Do you feel clever?

Absolutely. Well, um…..until my little 5 year-old corrects me. Lol.

While I’m never quite as clever as say… Capn’ Kirk, I have had the occasion to claim certain limited cleverness-ess’s.

And I’m clever enough to know, that even when I have no cleverness to expound upon you, a wink, a grin, and positive posture could very well cause you to believe otherwise.

Of course I am, you know that!

Yeah sure except when I forget a tilde ~ then no. Right now someone is tearing my head off and shitting down my throat because I was not clever.

I feel like the most naive person alive, and I always have people telling me how clever I am.
The funny thing is that I seem to get smarter after watching Boston Legal and House. I can somehow focus better.

And I tend to define cleverness, as an ability to dangle one foot dangerously over all known rules and boundaries, for the sake of solving common problems in a most fashionable manner.

Clever… Rhymes with Style.

What I know is that people with ‘higher’ education certificate will very proud of themselves,they think they know everything in their field and many of them use this to approve their intelligence.

Me? I always feel bright. No one want to feel stupid,in fact,the more one brands him/herself as not-clever the less motivation and self-respect he/she will get.

A blunder at the right moment is better than cleverness at the wrong time.
Carolyn Wells

My mother put a big premium on my being smart, which I found kind of crippling. I hope I have finally learned that it is useful to be fairly intelligent, but there will always be someone more intelligent than you. That used to bother me, but being in college lately finally broke me of that.There were plenty of 19-year-olds in my classes who were smarter than I. I did better than some of them because I was more curious and more interested in learning than they were.

Cleverness is not wisdom.
Euripides

@zenele

It appears that your thread has been hijacked into… well… something. Not really sure what. But as to being clever… I’m not very. I was brought up to think for myself, to keep an open mind about most topics ( but not so open that anything can be poured into it ), to make honor my byword, and to respect those to whom respect is due. “Clever” is a con man, or a used car salesman, or a politician.

I feel pretty.

I know that I don’t know, and that’s OK.

I dunno.
Does feeling squashy count?

Questions like this always give me pause. There never seems to be a way to answer without appearing either self-defeating or vain.

This requires a definition or three:

1. (showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others)
2. (mentally quick and resourceful)
3. (showing inventiveness and skill)

So…

1. Rarely. Too often, I come up with my witty retort long after the meeting or debate has ended. I feel I communicate much better through written word.

2. Yes. Unless of course the resources required include mathematical skill. In which case I am likely the least clever person in the room.

3. I do consider myself to be somewhat “inventive”. I like to work with my hands and enjoy the results of that labor.

I have my moments, especially when it come to crafty things and reusing stuff.

I have moments where I exceed my expectations.

I think only a few can grasp how clever I am. I entertain myself quite well.

and I can hum a few bars.

I’m not clever, but back me into a corner and I’ll either rape you or kick your ass. :)

@zenele I refer to your comment [Removed by me. But I’m fucking pissed off.]

With your question you probably sparked a very common response in the other Flutherites who didn’t feel comfortable answering your very serious question.

Feelings have to do with mental state, and I have found in my life that mental state is the last great taboo in society where people don’t know how to handle questions about it. Hence, various forms of humour are used to disguise their uneasiness.

To answer your question.

There are times when I do feel clever and other times when I don’t, and ALL these times have to do with whatever my particular mental state is at that time. (You may have picked that up in my previous comments on Fluther.)

I equate your question to what my counsellor asked me at various times about how old I felt. Often I felt like a three-year old, and other times much older, and I was in my 30’s at the time! Similarly, when I was in the workforce I had similar feelings of age and self-worth. Not nice, so to speak. All of this directly relates to mental state and NOT abilities or cleverness.

Even the most experienced, talented and clever person will not achieve their full potential if they don’t feel like they are so. It’s the same thing that stops otherwise clever and resourceful people from achieving greatness in life.

I hope this discussion gets back on track.

I feel like I’m clever in a weird sort of way that doesn’t help me seem very smart. I’m working on bringing it to the surface, making it my whole personality.

I bet I could have been something special by now if I wasn’t so fucked up as a kid. Oh well. The burdens of my predecessors fall onto my shoulders. I just hope I can get rid of them before it’s my turn to pass everything along.

@zophu

There are a lot of us in that boat. I wish you well. : )

No, but I’m wilde about Oscar.

@zophu “I feel like I’m clever in a weird sort of way”

Anything less is unacceptable. Practically a crime against humanity.

Cleverness takes you, and all those involved, to a slightly different place than anyone has ever been before.

I feel pretty,
Oh, so pretty,
I feel pretty and witty and bright!
And I pity
Any girl who isn’t me tonight.

@cazzie What’s sad is that you’re one of like 10 people who thought it would be clever to reference that song. me being one of them that thought about it, but abstained

[mod says] Um, wow. You guys got quite carried away in a General Section question, no? At this point, I’ve proposed two solutions to the asker: We can move the question to the Social Section, or leave it in General and moderate it quite a bit. Awaiting a reply before taking any action.

I’m not sure what your definition of clever is here. Just because you are clever (intelligent) or have a high IQ it does not mean someone is full of common sense. You can be extremely intelligent but not know how to utilize it to your advantage. I’m sure there are many intelligent individuals out there who grew up in an extremely poor family so they never really got the chance to show it and now work at a convenience store or in a factory. Maybe a lack of motivation as well.

Look at Nikola Tesla, perhaps one of the most brilliant individuals that ever lived (we use his ideas everyday today) such as ac power transmission, radio, tv. He never got the chance to go forward with his other ideas. Tesla died penniless (he tore his contract up with Westinghouse to save the company from bankruptcy). Talk about an act of good will! Tesla wasn’t a business man but he was intelligent. You do not read about him in school books now do you?

This is what I mean, just because you are “intelligent” it does not mean you are “clever”. I do not think being clever has the same meaning as an intelligent person not living up to their expectations. Usually its the clever “aka shrewd” people that leech off of the people that are extremly intelligent to take the credit for themselves. I have seen this so much in my own life itself (especially at work). Perhaps this is why it seems many intelligent people do not live up to their standards because many of these types of people usually put others before themselves and try to do great things for humanity instead of thinking about “me me me” or profits.

@Jabe73 Yes, I think the more intelligent people need the support of less-extreme, more-adept thinkers in order to thrive.

I’ve never really thought of myself as clever. I think of myself as smart/intelligent but I guess that’s just semantics.

I rarely heard or used the word clever until I moved to Australia, here it is very commonplace. My husband is always telling the dogs how clever they are and if I’m lucky, he tells me the same thing, heheheh!

I would like to make a general observation, if the mods will so permit.

As @Seek_Kolinahr points out, many people feel a bit self-conscious about answering such a question. One thing I have noticed about women is that they can speak unselfconsciously about appearance and make statements like, “Oh, I was really pretty that evening.” The references to the song in West Side Story may have been made jokingly, but I think it reflects this willingness to talk about personal appearance.

@zenele said it in the question…. this isn’t objective. that’s why i kind of made fun of it. I hope you don’t take offence, I saw how the thread was going, especially with @RealEyesRealizeRealLies responses and didn’t really see that this was in the ‘general’ section.
If you want a real answer from me, I’d say, no. I don’t feel clever. Sometimes I feel like a smart ass. But sometimes, I feel like the smartest person in the room and that isn’t a good feeling.

Some people have told me that i’m intelligent, but personally, i don’t feel particularly clever, haha. I can do such stupid things sometimes…whether i’m just not concentrating properly or not thinking clearly, i don’t know, but i can’t imagine someone intelligent or clever doing such things. I don’t think i’m daft, i’m clever enough, maybe i’m just at times more absent minded than the average person. Hehe.

I’m definitely not smart or clever in any way.

Very subjective question @zenele ! Have a friend, did not finish high school, but he can fix ANYTHING. To me, that is clever. But, the next guy, who has 4 degrees from Harvard, would probably disagree with me because my friend talks real country.

Having said that, he might be the nicest and finest person i’ve ever known!

[mod says] Off-topic/unhelpful responses have been removed. If I missed any, please flag them. Thanks!

Whew! <wipes sweat from brow>

People get uncomfortable when it comes to questioning their intelligence. I think there’s too much condemnation of the “stupidity” in people. Even if you’ve got half a brain, if it’s alive and going, there’s potential for valuable thought, I bet. Making someone feel stupid is almost always more damaging than any of their innate shortcomings could be. It’s much more of a social thing than it is a brain-power thing, I think. People have strong tendencies to behave to fit the role they feel they are perceived as; might indirectly explain some of the undesirable behavior in response to this question.

No I am not clever I am smart because I always analysis on its and getting good results.

Yes. I feel I am clever. I crave information, I always want to know the how and why. I want to know how things work, or how things got to be the way they are. I joined this website to ask questions and receive intelligent answers. I love my partner, but he’s not bright. Unable to hold deep conversations about thoughtful topics, doesn’t read books. No interest in pursuing his education. His spelling his atrocious. Do you feel this traits apply to you? I hate to sound conceited, but I feel I am extremely smart. Simply by the fact that I am amazed by the predictability of stupidity, and the utter ubiquitiousness of it. I work on a military installation. It’s frightnening at times, the hands a loaded weapon is put into.

I don’t feel as clever as people tell me I seem like I am.