# Do people underestimate your intelligence at first?



## Eset (Jun 7, 2016)

No.1 People value intelligence in different ways.
No.2 Everyone I know is No.1


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## xfatalxsnipez (Dec 3, 2015)

Yes, definitely. This comes up in the ISTP forums quite often. People assume we're stupid when in reality we simply don't give a fuck about the topic of conversation. In my experience, ESFJs will often over explain things and speak down to me as if I'm a child.


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## Kitaraah (May 13, 2016)

No, they overestimate it.


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## upbeat (Aug 10, 2015)

I think people do before they get to know me because I can be quiet in certain situations.


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## throughtheroses (May 25, 2016)

Yes, but then I open my mouth. :kitteh:


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## MuChApArAdOx (Jan 24, 2011)

yes online they do. i can be anyone i want to be online, so it really depends on whom i'm trying to bond with. if i don't want to bond with X for example, i will act really dumb and stupid to turn them off. the problem is that rarely happens no matter how ditsy i act lol. and because i don't think intelligence is the sexiest thing overall about a person, i don't want to come off as a person who tries too hard to be smart. i am who i am, if you think i'm smart good, if you think i'm dumb even better. this way when i plot your demise you will never see me coming ha !


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## Catwalk (Aug 12, 2015)

No idea.


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## NineTypesOfLight (Aug 21, 2011)

Definitely underestimating. It comes with not being too vocal about things/being a sensor and slipping in many personal anecdotes for the sake of trying to build a deeper connection (my ultimate goal with people, really). Someone can explain the simple principles of a topic to me and then be surprised when I expand on them to show I already know what they said. Same goes for emotional intelligence; I might come off as aloof to others, but secretly I've already soaked in your feelings and I'll most likely know how to fix the situation for you emotionally if need be. This concludes my dumb humble brag of an answer.


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## ninjahitsawall (Feb 1, 2013)

Overestimate my book smarts intelligence, underestimate my... I dunno, everyday understanding of the world? lol. I don't go around broadcasting my worldview so I guess I am not as enlightened as the people who do.


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## Wartime Consigliere (Feb 8, 2011)

At first, definitely. Quite often. Having brown skin, a Maori name (native New Zealander), and often dressing in urban/semi-'gangster' looking clothes sets me up for tons of racist assumptions about stupidity. I often take advantage of this, too. I like letting people make assumptions (occasionally even intentionally making it easier for them to come to those conclusions) and then provide an example that defeats their expectations.

It definitely works to my advantage when I rap - people expect superficial and material topics/emphasis only to be surprised when I rhyme about philosophy and politics. To some extent, it ties into my hopes for reducing racial tensions too. I'd like to think that people I befriend might be more inclined to argue against casual over-generalizations if they knew someone they like who defied the stereotype.

After a while though, I feel like people gradually begin to overestimate my intelligence. Sometimes I even feel a need to remind people that I'm not perfect, that I know nothing/very little in tons of other areas, and that I'm not as vain as I can come across in being self-confident socially. I sometimes feel like some friends of mine idealize me and exaggerate my intelligence.


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## compulsiverambler (Jan 7, 2010)

Gossip Goat said:


> Yup. Not just with intellect but with a lot of things. Just yesterday someone told me they just assumed I would end up with a bad job. They gave no reasoning that would be any indicator of how successful or not I'd be such as motivation, interest, educational pursuits and dedication.
> 
> Intellect is a big one though, I often feel as if people write me off as "smart (inherently by being an average able-bodied human with no cognitive impairments) but not _that smart_. People usually think they're above average and everyone else lacks.
> 
> ...


Weren't you an ESTP when you made this post, or is my memory playing tricks on me? ESTP to INTP is quite a dramatic change, stack-wise. What prompted that? Just curious. :happy:


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## Gossip Goat (Nov 19, 2013)

compulsiverambler said:


> Weren't you an ESTP when you made this post, or is my memory playing tricks on me? ESTP to INTP is quite a dramatic change, stack-wise. What prompted that? Just curious. :happy:


Due to the inability to narrow down my type I just switch from type to type whenever I feel like it.


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## SilverKelpie (Mar 9, 2015)

People often overestimate my intelligence. Everybody seems to think I know everything and can fix any technical problem. 

My ESTP sister, on the other hand, is often underestimated. She was actually accused by a teacher of plagiarism once because the teacher believed my sister couldn't possibly have the vocabulary to write the paper she wrote. My mother had to fight to get the honors algebra teacher to accept her into her class (and my sister did fine, of course). My sister ended up graduating from one of the most difficult academies in the states.


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## throughtheroses (May 25, 2016)

SilverKelpie said:


> My ESTP sister, on the other hand, is often underestimated. She was actually accused by a teacher of plagiarism once because the teacher believed my sister couldn't possibly have the vocabulary to write the paper she wrote.


The same thing happened with my ESTP brother. His authoritarian teachers have been trying to convince him for years that he isn't very smart.


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## Lady D (Mar 17, 2013)

Wild said:


> People totally underestimate my intelligence at first. I've had a lot of people remark that I come off as ditzy, or someone will tell me that their parents thought I was a "dumb blonde/slutty" type of girl. I think it's for the exact same reason that you get that reaction - I joke around a lot, don't put a lot of emphasis on my intelligence. I also tend to curse freely, which throws some people off. Then as I get closer to a person and they start noticing how well I do academically/how much stuff I can talk about in conversation, they slowly change their mind.
> 
> I guess people assume that if you have a fun personality, you can't be smart, or the two don't mix somehow. Well guess what people, some of us just have the whole package :blushed:


When I was 15 and 16 this was often the case as I dressed pretty feminine and in colorful way, wore make up and form-fitting clothing and laughed very loudly. Some people thought I was a stupid due to that. Nowadays I still like to dress in this way and see it as pretty useful. If someone gets the idea I'm dumb because of what I look they're not worth my time anyway.

It's not that I'm super smart or anything but I've read books since I was six years old, have three degrees and such. I've also been an electorate threee times and speak several languages. So go and judge me based on looks as I'm not the one losing there, lol.


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## confusedasheck (Jan 8, 2016)

I would say underestimate.
Often in my family, my stepfather and brother have debates regarding politics, gun control, and other popular topics. I am not able to contribute to the debates they start, even though, I want to join the debate but I am ignorant of the topic and I find it incredibly boring.

Unfortunately, they think I am below average intelligence because I forget everything due to the following: I never listen to what is happening, and I do not remember specific names; however if they tell me what the specific word means, I will know it 99% of the time. Heck, even my knowledge of science quite weak, since all of the science courses I have taken is completely memory based. My memory is completely off, I have a selective memory and remember very little things, sadly.


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## AlphaLeonis (Jun 13, 2014)

@compulsiverambler

Interesting how you correlate "being reserved" with _intellect _, or rather giving off the impression of being more intellectual. (I understand you're not stating it as a fact, but you're suggestion there). 
I would look at it from the standpoint of people's stereotypes and _cultural_ perceptions of what _intellect _is about. Immediately, we have in mind the figure of the strategist that ponders and ponders about a problem ; we have the stereotype of the secluded genius in mind, too. The common element here is the _silent and reflective _nature of those figures. The connotation of "reflective", or also, _introspective_, unconscisouly reminds us of figures of monks, wise people. 

The expression "Turn your tongue seven times in your mouth before speaking" also refers to this social perception : if you wait, are careful, wait (before you act or speak), you are being wiser, and more intelligent. 
It's a cultural perception (cultural, universal, local ; it depends on which degree you're bathing in). 

Recklessness, somehow, could be associated with rash decisions, unwise acts (as opposed to those who wait and _think_). 

Now, apart from stereotypes, languages and cultural areas you could look into, you can try to shed some light with the MBTI theories. 
_How _do we come to judge others as "being clever" (intellectual) - if such a thing exist, in the absolute? (Perhaps defining "intellect" and debating around its definition would be onpoint here 8D)
There are different types of intelligence who could be valued differently depending on your type preferences ; people tend to value in others acts and behaviour that they themselves value (It's not even conscious, as in, you consciously think "Here, I value this and that", but rather it's linked to your perception of how reality is mapped and you should navigate the world, according to your own functions.

(These are overall simplications aimed at providing examples of a type of reasoning that could lead to a certain evaluation of somebody's intellect ; they are, by no means, aimed at generalizing what types are and do) :
Thinking types value efficiency, results, truth, and therefore, if you're not being efficient, for some reason, they might end up tagging you as dumb (because they had a solution and you couldn't see it their way, and you must be dumb). 
A Fe type may come to judge people as dumb because they're just acting against the group consensus, and they're working against Fe's needs to maintain harmony ; a given situation might come to threaten a Fe-identified ego, and therefore, the person will come to judge such and such as stupid.
A Si type may consider Ne's desires to jump into new opportunities without a solid ground as reckless, because Si-types wouldn't go that way and they'd go about life in a safe, known approach;
Ne-types may consider Si needs for stable and solid grounds as dumb since Ne, in its pure form, doesn't see how you would need consistency and sequentialization of your life. 

Between Si and Ne behaviour, who's right ? If you take the extremes, neither ; if you compromise between the two, you find a balanced, exhaustive approach to things : you need solid grounds before launching yourself into new heights, but if you stick to what you know, you'll never outgrow yourself*

*This "outgrowing the self" may even be a personal bias. As a Ne-aux, I value growth and expansion, discovering new possibilities and getting out of what I know, more intuitively than I would try to consolidate the grounds I own already. Bleh. 

What I'm trying to say, is, when others act in a way that is contrary to your own internal needs, your own egotype, you judge them negatively (Less clever is objectively negative).


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## TheQuestionette (Jun 18, 2016)

Yes, my first roommate in college was stunned when I proved to be better at math, because she had thought I was stupid (she said so to my face). Bear in mind this was my first roommate – the one the university selects for you. Let’s call her Mary.

Mary proudly told anyone who would listen that she had declared a major in Physics. She seemed none too impressed with my declared major – Musical Theatre. About five weeks into our freshman year Mary was no longer bragging. She was failing Physics 101.

One night, after Mary had been complaining about a particularly brutal problem, I asked if I could help. She seemed rather amused by my offer, but agreed to let me ‘try’ just the same. I solved the problem in short order, and Mary checked my answer with the one listed in the back of her textbook. It was right, but the look on her face said that I had committed some unforgivable wrong. Mary slammed the textbook on the table and stormed out of our dorm room.

Later, after calming down, Mary kindly explained that she had assumed I was stupid, because I had grown up overseas. She was certain that the education I received in some foreign country couldn’t possibly be as good as the one she received in rural America. (Side note: I attended an accredited American school that the local U.S. ambassador and other American diplomats seemed to think was good enough for their kids.) As Mary continued to elaborate, I got the impression that she thought I had only been accepted into the university to help meet their international student quota.

Mary changed majors a few weeks later. We didn’t room together beyond freshman year. A few days before graduation, I ran into her at the Dining Commons, and we had a nice chat over lunch. She had changed quite a bit by then and seemed much happier.

I've had a few other similar experiences over the years. I’ve often wondered if people assume I’m stupid, because I don’t go around bragging about myself. I experienced numerous forms of culture shock attending college in America. One thing in particular that shocked me was how much everyone boasted about their abilities. People just didn’t do that where I grew up. Post-graduation I don’t notice it as much anymore, so maybe it’s just an aspect of U.S. college culture.


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## Sporadic Aura (Sep 13, 2009)

Yes.

Most people realize I'm intelligent, but they don't appreciate the sheer magnitude of my genius.


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## Carpentet810 (Nov 17, 2013)

They underestimate until it is too late


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## Aladdin Sane (May 10, 2016)

They do because I don't like most people so I don't give much away about myself. I don't talk unless I have something to say. And if it's someone I don't like, I kind of just ignore them and get lost in my thoughts so they probably think I am shy or something, but really, I just don't care to interact with them.


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## d80p (Mar 3, 2016)

No. 

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## Engelsstaub (Apr 8, 2016)

It has happened especially in my childhood since I have always been a men of few words and some people judged me as not very smart because I talked very little.


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## IdealTruths (Jun 30, 2016)

Yeah, I'm anxious, lazy, and not exactly mindful so that can make me seem air-headed. As one of my enemies kindly put it,

"I used to think you were a fucking idiot the first time I met you, not even gonna lie. But you're actually really, really smart."


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## Aridela (Mar 14, 2015)

compulsiverambler said:


> Or overestimate it, or neither?
> 
> I've noticed that when my job comes up very early into a conversation with a new person, or before we've talked about anything "intelligently", the reaction seems to be one of surprise. There could be other reasons, but I suspect it's because they had expected something less intellectually rigorous. I'm only in run-of-the-mill software development, nothing that takes a genius, but clearly I don't come across as smart enough to have even this, lol.
> 
> ...


Underestimate. 

Which is good because I get dates. And bad because men run away after they find out.


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## Rascal01 (May 22, 2016)

Yes, that has happened. It can be quite an advantage if you use it properly.


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## Kallista (Jun 27, 2016)

Yes most people underestimate my intelligence and capabilities. I frequently get mistaken for a teenager even though I am double that age so people are surprised when they get to know me.


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