Brilliant...but lazy....

[Relish in Chaos]

Personally, I just can?t study. I started my A-Levels a little more than a month ago, and I?ve been getting a bunch of essays, and whenever I try to just sit down, concentrate and do it?I just end up staring at a blank page, unable to think of anything to write. And I can?t plan things, because I?m the kind of person that just likes to get stuck into things. And it doesn?t help that the teachers give us a shitload of papers, half of which we?ll read once and then probably lose, and 90% of which doesn?t even fucking go in.

*sigh* Sorry, what was the question again? I think I might?ve just used this as an excuse to complain about my lack of motivation. I don?t think I have ?above average? intelligence or that I?m even particularly talented in anything. I?m just averagely intelligent, excelling in English (I mostly get A/B grades), but I end up hitting a brick wall whenever I try to revise or anything like that. It doesn?t help that I?m a severe procrastinator either. Heck, right now, I?ve got a week-overdue History essay to write up, and I?ve only done one paragraph.

I do have a friend who?s a self-proclaimed ?genius?, because he never does any revision, yet gets high grades in his exams. But grades aren?t everything. Humans can?t be reduced to just letters and numbers on a piece of paper.

 

[electric_warrior]

I think there are tow types of ability:

1. Intelligence, talent, being naturally good at something

2. Drive, determination, organisation

One without the other will only get you so far in life, but I think I'd rather have drive and determination over intelligence. The ones who do really well have a generous helping of both.

As it is, I'm more smart than determined, but I've done alright for myself so far. I'm at a good university, doing a hard subject (law) and I have enough friends and hobbies to keep me more than occupied. I don't think I could have rely applied myself much more than I have, it's just not in my nature.

I think that people who say "I could do better if I tried harder" are probably telling the truth, but they're overlooking the fact that they lack the arguably more admirable qualities of discipline, self-possession, drive, ambition and responsibility. As such, they probably couldn't do better if they tried because they are incapable of actually working harder. I'm fully willing to admit that I'm less able than people who are as smart as me, but are better at working. Indeed, I'm probably less able than people who probably aren't as bright as me, but who, again, are more responsible. A genius with no practical skills, awareness or drive to succeed will always amount to nothing.

Maybe all this comes from the stupid idea that trying is somehow inferior to having it come easy? I don't know, all I know is that I didn't try hard enough, but I probably couldn't have tried all that much harder without burning out. I'm just not capable of it, which is one of my biggest failings.

 

[electric_warrior]

snip for convenience

I used to be like your friend. He'll come unstuck at university/college if he doesn't buck up. My best advice is to do your work somewhere quiet, using books instead of the internet. There's nothing worse for studying than the internet, believe me. Even if it's just an hour a day in the library or something, it'll make all the difference.

I managed to get my a-level grades up from BBBB to AAAB in the space of a year by simply cutting out the internet and doing all my work from textbooks. Schools are kidding themselves if they think that relying so much on the internet/electronic essay writing is a good thing. I mean, have you ever tried to read a book off of a computer screen? I find it totally impossible, don;t know about you. But I digress, switch from digital to analog and you'll find it much easier to concentrate

 

[Bobic]

There are brilliant people out there who are completely incompatible with what this world demands. Attack their sense of pride, threaten them, or make them hurt because they don't contribute. Whatever lines you want to cross. It's both desperate and futile.
Now go and burn with rage. Just feel that anger and need to spite consume you.

Fuck me, it was weird reading that coming from a smiley colourful caterpillar.

OT: I agree quite strongly with what you said OP, nothing to add but support.

Bobic: a moderately intelligent person who did alright in up to degree level education, thinks trying is hard and the threat of failure is scary, not brilliant enough to spell caterpillar without google.

 

[DugMachine]

This so much.

Tired of hearing this pathetic excuse for laziness and complacency. I'm no genius but I have goals and am going for them. Then I have lazy family members and friends who say "Oh I can do that I'm just lazy lol." No, if you could do it you wouldn't be working some dead end job at the same pay for 4 years.

Every time I hear "I'm smart but lazy" I will surly judge the fuck out of you and don't you dare act smug or superior or I'll call you out on it.

 

[krazykidd]

Well i was very good in shool especially college . I put in minimum effort and got straight A's , but i am very Asocial , closer to anto-social . So i didn't go to university because working and talking to other people makes me nervous . Every class demands group work . Let me do my essays alone and i'll have no problem , have me do it with other people and i get nervous as hell . In such a social society i don't have my place , so i quite school , started a graveyard shift somewhere where i am completly alone and i am getting by fine .

I am lazy , i COULD do a lot better , but my asocialness is keeping me back , and honestly i can't work around it .

 

[Kae]

I really doubt most of them are like that, when I was a kid I got told this by several professors and I'm hardly brilliant, actually my IQ is below average, and I wasn't really lazy since I tended to read a lot of textbooks and encyclopaedias, they just thought that because I didn't work in class, but that was more that I have a lot of trouble concentrating when there's noise than anything else.

In any case I'm pretty sure a lot of people just get told that by their professors and hold on to it as a fact because it makes them feel better, doesn't necessarily mean that they are or aren't, but they have never really proven it.

 

[Icehearted]

So much presumption. Honestly, a lot of the world is 10% skill and 90% opportunity. It doesn't matter how brilliant a person is, if they haven't the means, are not well connected, or simply unskilled at pandering to curry favor they can get nowhere in life because other people won't allow them to do so. Being lazy is nearly NEVER the problem.

 

[Syzygy23]

Sometimes I wonder if maybe I coulda been one of those "minimal effort" people...

Things were REALLY easy for me up until 7th grade. I remember clearly the teacher letting me work outside the class on Algebra problems while everyone else was inside still doing pre-algebra. That was the LAST good Math teacher I ever had. (She actually taught the how and why that math works the way it does rather than drilling equations into our heads and forcing us to learn pattern recognition by rote)

And then Xbox happened. Why my parents bought that for me and my siblings I will never understand considering that up until that point, I had displayed addictive tendencies towards videogames.

I finally managed to pull my shit together long enough to just BARELY pass highschool and get my diploma. Eventually kicked the habit 2 years ago, started in at university and suddenly I'm back to everything being mostly easy again.

Is that what you would consider "Brilliant but lazy"?

Except Math. I gotta play catch up with that one.

As far as Vault101's complaint goes, I would have to agree with you.

What we've got going on here is a standard case of the Dunning-Kruger Effect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

I'm not brilliant, I'm just brilliantly lazy. :3

 

[DugMachine]

So much presumption. Honestly, a lot of the world is 10% skill and 90% opportunity. It doesn't matter how brilliant a person is, if they haven't the means, are not well connected, or simply unskilled at pandering to curry favor they can get nowhere in life because other people won't allow them to do so. Being lazy is nearly NEVER the problem.

And what about the people who have the so called smarts but never take opportunities even if they're given to them on a plate?

 

[TheNaut131]

Technically can't everyone "do better?"

And you know what, no one should be called brilliant, let alone identify themselves as "brilliant" until they've solidly earned it. And for the most part, after their death, when all is said and done.

As for me...I could do better, same as everyone else. It's all about hard work.

 

[Dansen]

The biggest factor is mindset not talent.

My AP chem teacher gave my class a handout at the beginning of the year that talked about how mindset is the biggest driving force behind performance and could in fact be considered an aspect of intelligence. Their was a study done on a group of kids, They all took the test that was specifically designed to be easy. Half the kids took the test and were told how smart they were for completing the test with so much time left over, the other half took the test but the moderators complemented them on how hard they worked. The two groups were then given a substantially harder test, the group that was complemented on their intelligence did substantially worse and many outright gave up. The group that was told how hard working they were scored better and tried to work through the questions.

The kids that were told how smart they were went in with a mindset that told them they were intelligent, therefor putting effort into work was a sign of stupidity and giving up was a way of subconsciously avoiding this. The kids who were told how hard working they were treated everything as a problem to be solved and tended to enjoy a challenge.

The problem is that society considers intelligence a completely fixed quality, when in fact their is room for people to cultivate their intelligence. That it is a sign of weakness and stupidity to ask for help. The truth is that it is weak and stupid to not avail yourself of the recourses available to you. It all depend on how you approach the problems. I admit that I was one of those kids that thought effort was a sign of poor intelligence, but because of this reading I have completely changed my attitude. I am currently getting honor role and have a shot at getting honors with distinction, while taking three AP courses. There has to be some truth in the study.

 

[Patrick Buck]

I'm very lazy. I think if I worked really hard, and put a lot of effort in, I might be able to get A's most of the time, but I really don't. I don't however, get a's without anywork when I do.

But some people do, it's unfair, but I think it's true.

But I would just like to point out, I'm not brilliant, before anyone calls me a narssacist or something, I'm really not. I have to put the work in.

 

[TheLazyGeek]

Lazy people are less likeable only because you know they are less likely to do things for YOU. That's all.

Oh, I see how it is. Well I'm taking back those white chocolate macadamia nut cookies I baked for you then.

 

[Daeggreth]

I think brilliant but lazy people are a little annoying. Mostly because I've met people who say they are like this and so don't try. And then they get behind and whine they may actually have to study or something. And also, cause if you are brilliant, why the fuck would you not apply yourself?

Fear. When your self worth comes from always excelling without ever having to try, what happens if you come across something that you can't do with your eyes tied behind your back?

How much easier is it to know that you could probably still excel if you applied yourself than to do so and find out you cannot?

The ingrained work habits, or lack thereof, are also a huge factor.

Edit: I think there are actually two kinds of 'brilliant but lazy' people being discussed here. They are basically one and the same, but I personally know far more of them who take no pride in their natural gifts than those who maintain a smug sense of superiority.

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

I've been called brilliant, but I dropped out of school, couldn't hack it what with my mom dating a heroine addict, my sister doing her best toget rid of him, including an annonymous call to child and family services accusing him of molesting me(I mean don't get me wrong guy was a douche, but a child molesting pedo he was not) meaning that aside from being the poor kid, the quiet kid, and the kid with asthma, who also was dosed to hell and back on antidepressants, but now I was the kid who got pulled outa class by the cops. I had no friends, my family was a warzone, and I was on so much medication that I couldn't feel or think propperly, and it was causing major insomnia. I wouldn't call that lazy, I dunno about any of you.

I grew up poor though, had to work for everything, grew up with a firm understanding that nothing in life is free.

I'm 26 and just now pulling out of the cycle of povery, and depression I've been fighting for over a decade, next step GED, after that, no fuckin clue, too late/expensive to get into mechanical engineering(which I fancy), so I have no clue what I'll do from now,might just take some business courses, and open a business of some sort with some friends... never know what the future holds, I may die in an accident or something by then, never know, so I live as much life as I can in the meantime.

Some people are arrogant A-holes though, I'm sure that's the type discussed here, arrogance is not my thing. I know I'm smart, but I don't make a big deal of it.

 

[Icehearted]

So much presumption. Honestly, a lot of the world is 10% skill and 90% opportunity. It doesn't matter how brilliant a person is, if they haven't the means, are not well connected, or simply unskilled at pandering to curry favor they can get nowhere in life because other people won't allow them to do so. Being lazy is nearly NEVER the problem.

And what about the people who have the so called smarts but never take opportunities even if they're given to them on a plate?

Couldn't tell you. Being "brilliant" doesn't always mean doing what's brilliant or even sensible. It's been said that a part of being exceptionally gifted is being unusually flawed (more or less), perhaps what some people see as an obvious opportunity others that are brilliant might be missing the obvious.

Again I doubt it's a matter of being lazy, at least not very often. Even things that come across as laziness might actually be hiding deeper issues.

 

[RedFeather1975]

There are brilliant people out there who are completely incompatible with what this world demands. Attack their sense of pride, threaten them, or make them hurt because they don't contribute. Whatever lines you want to cross. It's both desperate and futile.
Now go and burn with rage. Just feel that anger and need to spite consume you.

Strong the rage is in you, young one.


LET IT ENGULF YOUR HEART FEEL THE RAGE CONSUME YOUR VERY SOUL AND CRY AS EVERY FIBER OF YOUR BEING IS CAUSED TO SHIVER WITH EACH AND EVERY BREATH THESE PEOPLE TAKE.




Although, you're probably a douche bag, this is a worthless topic about people who don't know how to manage their life... then again if you're looking at garbage like this I'd hate to compare your life to theirs.

I am very upset nowadays.
I'm in a horrible part of life right now.

I'm 37 years old and spent so much time and energy struggling to learn new responsibilities and dedicate my time to ensuring the growth and prosperity of elders and peers alike. And now I am jobless, my savings almost gone, and everywhere I turn get complete apathy towards my past commitments and accumulated experience.
The world is telling me that I am not good enough for it, that I owe it money, that I am wrong in wanting to escape it, and that I must now employ miracles day after day to earn my right to avoid it's censure.

I can longer muster up the amount of naive optimism it would take for me to see the collective as conscionable or just. It's a litter of animals fighting to feed their own voracious appetites and enthusiastically cite who the runts of the litter are in order to invoke vae victis upon them.

Right now I just wish this world would try to act as though nobody should be left behind, or if that is not possible help those who've become a burden to go in peace.

As for this topic, I posted that I misinterpreted what it was about. I am very sensitive right now, and felt like it was a personal attack on those who are not living up to the demands and standards of a forced arrangement that was made without their consent.

 

[OuroborosChoked]

That video irks me to no end... just a bunch of damned hipsters bragging... Ugh. Nothing I'd rather see less, and I mean that.

What we've got going on here is a standard case of the Dunning-Kruger Effect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

I don't think that's really what's going on here, though A for effort. I think most people just haven't been challenged by their schooling... it's so easy to just skate by on most things that it ingrains a sense of academic apathy.

For me, I wouldn't say I'm brilliant. I know my limits. I know I'm sharper than many of the people I meet and can speak intelligently about a wide, wide array of topics (just curious by nature and I absorb everything), but I can and will readily acknowledge the skills and talents of others if or when I see them being displayed.

However, I'm not particularly skilled in any one area... nor am I motivated to rectify that or apply myself. I just don't care to. Apathy is the word. There's no point, so why bother? I'll work hard enough to maintain a comfortable lifestyle and get the things I want... but beyond that? Meh. I can't use it after I die... so fuck it.