Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share The Best Instances Of Smart Folks Being Incredibly Stupid

People Share The Best Instances Of Smart Folks Being Incredibly Stupid

A lamb is in entangled in rope

We can't be brilliant every second of every day.

Even the Mensa-level brains that walk among us have their off moments.

It is inescapable.

Sometimes IQ doesn't matter.


Redditor SnooTomatoes1254 wanted hear about the times the brightest of us may have come across as the dimmest, so they asked:

"What's the best example of a smart person being incredibly stupid you've ever experienced?"

Nobody is perfect.

Even with a bunch of brain cells.

Remote

Black Magic School GIF by Little MixGiphy

"Our physics professor once had held a remote lecture without turning his Google Meet on. So he just spoke to the computer for 1.5 hours."

PhilosopherActive677

Wash Away

"I used to work at a chemical engineering plant. One day I was in the kitchen washing my glasses with a drop of dish soap and one of the lead engineers said I shouldn’t wash my glasses like that. I asked him why not and he responded that I will wash the prescription off."

Otherwise-Archer

"While he’s dumb, you could wash off any coatings on your glasses, making them more susceptible to glare, fogging, and other bad things."

xpsKING

Class is in Session

"Oh, I almost forgot about this one! When I was in my final year of physics at University, we had a professor who would get very irritated at the pull string for the projection screen, as it would dangle down in front of the whiteboard."

"Every morning, he would spend a good couple minutes attempting to throw the weight on the end over the light fixture above the whiteboard, taking anywhere from 5 to 30 tries each time. All the students would give tips and encouragement, and this became a kind of inside joke for the class of how long it would take every morning."

"Months go by, and one day near the end of the quarter, we end up with a substitute. The sub goes to the board and, without hesitation, grabs the string and hooks it over a thumbtack stuck in the cork at the top of the whiteboard."

"The entire class literally gasped in unison! The sub whirled around, asking what happened, and the whole class just starts laughing. Eventually, someone explained what happened, and we all had a good laugh that an entire class of physics majors never even thought of that solution, let alone noticed that the tack had always been there for that purpose."

Jackthebodyless

Leading to Tragedy

"My brother-in-law had a Masters degree in Physics and Maths. He was a teacher at a high school. He had a new house built. He thought he would save money by nailing on the drywall (sheetrock, Gib board). He managed to put nails through a hot water pipe and the wiring."

"By the time he'd paid a plumber and electrician to fix up the mess it cost a lot more."

CyanHakeChill

Forward

Cant Speak Nathan Fillion GIFGiphy

"University physics professor at a Hyundai dealership arguing with a tech telling him about the noise in his car. The professor was freaking out saying he couldn't even understand what the tech was trying to say, because the tech said 'centrifugal force,' instead of 'Centripetal force.'"

"The conversation could not move forward. It was weird."

Bamcanadaktown

Hyundais came be dangerous. Now we know why.

I need a Check-Up

john stamos sexy smile GIF by ScreamQueensGiphy

"My doctor. During the period of my life in which I was dating my ex gf my doctor would INSIST every time I saw him that I needed to be on birth control because it was responsible to be preventing pregnancy. No matter how many times I told him that I was in a monogamous relationship with a woman he would still keep asking. I guess it it just didn’t compute."

_shes_a_jar

In the Rain

"My sister has been driving her bf's truck for a year. We get in the truck to go somewhere, she says wait, I need to go in the house to get a paper towel to dry off the windshield. I say, why don't you use the wipers? She says, I don't know how. I ask, what do you do when it rains? Answer: I stay home."

KnittingGoonda

Stripped and Unplugged

"I worked IT at a university. We got a call saying a printer would not turn on. The particular person who called was a very steriotypical, 'I have a doctorate I know all the things,' kind of person. Anyway, I get to the classroom and they show me the printer proclaiming they checked everything including the power strip, unplugged it, plugged it back in and all that. They were very irate and rude the whole time I was there."

"While I was looking it over they were getting more upset because they had already checked the power cables and they were fine. Without saying anything I unplugged the power strip from itself, plugged it into the wall then turned on the printer and just walked out."

thedubstepper9000

Conclusions

"My father in law is very intelligent. He taught himself how to solve a rubics cube without looking anything up and is generally a genius in math, logic, puzzles what have you. He believes dinosaurs couldn't be real because they would be too big for their skeletons to uphold their weight. He has lots of other really stupid ideas because he is so intelligent he thinks he can just reason himself into correct conclusions without doing research or adhering to the scientific process."

BakedBeanW*ore

Grass Issues

jeremy davies lawnmower GIFGiphy

"Well, my cousin who has two freaking masters degrees in finance and economics, put his hand in still spinning lawnmower to help it blow out rest of grass faster. He lost a finger."

"I asked why he didn’t wait till it stopped completely."

"He said it was just in a hurry."

toywars

I've never trusted a lawnmower.

And now, neither should you.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Kim Kardashian; Kimi Antonelli
Pascal Le Segretain/WireImage/Getty Images; Luca Barsali/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Kim Kardashian Just Sent A Peace Offering After She Sparked Backlash By Stealing Teen F1 Driver's Towel

At just 19 years old, Andrea Kimi Antonelli seems barely old enough to have a driver's license. But instead of cruising around town with friends, he's driving over 200 miles per hour through the streets of major cities as a Formula One (F1) racer.

The Italian driver, who prefers to be called Kimi, isn't just an also ran either—he's already won won five Grand Prix races since his 2025 debut with Team Mercedes.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Jesse Watters; Hillary Clinton
Fox News; Dominik Bindl/Getty Images

Jesse Watters Ripped Live On Air After His Overtly Sexist Rant About Hillary Clinton's Place In History

Even Fox News personality Jesse Watters' own colleagues pushed back after he dismissed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as just a "female" who will be a "footnote" in history following her remarks that former President Joe Biden's reelection bid was a "terrible mistake" for the Democrats.

Clinton argued that Biden's first significant error was deciding to seek a second term after initially presenting himself as a bridge to a new generation of Democratic leadership.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Jon Ossoff; Donald Trump
MS NOW; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Jon Ossoff Masterfully Hits Back After 'Unstable' Trump Tries To Insult Him With Cringey New Nickname

Georgia Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff hit back at President Donald Trump after Trump branded him "Jon Os(jerk!)off" in an unhinged post following the Republican runoff results.

In this year's midterm election, Ossoff will face Representative Mike Collins, Trump's preferred candidate, after Collins defeated fellow Republican Derek Dooley in Tuesday's GOP runoff.

Keep ReadingShow less
Peter Doocy; Donald Trump
Fox News; Magali Cohen/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

Fox News Just Told The Truth About Why Iran Is So 'Eager' To Sign Onto Trump's New 'Deal'

In an unexpected twist for Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, nepo-baby White House correspondent Peter Doocy called out MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's deal to end the war he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel provoked with Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz that was closed because of their actions.

The son of Fox News veteran Steve Doocy spoke to Fox News host Will Cain on Tuesday from Geneva, Switzerland, where Trump was attending the G7 Summit. Cain asked Doocy if he could hear what Trump said, to which he replied that he could and that he agreed with Trump's assertion that he's "very rich."

Keep ReadingShow less
Three children blowing out birthday candles; Tweet by @Liza137823
Dennis Hallinan/Getty Images; @Liza137823/X

X User Dragged After Complaining About Neighbor Hosting Birthday Party With Six Kids In Backyard

Not everyone likes children or hearing kid noises or activities, but when you are in close proximity to a child-friendly space, you're going to hear some of it, whether that's at a park or even living next door.

X user @Liza137823 got onto the platform expecting to receive validation and comfort from her fellow X users, but all she received were critiques when she complained about a kid's birthday party happening without getting her permission first.

Keep ReadingShow less