this post was submitted on 29 May 2026
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I was thinking about this. I went to university, and I worked in tech for decades. I met many assholes but I didn't meet anyone that would fit on the left half of the bell curve (less than 100 iq).

Since I've been living in that bubble my entire life, I'm curious of your stories. Have you met someone who was actually quite dumb (not just having opinions you don't agree with) and do you have an example situation you remember you can share?

Hopefully this becomes more funny than hateful since intelligence is not the value of a person, but it can be funny to read the stories.

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[–] Freeposity@lemmy.world 17 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

I once worked with a guy who did not know the sun was a star and didn't know what planets were. This was when I was in the military. I had a an unlabeled world map in my office and whenever someone new(to Germany) came in to be introduced I'd point to the map and say, "I'll buy you a beer if you can point out our location on the map". It was just an icebreaker so pointing at Europe was good enough. It was shocking how many people couldn't locate Germany on a world map and quite a few couldn't locate their home state on that world map.

I worked with another guy(a computer programmer) who thought the earth was 6000 years old. He also once told me that vertigo is when you feel like you're standing still and the earth is spinning and indigo is when it feels like you're spinning and the earth is still.

I work with and interact with professionals and am often reminded of something Richard Feynman said, "Never confuse education with intelligence, you can have a PhD and still be an idiot."

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 2 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

I think many people in Europe could not point out the American states either. It's one of those things you learn in school once and never do again. :)

I guess most people would know Florida and California maybe. But just guessing here.

[–] wagnerst@feddit.org 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Yes, but most could point out North-America.

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 2 points 5 hours ago