Was there ever a internet comment that actually really hurt you?

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Not from a person. When I was younger I took an online personality test. Nothing from a reputable source, just some random pop psychology thing. The result was short and had a few things on it, but one line hit me like a ton of bricks: "You don't like people who aren't as smart as you."
I was incredulous at first, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it was probably true at some level. I was pretty horrified by this realization, and I ended up thinking about it a lot and doing a ton of introspection. I knew I was smart, but I started acknowledging that there were also a ton of things I was terrible at. Whenever I had intrusive thoughts about a person I thought wasn't very smart, I tried to think about things they were good at or at least acknowledge privileges I had that they didn't.
We are a product of our experiences, and different people have different skills and aptitudes for things. All of that is ok and doesn't make someone better than anyone else. I'm not perfect at it, but I found some value in confronting uncomfortable truths about myself.
- I’ve performed and conducted more interviews than I can count. I was once asked a question that stopped me cold. “You’re clearly an intelligent person. How do you manage stupid people?” My mind reeled. At first I thought he was being insulting, but then realized he’s not identifying anyone in particular, just assessing my ability to lead people who are stupid. It’s still to date the toughest interview question I’ve been asked.
  
  How did you answer?
  
  After some uncertain smiles and stumbles, I said with patience, high support, and high direction. It was awkward, and not without some rambling.
  Since then I’ve realized when I’m having difficulty conveying a complex idea to someone who may not understand, I tend to break the idea down into smaller components. I also often use analogies to help connect a concept to one the listener already understands.
  I’ve thought about answering that question again on many occasions. I’m just glad it was a mock interview. lol
  
  The truly hard part is detecting when the person you're talking to doesn't understand. Too many people pretend they understand when they don't and are too embarrassed to ask questions.
  
  Verify understanding with qualifying questions. Ask them to put it into their own words with questions like, “how would you describe it?”
- Knowledge might not be intelligence but I really found xkcd's 10000 a wonderful be idea.

116 comments