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Netizens Reveal 23 Of The Creepiest Displays Of Genius They’ve Seen In Other Humans
Interview With Expert
From mastering fire and eradicating diseases to inventing the internet and exploring space, humans have displayed remarkable intelligence over the ages. Some of them, though, seem to rewrite the rules with their exceptional intellect.
Someone asked the web, “What’s The Creepiest Display Of Intelligence You’ve Seen By Another Human?” and netizens didn’t hold back. We've got polyglots and polymaths, as well as people with photographic memory. Here are some of the most entertaining answers.
More info: Reddit
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#1
I knew a lady who counted pills in a pharmacy basically her entire life. One time she looked at a container of ibuprofen that was supposed to have 100 pills in it and said it looked off. She recounted and it had 99 pills in it.... 1 less. My mind was blown.
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#2
Not creepy, but I knew a 14 yo who was helping his dad drywall a home. The kid looked at the shape of a staircase, looked at the drywall on the horses ready to cut, looked back at the staircase, then cut the drywall without a single measurement or marking. The drywall fit the staircase so perfectly it slid into place like it was snuggling the stairs.
Not a single measurement.
DennyS (denzoren) 2 hours ago
Now that's a gift....or a fluke, I'll go with gift. As someone who measures and still cuts wrong, this is impressive.
#3
I knew a guy who worked retail and was able to memorize customer credit card numbers.
He used them to buy [adult media].
DennyS (denzoren) 2 hours ago
Damn, that's pretty impressive given you have to remember the number, expiry and security code.
No doubt about it, it’s a fact that humans are the most intelligent creatures on the planet. But, while we have a rich history of adapting to and comprehending the world around us, true genius only comes along every so often. Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Marie Curie, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Alan Turing, to name a few, are all prime examples of sheer human intellect changing the game.
Modern-day geniuses often collaborate across various fields, leading to groundbreaking innovations and creations. The SophiaPop project involved engineers, artists, and AI systems working together to create music for Sophia the Robot, a robotic celebrity and animated character. By combining neural networks and human artistry, they produced original pop songs, exemplifying the fusion of technology and creativity.
#4
A friend once showed me his guidebook to how to handle his girlfriend. He'd taken notes on her likes and dislikes, what he'd given her and precisely how she responded, which actions caused which responses in her, what phrases he could quote at her to yield particular responses etc. and then sort of used the information he'd collected to write a little guide to expected outcomes of various things he does, so that he could 'defuse' her if she got mad at him. If she felt unloved, he had strategies for 'fixing the situation' so he could go back to doing whatever he likes while she gets off his back. "If X, then Y will likely do Z, unless P"
It was somewhere between "oddly sweet" and "creepily manipulative"
**Edit:** this comment is fascinatingly polarizing. I've skimmed through the replies and the reference to TV show characters aside, a bunch of people are saying some variation of "how is this even creepy, we all do this to some extent", while a bunch of others are saying he's a straight up psychopath.
Feathered Dinosaur 3 hours ago
I think it might be Autism. We tend to skript social interactions and try to see the logic behind it (and often fail, because while we're mostly driven by logic NTs are mostly driven by emotions. Nothing wrong with either, just making communication harder)
#5
When I was in medschool I was tangentially friends with a guy who never showed up to uni at all. Skipped all lectures, called in sick for all lab and tutorial sessions.
The night before 2nd year finals he was around my house and said he had spent the last week watching every lecture at 2x speed. Dude placed top 10 (out of 300 students) in every exam. And mind you, it wasn’t just he remembered everything but he had a functional, lateral applicable knowledge of all the stuff we had to know much better than most people who actually showed up.
I always shuddered to think that if he applied himself he would be a monster of a man, but dude was content to just chill.
Edit: Too many replies for me to handle so I’m gonna mute the post. If you really care about having a question answered DM me.
Ace 3 hours ago
Not on this level, not even near, but at grammar school (high school equivalent in US terms) I found most subjects very easy so would do the bare minimum of work, especially homework, and still pass the exams without too many problems. Yes, I was (still am) a lazy sh1t; yes, I could have done so much more, academically. But no regrets.
#6
Not creepy but my high school algebra teacher apparently had the textbook memorized. We were doing work in class by ourselves and struggling with a problem. “What page and what problem #?” he asked. He then proceeded to write the problem out in the board without referencing the book. Blew our high school minds away.
So, how do we recognize genius in contemporary society? There are a few ways. In his 1895 will, Swedish inventor, entrepreneur, scientist, and writer, Alfred Nobel, allocated the majority of his fortune to create prizes honoring individuals and organizations that confer the "greatest benefit to humankind."
Since 1901, the Nobel prizes have been awarded annually in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. In 1968, the Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden's central bank) established the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics.
#7
Shortly before my ex wife and I separated she stated that she had ran all of my friends and family away from me intentionally over the years. Not because she hated them but because if the day came where she decided to [end] me, she would have time to dispose of my body and leave the country before or IF they noticed I was missing. By that point I hadn’t talked to any of my friends or family for almost a year and a half, so they wouldn’t have known for a good while thinking I was still just ignoring them because of her.
Feathered Dinosaur 3 hours ago
That's a tactic often used by narcissists. Isolate, so their victim can't get help
#8
Not exactly creepy but I had a friend who failed maths at school. When presented with a selection of alcoholic drinks, even with hundreds of types he could instantly work out the alcohol content, volume & price to determine which would get him drunk the fastest.
#9
I had a friend from childhood who had an [eidetic] memory. He never forgets anything. At primary school he had a lot of problems because he couldn't accept that people forgot stuff and nobody had any idea that he had this ability. So if anyone got a detail wrong or something like that he would think they were lying/trying to trick him and freak out. Wasn't till he was 15 or so that people realised what was going on.
While Nobel prizes award historical achievements, effort has also been apportioned to recognizing genius when it’s just starting out, too. The Global Child Prodigy Awards (GCP Awards) is the world’s first child prodigy initiative to recognize 100 child prodigies across the globe annually. The aim of the awards is to provide this combined genius with the best opportunities to ensure they create a significant impact on society.
In the US, the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) is the nation's leading organization focused on the needs of gifted children. Dedicated to empowering those who support children with advanced abilities, NAGC provides professional learning, impactful research, and inspiring advocacy.
#10
I was once helping my friends mom run the daycare and I was reading to a ~9 month old and I noticed every time I read an item on the page for example the frog jumped she'd point at the frog. I eventually started making it harder and asking her where the ball is (it was another page) she'd reach turn the page back and show me the ball. I was pretty impressed but I have no clue on development stages.
lenka 1 hour ago (edited)
It is not outside of developmentally normal for 9 month old to recognize words and match them to pictures. At 9 months most kids will understand everything you say and should be starting to communicate through pointing and other gestures and may even be attempting to combine sounds to articulate words. This is particularly true for babies who have been read to a lot. Babies who are taught sign language from birth may even be able to make simple signs. My son (who is not at all gifted) could say mama, papa, cow and pwease by 9 months. He was developmentally ahead with language because we read to him a lot but by the time he started school the rest of the kids had well and truly caught up to him.
#11
Just the first time I witnessed someone with a special interest in real life. Was a school assistant and had been asked to walk around outside the school with a specific 13 year old kid, who needed a 10-minute stress relief break. (It was a school for kids with anxiety and depression)
Anyway we are walking and a plane goes by overhead pretty low to the ground. In a super casual tone of voice that kid starts telling me the heading of the plane, which airport it came out of based on how low it was, and its probable flight number and destination.
I was like 0_0.
Feathered Dinosaur 3 hours ago (edited)
Another probable case of Autism spectrum 🩷. Sadly many if not most of us end up with anxiety or depression in these 'modern times'
#12
When i was 16, my stepdad figured out that my Mom was cheating on him and secretly bugged the home phones (1992, all land lines) and would record the calls and listen back in the garage .. i spent HOURS of time on early BBS sites ( pre dial up internet) which would just create hours of feedback on his recordings or on the phone talking to my friends, boyfriends, etc..so he had to sift through epic amounts of my teen b******t to get to the snippets of my mom's cheating. He also put a tracker on her car so he could follow her from a distance and figure out exactly where she was going.. as long as he wasn't more than a couple miles away... it was impressive for the time. He told me later that i needed to find a job so i didnt just talk about [intercourse] on the phone all day. He wasn't totally wrong.
Feathered Dinosaur 3 hours ago
I would have felt so violated if my dad had listened to my phone calls
In his article for Psychology Today, John Nosta writes that the cultivation of genius has fascinated humanity for centuries. Yet today, according to Nosta, we seem to be experiencing a decline in producing such transformative individuals. Blogger Erik Hoel suggests that this slump might stem from the reduced ubiquity of one-on-one tutoring—a method historically seen as vital to nurturing genius.
Perhaps this is where there’s room for technology to step in. Large language models (LLMs) redefine the possibilities of personalized learning by offering an adaptive, scalable, and deeply engaging educational experience. Unlike human tutors, LLMs can synthesize vast amounts of information from several disciplines, crystallizing it into customized lessons that suit the learner’s unique needs and goals.
#13
I hang around some shady people. The one that took it for me was a hardcore addict with multiple chemical compounds around his house he had no business having. He said he made them all himself, I know my chemistry, and they were all legit what they were labeled as he described how he made them, and it checked out.
I've come to a point in my life where my philosophy is never to underestimate a d**g addict I've seen people at the bottom who are more intelligent in one or two things than I'd anticipate 90% of the global population.
#14
I once watched my cousin with down syndrome just start hitting golf balls at the range like he was the course pro.
He went to a few of my matches growing up and occasionally I would take him to the range with me because he loved watching me hit them and riding in the cart if I played. One day he was messing with one of my wedges and I offered him a couple balls. By no means was he sending these hundreds of yards (considering it’s a pitching wedge) but every shot was practically identical to the one before. He was consistently hitting them 80 yards within what seemed like a 5 yard grouping. Since then I’ve tried to get him to hit more balls but he just doesn’t want to. By far the most unexpected thing I’ve witnessed.
When we asked Annadale what parents can do to nurture genius in their kids, she had this to say, "Try to keep them as mentally stimulated as possible (outings, extra-murals, experiments, trips to the library and museums, listening to podcasts, watch educational shows and YouTube videos together, etc.)."
Annadale says to make sure that they are challenged at school (perhaps they could be allowed to attempt worksheets from older grades or interesting puzzles and brain teasers once they have completed their own work in class. Annandale also advises arranging meetups and outings with other gifted children and their families.
#15
I will never trust that kid at my library who was doing calculus at like 12.
DennyS (denzoren) 2 hours ago
I did calculus at 16 like everyone else and still didn't understand it lol
#16
At my call hospital, we have this nurse that we call Dr. Bob. Anything that any nurse in the Medical ICU doesn’t know , we just ask Dr Bob. When we do our rounds with the medical residents and they are not sure about anything on the patients diagnosis or what type of medication to give or if it’s compatible, they turn to Dr. Bob for answers. The attending doctors talk to his about a patients and diseases like he was one of his colleagues. We often ask him why he is not a doctor, but he says he doesn’t want to be on call of the time. He likes to disconnect and not be bothered.
He likes to code, play around with AI, loves to 3D print stuff, he has a shop where he machine metal parts, etc. He likes photography and all the technical details.
Very impressive and chill guy.
According to the Oxbridge website, common traits of exceptionally talented people include abstract thinking, boundless curiosity, and a rejection of regular routines. If that sounds like you, you might just be a genius.
Have you ever crossed paths with a freakishly talented person in your life? Upvote your favorites in this list and don’t forget to leave a comment on the ones that impressed you most!
#17
I knew a guy who could remember everything he ever read but that's not the creepy part. creepy part was how he wouldn't tell you. so he didn't like telling people because it becomes a game for people "what is the fifth word of the second paragraph on page 93 for this book?"
so anyway, anyone new, he just wouldn't tell them (fair) up until they pissed him off. then it was like a court drama "on January 16, 2007 you said that John and Jane were seen flirting at the coffee shop and, quote, 'omg John is cheating on Mary with Jane again!'"
look through past messages and sure as s**t the message would say that.
Anyway, dude was super smart but really jaded and depressed. fell out of touch so idk what he's doing now.
#18
I used to go to school with a genius dude. He was super shy and introverted but his ability to solve complex issues had everyone ask for his help and he eventually became a super quiet leader in our classroom. He would correct teachers left and right, score perfect grades while everyone else was struggling, he photocopied his extremely clean notebook for everyone to use, solved the tests multiple times in multiple variations with errors and passed it along the class for everyone to copy. Did a few people's final project for a fee in addition to his own. He carried us all through the toughest classes all while staying extremely humble about his intellectual skills. Finished every semester with near perfect grades. We all looked up to him.
#19
I'm not saying it was creepy, but my late friend Bruce could just learn anything on a whim. Languages, history, technology, you name it. He had been running science fiction conventions for 21 years, and when he stopped he said, "I am going to become a CCIE. I heard they make a lot of money." Now, the CCIE certification is f*****g hard; normally it takes many years, thousands of dollars in courses, step programs, test exams, and then usually you have to fly out somewhere to take the exam. He just got some used books, and got a CCNA, then a CCNP, then a CCSI within about 6-8 months. Out of knowing nothing about Cisco or modern computer networking, just ended up becoming an Cisco-certified instructor in less than a year. Then went to get a CCIE. I believe, like most people, he failed the first time, but passed a second time. From zero to CCIE in 18 months.
Companies paid top dollar for him. Some paid just to have him on their letterhead.
His entire life was like that.
#20
My brother in laws family all have PHDs. There’s his parents who have one each. Then his oldest brother who is a medical doctor and then the middle brother who has his degree in physics. His youngest sister isn’t done with college yet but she’ll get one eventually.
The creepy part is that they were raised in rural Washington state in a cabin the woods. They are all super well adjusted and normal. All around awesome people. But they didn’t have a tv or internet until he was well into high school. Also, they made their own clothes from recycled fabric until he got to college. Who does that?
DennyS (denzoren) 2 hours ago
Doesn't sound like a bad life though. Sounds pretty interesting and they all grew up to be awesome people.
According to the Oxbridge website, common traits of exceptionally talented people include abstract thinking, boundless curiosity, and a rejection of regular routines. If that sounds like you, you might just be a genius.
Have you ever crossed paths with a freakishly talented person in your life? Upvote your favorites in this list and don’t forget to leave a comment on the ones that impressed you most!
#21
Magnus Carlsen and all the other top chess players. They remember all the moves from matches way back 1950's.
#22
I watched my mother validate my little sister for two weeks before using that closeness to try and tell her blatant lies about our father and older sister. Just.. manipulation for no goal other than insecurity and resentment.
My mother is like.. a half-baked sociopath. Calculative but not exactly good at social math.
#23
Some people have this weird keen ability to predict danger just before it happens. Like for example, a woman I know stopped walking just before a flower pot fell from above, right in front of her. Another similar incident involving the same woman, she saved a child by grabbing him back just narrowly before a car would’ve hit him. She doesn’t know how she does it or why, it just feels very strange.
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