# Do people assume you are dumb because you're quiet?



## Brownlkirs (Sep 22, 2014)

I got this throughout high school, the main thing people used to say behind my back was that I was dumb. I guess because; when asked a question in class I'd get flustered and often just say "I don't know" but also just for being quiet in general. As if they thought the reason I was quiet was because I was mentally absent and had nothing to say. People I used to go to school with are always surprised to hear that I'm now doing a bachelor of science, when a lot of them didn't even get into university


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## StaceyLaine14 (Apr 11, 2015)

No. The exact opposite actually. I occasionally spoke up when I was 120% sure I knew the correct answer, and my teachers probably talked about our grades more than they should have. I also participated in academic competitions and awards were given in front of the entire student body. I don't remember exactly how I got my reputation. I went to school with the same kids since kindergarten, so we had all gotten to figure all this stuff out about each other before the cliques were formed and when we were all equally curious about one another. I went to an incredibly tiny school, so secrets were nearly impossible to keep.


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## Junebuug (Jun 17, 2014)

Yes, because i was quiet as well and when it came to homework i didnt have any motivation whatsoever to do anything or even try. So my grades were ****, but my test scores always kept me in honors and people still assumed i was dumb


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## mike91 (Sep 23, 2012)

I used to sit next to a kid in science he was quite and and i thought he was smart and he was it the loud mouths that i find dumb


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## wrongnumber (May 24, 2009)

In primary school, yes. In highschool and beyond, no. They usually thought I was smart.


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## pocketbird (Jun 30, 2014)

I used to be paranoid about all that stuff, but no, I don't think so. There were times where I would respond with "I don't know" constantly, in order to make them go away. I think they thought I was smart for being so quiet and to myself, but the truth was, I wasn't that smart.


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## vienuma (Jul 23, 2014)

No. Since my school years I've always had top marks, so they've consider me smart. (strange enough, it sometimes annoys me, as I personally don't believe marks can show how intelligent one is)


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## Aloe vera (Apr 20, 2015)

No. People in school always wrongfully thought I was a genius.


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## Sabreena (Feb 17, 2012)

StaceyLaine14 said:


> No. The exact opposite actually. I occasionally spoke up when I was 120% sure I knew the correct answer, and my teachers probably talked about our grades more than they should have. I also participated in academic competitions and awards were given in front of the entire student body. I don't remember exactly how I got my reputation. I went to school with the same kids since kindergarten, so we had all gotten to figure all this stuff out about each other before the cliques were formed and when we were all equally curious about one another. I went to an incredibly tiny school, so secrets were nearly impossible to keep.


Me too. I went to a really small school and from kindergarten onwards I had a reputation as a "smart" kid which I pretty much lived up to up until high school, when the stress & pressure started getting to me.

Now I'm in college and it's completely different. Here, it's not enough to be able to crank out decent papers and get good grades on tests (not that I do anymore.) To really stand out, you have to sit in the front of the class, and contribute to discussions, and banter with the teacher after class, and go to office hours etc.

I'm pretty sure that a lot of my teachers think I'm dumb because I never talk in class and always seem to need extra guidance doing basic things like getting into groups.


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## meema (Mar 4, 2015)

In elementary and middle school everyone knew each other and I'd always get awards for doing stuff and yada yada. When I entered high school, I moved to a completely new area where nobody knew me. With exception to my first year where I was moderately social, people didn't expect much from me in class. My social anxiety and depression had gotten worse and I wouldn't answer a question even if I was called on. I was just seen as an average student.


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## Cheesecake (Feb 2, 2007)

I think it may have contributed to people thinking I was smart. I kind of fell into that nerd stereotype. Glasses, bad fashion sense, socially awkward, and I guess my shyness tied into my awkwardness.


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## Squirrelevant (Jul 27, 2008)

In school I was considered intelligent, but treated as though I were dumb due to my awkwardness and slow reactions in social situations as well as being an easy target for ridicule.

These days I'm not too sure what people think. At the very least I think I'd be considered absent-minded and lacking in "street smarts".


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## Steinerz (Jul 15, 2013)

They thought I was smart because I didn't talk much or at all.


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## SilentLyric (Aug 20, 2012)

I somehow got a rumor spread about me that I was really smart lol, just because I did my work and studied...apparently doing the minimum makes you a genius!


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## Vee87 (Jul 16, 2012)

probably, i'm the last person anyone asks for advice lol


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## Kristine Marie (Jul 10, 2012)

In high school, no. I went to a small high school where they publicly posted the A honor roll after each semester and my name was always first. So people knew I wasn't dumb.

Now that I'm in college, I honestly have no idea. I mean, my professors know that I'm not dumb because they see my writing (which is a lot better than my speaking). Some of the students probably think I'm dumb, though I have no idea since they probably barely notice me.


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## BobtheKat (Feb 7, 2015)

Yes. Recently a girl, who I was partnered with, didn't give me the chance to answer her question and had the nerve to go up to the teacher and ask him for a new partner. **** that *****.


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## dreamer2015 (Apr 23, 2015)

Whatever people assume about you is just a reflection of themselves...I can understand how annoying it can be though...I also used to get those comments in hs as well for being quiet...some people will assume you are smart while others will assume you are dumb...maybe some think you are in the middle  The ppl who assume things are usually more vocal though  And about the people who were surprised you are doing a science major even though they never went to university...maybe they are a bit envious


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## East (Jul 22, 2013)

idk for the quiet people in my school everyone assumes they're smart

not sure I'd even be considered quiet anymore but people used to ask me for help w/ homework and stuff alllll the time which is a shame for them bc i'm hella dumb and good at pretending I know what I'm doing

either i'm not quiet now or everyone figured out i'm stupid bc i don't get bothered any more lmao


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## Mrs Salvatore (Mar 27, 2014)

I am dumb, I can't think fast enough to call myself smart.


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## Lonelyguy111 (Oct 14, 2013)

Yes. Many times simply because I was quiet.

They assumed that there was nothing in my head because I rarely spoke except alone with my closest friends. Even though I was a good student and accepted at several major universities around the country, even my father still made snide and insulting remarks about my intelligence because he said I was an introvert.

People can be real jerks.


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## weird girl (Dec 11, 2012)

People think I'm smart but I'm not


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## normalsucksbutsodoesSA (Apr 2, 2015)

im a genius yeah I'll admit it. Yes I sound cocky but I do believe it is true for my passions. I develop them and soon my whole mind is able to make connections across different things that don't have anything to do with it but have everything to do with it at the same time. But my damn anxiety clouds my brain so in social situations I sound incredibly dumb, almost without an opinion. There are moments when I can take myself out of the situation socially and drown out everything and just focus on my inner thoughts and say exactly what is on my mind and everyone is stunned because they didn't know I could smart (hah), that I could genius. But I don't want that because that removes me from the positive social energy and emotional connections with people, not just the negative. Ugh social anxiety!!


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## AussiePea (Mar 27, 2007)

I believe it swaps from High School to Adulthood and I generally hear people discussing the quiet ones as the clever ones, the ones who are working harder and taking in more. At school I would say the opposite was true though.


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## Gaige (May 11, 2015)

Alcadaeus said:


> I was voted most likely to succeed o.o in the middle school yearbook and I rarely spoke.


Exactly, when handing out report cards I was the only one whom the teacher said I would make it somewhere someday. But throught the next 3 years I became so anti-social, she probably regrets it by now.


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## Kilgore Trout (Aug 10, 2014)

Congratulations for your academic success. 
Yes i think most people tend to think i am dumb. They think i am a lame dumb person who doesn't know anything. I too use "i don't know" a lot in my conversations.


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## tidbit (May 13, 2015)

I had the opposite, everyone in my class thought I was super smart because I was quiet. Boy were they wrong.:lol It's amazing what assumptions someone can make about someone else just because of how they act.


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## Peanut butter lover (Jul 25, 2015)

Well...My friends think so. They always assume that I'm slow or dimwitted because I don't talk alot. I express my feelings differently from them, so I often come off as stupid. Like when they make jokes, I laugh but for some reason they think I don't get it, and they ask me if I get it, "yes I do," then they'll make me explain it for them to prove that I understand them, then I always end up getting offended like, "You think I'm so stupid, huh?" then they laugh it off. It's very annoying. I've always been a great public speaker, I'm good at speeches and all that, and sometimes it surprise them that just because I'm an awkward talker, doesn't mean I'm afraid of crowds.


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## Magicked (Jun 1, 2014)

I thought it was the opposite: people usually assume that the quiet kid is smart and the loud, outgoing class clown is dumb.


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## Gingerfox (Jul 21, 2015)

My last years of elementary and first years of middle, yeah, people thought I was dumb, but it got better after that.


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## lonerroom (May 16, 2015)

Brownlkirs said:


> I got this throughout high school, the main thing people used to say behind my back was that I was dumb. I guess because; when asked a question in class I'd get flustered and often just say "I don't know" but also just for being quiet in general. As if they thought the reason I was quiet was because I was mentally absent and had nothing to say. People I used to go to school with are always surprised to hear that I'm now doing a bachelor of science, when a lot of them didn't even get into university


It sounds like you are going to succeed and your former high school classmates are failing. 
I myself was not called dumb for being quiet, I was called "weird" and "creepy" and "that quiet kid" in high school. 
The teacher a couple times forced me to read out loud in 9th grade, it was awful, I didn't want to but she threatened to send me to in school suspension if I didn't so I read, and I read so quietly that she got mad and kept saying "Louder!" and some kids laughed. 
Its wonderful that they don't force us to do this in college.


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## AffinityWing (Aug 11, 2013)

I've been talked to as if I'm mentally challenged alot, but recently I've also started getting called smart by some of my classmates. I don't know whether to feel flattered or not..


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## thetown (Aug 16, 2014)

A lot of people actually assume that quiet people are all smart. I cringe every time when some classmates ask me for help since my explanations suck. I just give them a really simple reply back so they'll go away. :c


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## Fredderika (Mar 27, 2014)

The majority of my classmates in school seemed to think I was smart, despite my mostly poor marks. Then there were a few who treated me as though I was stupid, which was so irritating..
But it's odd how it always seems to go one way or the other. If you don't talk much, people think it has to be either because you're extra smart, or because you're just stupid. Apparently intelligence is directly correlated with how much a person talks... Only those who talk a normal amount can have normal intelligence. Because obviously neither anxiety nor personality can have anything to do with it.


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## BackToThePast (Aug 31, 2012)

People assume I'm dumber than I am for not being well-spoken. Little do they know there are other ways to express your intelligence. Nah but really I'm not that smart. I'd say I'm more on the creative side.


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