Smarter and faster* ! Yey !
Effect only applies in the last 10 minutes before a task is due*
this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2025
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Smarter and faster, but the same fuel tank and no brakes.
Smarter: lmao, thats the autism, the adhd hyperfocus gives me super task-avoidance
Faster: LMFAO. My reaction time is noticeably slow. I was a lifeguard for a while, which is why I am very aware of this
The only upsides are the coping mechanisms I have been forced to develop for it have been super helpful in my adult life
Yes!!!! Task avoidance is the absolute worst.
Coping mechanisms? Apparently I didn’t get those. I’m currently sitting on the couch avoiding a multitude of things I need to do reading ADHD memes.
circle j***ing much?
Yeah you're right Pete, you're much smarter and faster than everyone else buddy, I'm gonna put this tweet up on the fridge because it's so clever
This is the kind I got
I have about a 3:2 ratio in favor of stupid vs. smart.
It does not affect IQ, but the average ADHD brain is smaller.
We just have good compression
Tip-to-tip efficiency
Middle out?
PNGs in a BMP world.
Forced induction, bro
running in circles doesn't make you faster
going blahblahblahblah doesn't make you smarter
ADHD makes you smarter? That’s some bullshit
Saying that ADHD makes you smarter is bullshit. However there are definitely tasks that ADHD can make you better at which is likely what this person was refering to. There's a reason a lot of the best repair techs I work with have an ADHD diagnosis or show clear symptoms despite having never sought out a diagnosis. ADHD can make you really good and forming connections between different ideas that most people wouldn't be able to do as quickly which can help with, for example, diagnosing issues in complex systems. However if you ask those same people to perform a basic task thoroughly and in a standardized fashion then we're usually going to be way worse at it than the average person. It's literally just being differently abled.
For example, when I'm off my sweet sweet prescription speed, I can narrow down and locate issues in a building wide automation system in a couple of hours where other techs spent all day trying and failing to find it. But at the same time, when I'm off my meds, cleaning an ice machine can take me 6 hours where one of our neurotypical techs would easily have it done even better in under 3 hours and I will have no idea what I spent all that extra time on because I will have felt like I was rushing the entire time.
Some people see being able to do complex troubleshooting quickly as beeing "smart" but it's really just a different skillset. You could call me "smart" but I literally need regular doses of amphetamines just to be able to do the most basic prioritization like paying bills on time, and cleaning my house so I personally wouldn't say that I'm particularly "smart".
Best answer
Take a Lemmy Silver™ 🥈
It helps with pattern recognition and one of the main aspect of intelligence tested on IQ tests are pattern recognition, so it might inflate the IQ scores of people with ADHD and gives the impression that they're smarter than the average person?
Also, lots of early primary school stuff can be easily deduced by pattern recognition. I coasted school until I hit high school, which I think a lot of people here can relate.
There's also a reason a very large portion of developers are neurodivergent.
IT in general but yes, and you can tell they aren't smarter because a lot of them are Libertarians as well. Fucking morons.
devils advocate, some libertarians are baby leftists. I described myself as a libertarian throughout high school before experiencing the Real World™ as a college student/dropout/student again who had to support my dumb fuckin self with artificially inadequate social services
yeah I'm probably not a great person since I only changed my mind after Bad Shit Happened To Me Personally®, but like, a lot of humans be like that
Curiosity is often enough.
curiosity AND stubbornness. sometimes i don't have enough stubbornness left in me and have to give up and just feel dumb 🫠
Oh i feel dumb most if the time, but then i talk to other people and that usually fixes it.
oof. you also American? i live in the PA boonies and that... is a good point
I dont use slurs for myself unless im reclaiming them.
tfw i called myself murrican on the internet with a hard Am-
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Can we stop with the narrative that disorders that completely fuck your life up and make you struggle with things normal people do without thinking is somehow a ""superpower"?
ADHD has pros and cons. People usually forget about the pros, a little balance seems a good thing to me.
(Although ADHD does not mean higher than average intelligence, that is not one of the pros.)
For me, it's been a net negative (I think). But I wouldn't have been with my loved ones if I don't have ADHD.
If you have an above average Intelligence, the mechanisms you develop can lead to excelling in many areas. But it comes at great costs and not everyone is this way. It also depends how bad you've got it.
If you are smart, you manage it better and people perceive you as smart.
Uh... Duh? You basically said "if smart, smart".
The last word is “disorder” for a reason
And the other D is for "deficit"!
ADHD doesn't make you smarter or faster.
What are you talking about? I know very little about so many things! I can hyperfocus on like 3 different activities that just pass the time until death and don't benefit me at all!
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ADHD makes you more intelligent in the same way that being chased by a bear makes you a runner, or having kids makes you a morning person.
A weaponised intellect is a useful counter to ADHD. We also tend to be built differently. Think tank Vs car. This makes us abnormally good at certain tasks, at the cost of others.
Poor impulse control, novelty seeking, and unlimited internet access tends to explain the rest.
I thought of a quick mental pace, frequently jumping from thought to thought, inevitably going off on tangents. That's what I interpreted from the line about being "smarter and faster." However, having that quickness translated into "smartness" is far from the only way for it to manifest.
You may have a quick mental pace, but it doesn't help you find solutions - it just repeatedly pulls you into depression or anxiety by effortlessly connecting negative thoughts to literally anything that crosses your mind. Or you have quick thoughts, but struggle to track back to things from earlier on - leading to a feedback loop of distraction that makes conversations, movies, and sometimes even your own ideas, very difficult to follow.
Side note: I feel like if I lived in a pre-literate society, I'd be far more disabled than today. I don't know how I'd function if I weren't able to write down my thoughts, or read (and re-read) information. The written word provides a structure and direction that the spoken word and abstract thoughts don't have. I may be seen as "smarter" in the modern world, but someone like me from the ancient past would've been at a massive disadvantage.
I feel like if I lived in a pre-literate society, I'd be far more disabled than today
Living and working in a more close knit social group could offset many ADHD issues. Our strengths and weaknesses could balance each other out.
Information retainment and such can be accomplished with songs and stories.
And we would be the scouts and night watch for the community. If neurodivergence isn't environmentally caused, and I don't believe it is, why would it still be so common in our species?
Feels like gassing adhders up.
Fun but not accurate.
There’s a point in the movie Frank where the protagonist is talking to the parents of the mentally disabled musical savant he rode to fame and the subject eventually turns to his disability. The protagonist suggests to Frank’s parents that Frank’s experiences with mental illness are probably what made him so good at music. The parents object, and insist that he was always good at music; his illness only ever held him back.
that was such a good movie, highly recommend
please stop glazing my mental condition it will get more confident and take over the world
if we tried to take over the world we'd get to the point of having an orbital plasma cannon array aimed at the world's capitols and defense command centers, make the "surrender or get glassed idiots lol" announcement, then realize we can't find one of the keys you need to turn to fire it
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