Quote:
Originally Posted by piercehawkeye45
One reasons for such inflated scores could be that mediocre people usually associate with mediocre people. Dumb people usually associate with dumb people. Smart people usually associate with smart people. If you are smartest out of a mediocre group, you will have much higher confidence than being the dumbest out of the smart group, even though the latter may be much smarter than the former. We tend to forget that there are much smarter and dumber people than the small groups we associate with.
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Argh. Has happened to me more than once.
I got used to being the most liberal, the best read and the most intelligent person in my small clique. Forgetting that my small clique was formed of employees in an office job I hated. Jobs I mean. More than one.
Coming here was a big sigh of satisfaction. Like a shower which is just a tiny bit too cold on a hot day. People writing the way I wished I could write. Whole threads I didn't even feel qualified to post in. Humour which hit me on the back of the head because I couldn't have seen that response coming if I'd been up since dawn with radar.
Same happened to a sadder degree at my friend's wedding. I felt so stupid, so dowdy, such a failure amongst these people. They had cars and their own houses and fashions and friends et al. They talked about their lives at a level I couldn't have caught with a net. I was asked, "Didn't you find Leicester so restrictive after London? There aren't even any decent restaurants!" I failed to admit that my idea of canny eating was ordering half a portion at the local chippy because I knew he'd take pity and give me a full portion. Half of which I'd reheat the next night for tea.
I suppose one of the benefits of my subsequent meltdown was partly the ability to feel more humble. And partly giving less of a shit about the opinion of people who I'll never meet again.