I never knew I was "smart" until the Army proved it to me. I had been intellectually lazy and academically mediocre, and didn't really give a shit. Didn't see anything wrong or shameful about it.
When I was in the Army, sergeants in Personnel who reviewed my records told me that I was "smart." Later, I learned that my "GT" score of 150 correlated to an IQ of 141 - a number I later confirmed. Genius level. It had honestly never occurred to me that my IQ was exceptional, even though teachers had told me that constantly during my school years. I thought of it like your grandmother telling you that your are handsome - means nothing.
Because of my GT score I was figuratively drafted to work in Personnel (pulled out of the stupid training I had signed up for) and given the most challenging assignments, then did them with no problem - as an E-2 private and PFC. Began reading and writing copiously...nothing profound, just to keep my mind occupied.
The realization that I was "smart" changed my life, and not entirely for the better.
I had originally failed out of college, which is what got me into the Army in the first place. When I went back to college after the Army, I would not allow myself to do anything but excellent work, and graduated quickly - with assorted honors - while working full time for DoD. Went to law school at night and graduated "well" in my class. Not near the top because I never subscribed to the "think like a lawyer" bullshit.
I never actually worked as a lawyer, although I passed the Bar (with flying colors) and maintained my Bar membership until just recently. I had a fairly (but not exceptionally) successful career working on the periphery of the law (Purchasing/Contracts), sometimes as part of the Legal department, sometimes not. The nature of my work required that I switch jobs regularly, but I never had any trouble finding another position...killer resume.
My strength and my weakness is that I can produce a massive amount of complex work in a fraction of the time that it would take someone else, but that work is only 90-95% perfect. Usually that's good enough but of course there have been a few times when one of my errors/omissions brought about a bad result. And try as I might, I find it impossible to slow down to get that final 5% right. I'm retired now and never got burned over one of my occasional oversights. I was always appreciated by my employers, even the ones who had to let me go due to business downturns.
One final thing: whether it's a delusion or not, I believe that I can identify high intelligence almost instantly in people that I meet. I have known many, many people who were smarter than I am, and also a lot of people who thought they were smart enough to outsmart me - in negotiations and such - which I often used to my advantage.
I honestly don't know what to make of most politicians. I think a lot of them are much smarter than they seem, but it troubles me that they find it advantageous to speak like people of only average intelligence. For example, Donald Trump's 8th grade vocabulary - entirely purposeful - really bothers me. Barry Soetoro never impressed me as particularly intelligent or legally astute. Biden is truly just a bit above average intelligence. Harris might be smart, but she is ignorant. Sorry.
