My mother sometimes says I'm "too smart for [my] own good."?

Question

What do you think about this saying, can being witty/intelligent work against you?

Answer 1

I usually heard this when I was young and I said something that was true, but uncomfortable for someone else to hear. I don't know if you annoyed your Mom, or maybe your Mom saw that you annoyed someone else, but usually it means you've caught someone in a contradiction and what they're saying doesn't make sense. So you've learned how to spot BS, maybe at a level that other people find startling or perceptive. Simply calling attention to people's failings is not very helpful, though, and tends to cause resentment. It may help you to learn ways to use your perception and understanding to work with those people, instead of setting yourself in an adversarial position by embarrassing them.

Answer 2

I firmly beleive that thinking too much which is what comes with being too smart is a really dangerous thing unless you have guidance of a wise person or something equivalent to that.
I would give the analogy of your mind being like a river, if the river is too forceful it may start making paths for itself which are new and may lead it to nowhere.On the other hand if the river does not flow too forcefully, applying its force against all possible barricades and making new paths then there is an assurance of everything going according to a set pattern.
But i feel that it is only these extra smart people who can if at all bring about changes in the world. Conformist and obsequies(spelling suspect) people can only propagate further what has been happening till now and no more.

Answer 3

Yes, being intelligent can work against you. For one, all your classmates are looking at you as the one to beat. You are the one everyone hates for breaking the "curve" and the one who is top of the academic roster. In the workplace, co-workers resent you and accuse you of making them "look bad." People think because you have the mental ability to do a job means that you want to do a job so people get paranoid that you are after their job. In short, your mother is telling you that being smart/intelligent is not always the easiest path in life. That does not mean you should not strive for whatever goals you have set for yourself. I really don't understand why we celebrate mediocrity anyway, but that's the way it is in society.

Answer 4

Yes, it can. People who are intelligent can sometimes devlop a tendency to think they know "everything" and thus approach problems and people with that attitude. That's no way to act - and that's basically what the saying means. Your mom is right - she is just trying to get you to be humble and assume you DON'T know as much as you think you do - because it's only then that you will truely learn more about life.

Answer 5

yes, i had a shrink tell me one time i think too much about things because i'm very intelligent and need to figure everything out. so i don't just let things go, i need to think them all through and try to understand the reasons for everything. thus, too smart for own good.

Answer 6

I don't agree. I don't think it's possible to be "too smart."

Being smart is knowing how to act in every situation you are placed in, resulting in the ultimate goal of life, which is "survival."

You can be too "overly-intellectual" for your own good, as I think that can get annoying, (showing up people around you with your comments, trying to prove that you are superior to them), but I don't think that's the same as being "smart."

Smart knows what to do to survive. (Survivial of the Fittest.)

Answer 7

Yep, it sure can. Intelligence without wisdom is a dangerous combination. For example, if you can figure out how to crack a safe, but you don't think of how you can do it without getting caught, then you're bound to go to jail.

Answer 8

It probably has nothing to do with intelligence, but more a smart mouth.

Answer 9

Better than being called a smart-@$$

Answer 10

i have heard that myself. I never found it to be useful, or meaningful.

don't worry about it.

If you really want to , you can ask her to tell you what she specifically means by it.