Smart or Stupid?

Has anyone labeled or thought of you as 'smart' or 'stupid' based off your SA/Shyness/Quietness?

I have gotten them both. I'd say mostly stupid, though.

Just some memories:
I remember in second grade, playing a game in the classroom where we had to go up to the board and compete with another classmate in a trivia question. When it was my turn, a girl said, "Great, ---- is dumb."

In 3rd grade, a friend of mine told me that a group of girls were talking about me. They were saying that I was stupid because I did not talk.

When someone was trying to get an answer off of me in Statistics in HS, I said I didn't know it. And another kid whispered, "She doesn't know, she is stupid."

And most recently, I've felt stupid a few times at work. A co-worker of mine said, "So you really do have brains" when I told him my grade on a test. He may have been joking a bit, but I think a part of him really thought I was slow or dumb. And then another co-worker said something like, "She's quiet, but she knows what's going on."


I am a good student. I got a 4.0 in HS, was in NHS, got a 3.5 in college. I can't say things come very easily for me, but I think I am pretty smart. I had many teachers compliment me and tell me I am a good student or smart. And I remember during my first year of college, that alot of people thought I was a big brain. I guess I studied alot and one girl from my psych class knew I was doing well - so she probably spread that idea around.

But, really. I JUST hate being labeled stupid just because I am quiet and don't say much. And it makes me upset because the people who usually label you as such, well, are not the smartest themselves. Has anyone experienced this? If not, do you feel like people view you as stupid (or smart?) I think my managers, etc., at work view me as an idiot, too, and I worry it holds me back.

To be quite honest I don't really know what people think of me! They may think I'm a shy person...they may think I'm stuck up because I only talk to a select few who I'm comfortable with. They may think I'm dumb because I don't talk and don't participate in group discussions or they may think I'm smart because rather than talk to people I sit alone and do my work.

I would love to be able to say I don't give a crap what others think of me, but I really do. Sometimes I just want to ask people I don't talk to much what they think of me. Just so I know, and I'll be able to tell them, 'no, I'm not snobby or stuck up, I'm just really shy. And, I'm not dumb because I don't talk...I'm quite smart!'

I also sometimes think (and sometimes know for sure) that the people who judge us and call us stupid or dumb are really just insecure with themselves because they're stupid or dumb. If someone ever said I was dumb I don't think I could fully convince them that I'm not. They take their problems out on us quiet people because they can!

i'm really clueless when it comes to education, i learnt subjects and i excelled at maths but thats about it most of the time i struggled to concentrate in class because of shyness and the environment of the classroom overwhelmed my senses ..

i have friends that will sit there and talk about any subject like their minds are an encyclopedia and if you dont know what they are on about its tricky to join in

if you have a photographic memory you are more likely to remember sentences, text in a book after one or two times, some people it takes longer to figure out the concept of what is being stated

When i was in school i found the constant noise and activity made it very hard for me to concentrate aswell. I don't think I was/am stupid it was just difficult to concentrate. I've found that i can concentrate much better when I'm alone where its quiet. I think I've learned more sitting at my computer than i did at school.

No one has ever directly told me that I'm stupid, but I can tell by the way people treat me that they think I am. I mean, I'm really not that smart at all, but I don't think I am as dumb as people think. I did horrible in school because I never really went, and when I did it I usually just had my head down. I'm especially not academically smart, or not so much at other things really. I don't like being treated like an idiot though. Or maybe people just thought I really didn't care, which I didn't to be honest. I can hardly tell, not good at that either.

it's really retarded to label someone stupid because they are quiet...In fact it's the opposite most of the time..Most quiet people are probably more intelligent becasue they use their brain more than they use their mouths. A good saying i have heard is ''empty vessels make more noise''

I have been judged all my life because of my quiet personality...I'm actually proud of my quiet personality because i think it gives a person an impression of modesty and tactfullness.

In school when we had to have group discussions a mouthy girl in class said to my teacher ''He's doesn't say anything..He just sits there!''....It used to bother me, but not anymore 8)

I have gotten both too. I did really well in school, because most of it didn't rely on me interacting with other people. At the work place, it is different. I want to succeed, but it is hard to fit in with the rest of the group. Its frustrating, cause sometimes, I know its my own fault. I get really nervous/scared/shy around new people, or people I want to like me, and so I end up acting dumb. I am so scared they will think I'm stupid, I end up making it happen. The worst part is that I KNOW that I do this, but I can't seem to help it!! I just never learned how to act like normal people....

Well yeah people, what do you expect when you don't speak?

You're like a blank canvas when you don't speak; anyone can "paint you" the way they speculate about you.

If you speak, you'll start to show your true colors and people will be less likely to incorrectly label you.

Think about it: a guy with a blank stare in his face, just looking down in class all the time.

What the fuck is he thinking? Is he angry, sad, depressed about something, self absorbed, thinking of loving a girl, thinking of killing a guy?

Empty canvas. Talk more, smile more often, sit more comfortably, not slouched; improving body language itself can have a positive impact on self esteem and of course on non verbal communication.

I do well in my tests and subjects and am a lot more "wordly-wise" than many of my peers around here...so most of them know that i'm not stupid, but my quietness seems to make them think i'm more intelligent than I actually am.

I think they consider me strange rather than stupid. :roll:

i was labeled as a smart kid, a nerd even, early in elementary school and i was pretty quiet back then. i talk more now and people still know me to be intelligent, even though in certain social situations i don't know what to say which could lead someone to think that my mind is just blank.