn't normal and calling me a freak. It's not like I show it off or anything;in fact I generally try to hide it in fear of being made fun off. Is it normal and okay for me to get high marks or am I really a freak of society? Because if I am I can dumb myself down and fail a couple of courses I guess.

Voting Results
81% Normal
Based on 67 votes (54 yes)
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Comments ( 28 )
  • bananaface
    12 years ago

    What sort of smart person would willingly dumb themselves down to fit in?!!?

    One day you'll most likely have an amazing job, which you won't get with average grades! So please just stay the way you are, do you really want to be part of a crowd that insults intelligence instead of rewarding success?!

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    • Alison89
      12 years ago

      I personally don't know anyone who got a better job because he/she had good grades, but I definitely don't believe you won't be able to get a good job if you have average grades.

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      • taciturn
        12 years ago

        The equation is good grades = better university = better career options, but it obviously isn't so cut and dry. Good grades are indicative of one's willingness, capacity, and ability to work within the confined authoritarian system that is reflected in the education system and modeled off most workplaces. It has little to do with intelligence; more to do with the likelihood that someone will successfully function within society.

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        • bananaface
          12 years ago

          Good grades have little to do with intelligence? How so?

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          • taciturn
            12 years ago

            For the reasons I just mentioned - grades are only a measure of a student's ability to function within the set rules. I suppose you could call that intelligence, but doing well in the standard educational system is something I would call a skill, not intelligence. It is a skill to be able to provide what is asked of you. It is a skill to be able to relay information from one source to another - and if you think about it, this is all you're doing in almost every aspect of a typical school. When a teacher calls on you, you're asked to simply vocalize a memorized piece of information. On a test, you are transferring facts from a textbook to bubbles on a paper. On an essay, you are transferring ideas from one document to the next and putting your name on it. One COULD write an essay which expands on certain ideas, but not only is that rare - it's unnecessary.

            There's no need to internalize and expand on any of the ideas presented to you in school - you need only prove that you've heard these things and are capable of writing them on a piece of paper or saying them out loud before they slip out of your mind. Contrary to popular belief, school is not exactly about learning, it's about function. It's about being prepared for the structure of society. That's why things like art, music, philosophy, theater, physical education, etc are sidelined as extracurricular or nonexistent, because that's how they are in society! Those things don't provide a successfully functioning person.

            I think that may be why we become obsessed with people who ARE successful in these fields - singers, actors, sports stars. Celebrities. Not doctors, engineers, or historians. Maybe they're fascinating to us because they represent something outside of typical function. Think about it - why DO they earn so much money and fame? Because they're entertaining?

            But that's just my opinion. Rant over. :p

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            • [Old Memory]
              12 years ago

              I don't usually say wow, but wow. I've had slight thoughts of parts of what you said in the past, but you said parts I never thought of and made perfect sense of it.

              Completely agreed.

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            • DolphinAngel
              12 years ago

              That is exactly what I was thinking of^^

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            • bananaface
              12 years ago

              Wow that's such a good point, especially the last part. I've never really thought about why they're actually famous:/

              I've kinda been thinking about the first thing you mentioned when I've been thinking about myself, because I'm wondering why I don't feel the same way about school as most of the other students. I have a good memory, so I do really well in tests. But I've been wondering for a while what the point is. I like knowledge, yet it just feels like *I'm* not learning, if that makes sense?

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      • bananaface
        12 years ago

        Well if you get good grades, you can go to one f the best Universities and then that opens your options up to almost anything:)

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  • iguessimnormal
    12 years ago

    Oh come on Dear! Pick the pieces up will you? You are special!
    Don't you ever lets those numbskulls(sorry for the word) bring you down. Man! Lemme guess you're still in Middle school/high school. You won't see these people in the Hottest universities where you belong!

    Now, sometimes we tend to have more than what others can do. For example Me!(no no not bragging) haha I am like a total mad musician and could play any instrument given to my hands if theres a new instrument just give me one day and I can hit it the next day. People see me doing this and get amazed some gets annoyed asking me WHY? Why don't they have the same talent? Then later on they get mad at me or so call me some music and art nerd and all... and when I hang around with my friends they just walk around and flash jokes... BUT I DONT CARE! I just stay HUMBLE.

    see... we have this thing that others don't thats why we're considered GIFTED! Others work hard for it but we just do it effortlessly!

    Again... Stay Humble like most successful people were. I've been with them and they had incredible brains and talent too just like you!

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  • zchristian
    12 years ago

    Jealosy that is they are jealous becourse they are not as smart as you...

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  • Dozis
    12 years ago

    It may surprise you to know that getting good grades in school is not necessarily a sign of smartness. School does not exactly teach you how to live.
    So you might end up with a comprehensive knowledge about a subject and still be not really capable of functioning in society as a civilized person. Intelligence and social conscience are two different things altogether. So you become a loser who uses his knowledge to cross all of the boundaries normally needed for a civilized living and work for a future technological hell on earth. Full of completely psychotic but technically intelligent people who forgot how to interact with eachother and simply follow a hierchical system based on lack of ethics and amount of knowledge about facts and how to use tools, in this technological devices, to change the course if events without any respect for those who could not keep up with the technological advances. Or simply wouldn't.
    Like: Look! I am dumb as you are! I failed a couple of tests!
    Yeah, why don't you go look for somebody who gives a crap about the tests and stop bothering people who do not have the need to prove themselves smart or dumb in order to get along?

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    • Alison89
      12 years ago

      Good grades also don't equate to knowing anything about the subject. Good grades just mean you were able to provide the teacher with what he/she was looking for.

      I don't know anyone who has ever disliked someone for being smart or for being dumb, either. In fact, I've known plenty of people who were popular despite being pretty dumb (and didn't give a damn about book smarts), but they knew how to interact socially.

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  • kittylitter101
    11 years ago

    Being smart is usually because your brain makes neural connections quicker than other people's brains. Although it may not be normal, you are certainly not a freak. And you are not the only smart person out there. They probably also say it because they're jealous that you get such high marks

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  • evilcarrotman
    12 years ago

    It's not normal. You're lucky. I wish school came easy to me.

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  • [Old Memory]
    12 years ago

    No, it doesn't make you a freak. to be honest, I'd see someone that doesn't try to be smart are freaks.
    To be honest, not saying this makes you dumb, but you aren't exactly super smart if you think dumbhing yourself down for everyone is a good idea.

    Just remember, there are people that get 99 and 100 out of their tests.

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  • piman
    12 years ago

    all i have to say is dont compromise to please them. as the lyrics go from "bastards of young" by the replacements: "the ones who love us least/ are the ones we die to please/ and i dont even begin to understand!" dont change yourself to fit in. fuck the haters. youre living for yourself. keep up the good work and hopefully you go far in life and these people giving you shit are the ones that rely on your decision on whether or not they keep their job.

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  • Pisslan616
    12 years ago

    What does it say about us that we bully our smart people and make stupid people the norm.

    Hey I am dumb but I'm smart enough to know the world needs smart people.

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  • Tehboss
    12 years ago

    meh just means you learn ok.
    if a girl says you are a freak just wink and says let's get freaky then ;)

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  • [Old Memory]
    12 years ago

    dont fail courses, rub it in and aim for the perfect score every time, why not? own it its yours , if u were my friend i would laugh and give u a nickname ( and use u for info i was too lazy to look up) lol

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  • DannyKanes
    12 years ago

    Oh and zchristian is right, they're jealous :)

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  • DannyKanes
    12 years ago

    I is am smart so. S.A.M.R.T. Yeah! :D

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  • OsamaBinDick
    12 years ago

    I honestly envy you.

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  • Aurora93
    12 years ago

    Ahh, I had that problem. A lot of people hated me. There isn't really anything you can do I'm afraid. :(

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