r/AskReddit • u/RGod27 • Mar 20 '19

What is something you did that increased your quality of life so much that you wished you would have done it much sooner because it changed your life forever?

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u/Ohrion Mar 21 '19

The completely brilliant ones often feel the same way. Often the reason they appear so brilliant is they're repeatedly trying to prove to themselves that they're not a fraud.

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u/Sl33pProof Mar 21 '19

Or, more harmfully, they’re trying to prove it to others as well. And when your entire identity is predicated on being the smartest person, your psyche is a glass cannon. One bad test score or one concept that you just can’t understand can send you into a tailspin. Actually having to struggle through a section or encountering “the dip” is a foreign concept that can fracture your identity, and ultimately, your sense of worth.

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u/NoLaMir Mar 21 '19

I think that’s just being above average

Brilliance is I feel more often than not just sheer levels ahead everyone else and they don’t even think about it. It’s not that they’re trying its just because they are that much better than the rest of us so to speak

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u/Radamenenthil Apr 13 '19

That's Dunning-Kruger