'AITA for humiliating my friend after he kept bragging about his IQ?'
"AITA for humiliating my friend after he kept bragging about his IQ?"
So I have a friend, let’s call him Brian, who won’t shut up about his IQ. Ever since he took some online test that said he got a 131, he’s been acting like he’s the second coming of Einstein.
At first, it was just kinda annoying. He’d drop random “fun facts” about how high-IQ people process information differently. He started using words like erudite and obfuscate in normal conversations. But then it got worse - he started low-key insulting us.
He told our friend Emily (who’s in med school) that “doctors are just good at memorization, not real intelligence.” He told me I was “wasting potential” because I work in marketing instead of something more intellectually rigorous. Dude works in IT. At a help desk.
Anyway, last week we were at a party, and he started talking about IQ again. Someone jokingly asked, “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?” and Brian, completely serious, goes: "Well, intelligence isn’t always about wealth. It’s about how you process the world. Low-IQ people can never truly grasp how limiting their perception is."
So I looked him dead in the eye and said: "Damn bro, that’s crazy. What’s it like having a high IQ and still losing at fantasy football every year?" The room exploded. Brian turned red, mumbled something about “variance” and “sample sizes,” and left the party early. Now he’s barely texting in the group chat, and a mutual friend told me I embarrassed him too much.
And now, naturally, half the group has been testing their IQs just to mess with him. Someone dropped this 10-minute Cerebrum IQ test in the chat, and it’s become a full-blown competition.
If Brian was really a genius, you’d think he’d take it again and prove us all wrong…but nah, suddenly he’s not a fan of online tests anymore. AITA for finally saying something? Or did he have it coming?
Here's what top commenters had to say about this one:
dmitriev_maksim7kyi8 said:
I’m gonna say NTA. Brian had been throwing his supposed “high IQ” in everyone’s face for ages, acting all superior and dismissive about other people’s intelligence. It’s honestly kind of obnoxious. I get that the whole “I’m so smart” thing might be coming from insecurity or just wanting validation, but the way he was belittling others, especially someone in med school, is not cool.
You didn’t really humiliate him; you just called him out in a way that made everyone see how ridiculous he was being. Honestly, he kinda needed to be taken down a peg, and if he’s too sensitive to handle a little joke after being that smug, that’s on him.
Plus, the fact that he dipped after that shows he knew he couldn’t back up all his talk. If he can’t handle some friendly (but deserved) ribbing, then he shouldn’t dish it out in the first place. So yeah, not the ahole here. You just gave him a dose of his own medicine.
Busy_Ad_9373 said:
NTA. If he were so intelligent he’d know how to process that criticism.
DragonfruitVivid3931 said:
NTA. Brian had it coming. He was repeatedly belittling and insulting you and your friends with his constant bragging about his IQ, making you all feel inferior. He set the tone with his condescending remarks about people in other professions and how they aren't as "intelligent" as him.
When someone constantly puts others down, they shouldn't be surprised when their own flaws get called out. Your response was clever and in line with his arrogance, and honestly, he deserved a bit of a reality check.
It’s clear that he wasn’t just sharing his IQ for fun but using it as a way to feel superior to others. If he wasn’t prepared for someone to call him out on it, he shouldn’t have kept pushing the issue.
He can’t expect to dish out insults and bragging without any pushback. The group seems to be having fun with it, and now he’s the one being humbled. He had no problem making everyone else feel lesser, but when the spotlight was on him, he couldn’t handle it.
thequiethunter said:
Had it coming. NTA. There is no reason to think that an online test is an accurate measurement of IQ. High IQ individuals rarely discuss it. It actually does come as a burden more than not. It leaves you socially ostracized. It is often accompanied with some autism. People who brag about IQ rarely have it.