Seeing someone embarrass themselves can be painful even if you aren’t involved in it at all. It’s just a normal part of human empathy. But if that person at first did something annoying, entitled or just prideful, then their failures become a very satisfying sort of entertainment.
We’ve gathered some of the funniest examples of someone trying very hard to show off their alleged “high IQ” online and just making a fool of themselves. So get comfortable as you scroll through, prepare for some secondhand embarrassment, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments down below.
#1 Tall Tales From A Genius
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#2 A Friend Of Mine On Facebook Always Toes The “I Am Very Smart” Line But This Morning He Jumped Right Over It
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#3 Tired: Reading Books. Wired: Reading Wikipedia Summaries And Goodreads Reviews. Inspired: Reading Dubious AI Hallucinations About A Book
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There is a specific word that the Germans coined for this exact feeling and it is called schadenfreude. The basic idea is that we find joy in the misfortunes of others. While that might sound a little bit mean on the surface, it is actually a deeply ingrained part of how we maintain social balance.
When someone walks into a room or a digital comment section and starts acting like they are the only person who has ever read a book, they are setting a very high bar for themselves. They are essentially telling the rest of the world that they are superior, which creates a natural desire in the audience to see them prove it. If they can not back up that big talk, the fall is much more dramatic than it would be for a humble person.
#4 Found On Twitter This Morning
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#5 So Smart He Can Confound Minimum Wage Best Buy Employees
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#6 Simple As That
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Think about the classic internet trope of the person who tries to correct the grammar of someone else while making a glaring spelling error in the very same sentence. It is the ultimate moment of unintentional comedy because it exposes a lack of self awareness that is just objectively funny.
#7 This Girl Is Consistently Tweeting Stuff Like This
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#8 Its Just Fascinating
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#9 She Has Been At A Community College For Years And Also Constantly Begs For Money
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When we see a self proclaimed genius get stumped by a simple riddle or a basic fact, it reminds us that no one is truly above the rest of us. It acts as a social leveler. We live in a world where people are constantly trying to curate these perfect versions of themselves online and when that mask slips, it feels like we are finally seeing something authentic. Even if that authentic thing is just a silly mistake, it humanizes the person while also punishing their arrogance.
#10 There’s Nothing Incredibly Intellectual About Either Of Those
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#11 “I Still Can’t Believe How Much People Like Things I Don’t Like”
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#12 Tunnel Vision
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There is also a fascinating concept known as the Dunning Kruger effect which basically says that people with low ability at a task often overestimate their own competence. This is often what we are seeing when someone goes on a rant about their high IQ. They are so confident in their own brilliance that they do not even realize how they sound to everyone else.
#13 With Great Knowledge Comes Even Greater Responsibility
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#14 Beautiful
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#15 This Was Really Legit The Answer He Gave, I Was There
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Watching this play out in real time is like watching a slow motion car crash where nobody actually gets hurt. It is harmless fun that allows us to feel a little bit better about our own modest lives. We might not be rocket scientists, but at least we are not the person who just spent twenty minutes explaining a concept incorrectly to a literal expert in the field.
#16 Not Sure What That Has To Do With Anything
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#17 Akcthually Time Zones Don’t Work Like That
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#18 Gather Round Everyone It’s Time For The Weekly Family IQ Test
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The entertainment value also comes from the anticipation. When you see someone post a photo of a membership application or a screenshot of an online test they took while they were bored, you just know that something is going to go wrong eventually. It is the setup for a joke that they did not even know they were telling. When the punchline finally hits, it provides a sense of narrative satisfaction.
#19 Poor Guy
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#20 Zombie Apocalypse
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#21 When Someone Says He Use “Facts And Logic” Its More Often Than Not An Opinion Not Based On Fact Nor Logic
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We love stories where the underdog wins and the boastful giant gets defeated. In the world of social media, the giant is often just a person with a keyboard and a very inflated sense of self importance. This phenomenon is often linked to the concept of hubris, which has been a staple of storytelling since the days of ancient Greece. It is the classic story arc of pride coming before a fall, and we are all just here to watch the tumble.
#22 Definitely Relevant Comment On A Kitchen Nightmares Episode
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#23 I Went To Harvard
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#24 Its Painful To Read
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Furthermore, these moments of public failure serve as a cautionary tale for the rest of us. They remind us to stay humble and to check our facts before we start acting like we know everything. Seeing someone else take the hit for being a bit too proud allows us to learn that lesson without having to experience the embarrassment ourselves. It is a form of collective learning. We watch, we laugh, and then we think to ourselves that we should probably double check that thing we were about to post. It is a cycle of social correction that keeps everyone a little bit more grounded.
#25 His Entire Facebook Is Like This
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#26 Imagine Greeting Someone And Getting This Answer
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#27 If This Isn’t Satire, I’m Done With Life
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In the end, it is not about being cruel or wanting people to suffer in any meaningful way. It is about the love of irony. There is nothing more ironic than a person who claims to be the smartest person in the room failing at something that a child could do. That contrast between their perceived self and their actual reality is the foundation of almost all great comedy. So, as you look through these examples of people tripping over their own egos, do not feel too bad about laughing.
#28 I Could Do Anything And Be Really Freaking Good At It
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#29 Well, If That’s What AI Said
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#30 Trying To One Up A Literal Baby
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You are just participating in a very old human tradition of finding humor in the arrogance of others. It is one of the things that makes the internet such a wild and interesting place to spend time. Just remember that the next time you feel like bragging about your latest achievement, there is probably someone out there waiting for you to make a typo. We all need a reality check now and then, and sometimes that check comes in the form of a very public and very funny mistake that reminds us we are all just human.
#31 Yes, Because You Need To Be A Grad Student To Do Basic Middle School Math
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#32 Be Very Scared, This Guy Understands Music And Has A Good Brain
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#33 Ah Yes, The Only Man Qualified To Speak On World War 1
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#34 I Learnt A Language In 2 Weeks
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#35 I Said “Hey, What’s Good?”
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#36 Academic Reads Alot
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#37 Apparently You Can’t Use ‘Lmao’ Anymore
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#38 Learning About Old Paintings
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#39 Because Space Is Epic
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#40 I Am The Only One Who Understands Nipponese
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#41 I’m So Smart And Rich
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#42 In Case You Didn’t Know, She’s A Fantastic Speed Reader
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#43 Okay Good IQ Level
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#44 Being A Genius
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#45 Hello I Am Smart
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#46 Good For You
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#47 Is The Master’s Degree In How To Be A Karen? Or Is That The High-Level Job?
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#48 On A Post About Someone Getting Money From Redditors To Visit His Mother Who Is Passing Away
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#49 I Don’t Want To Come Off As Ableist, But Come On
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#50 We Are Not Worthy
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#51 Don’t Lie To This Man’s Trained Mind
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#52 Believe It Not, This Is Not About A “Rick And Morty” Movie
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#53 She Has Been In College For One Semester
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#54 Are We For Real Right Now?
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#55 Look At Me… I Am So Smart In This Hypothetical Situation
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#56 You Can Try To Talk To Me, But I’m Thinking Of Your Behavioural Incongruity
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#57 Almost Every Tweet Is About How They Went To Harvard
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#58 A Genius Among Us
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#59 He Is A Very Smart
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#60 Like 800 Letters A Minute?
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#61 Seems Like Something You’d Tell Yourself As An Excuse For Being Lonely
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#62 Shes A Really Good Friend But She Does This Often
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#63 So Shocking
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#64 Boy Genius Gets Shut Down
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#65 More Advice From Another Financial Genius Totally In Touch With Reality
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#66 Yikes
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#67 I Know So Much About This Man Now, And I Did Not Ask
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#68 Sooo Smart
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#69 This Kid I Went To High School With
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#70 They Read So Many Books, Bro
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#71 And People Wonder Why Atheists Get A Bad Name. He Makes Us All Look Bad
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#72 He’s Transcended Language
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#73 We Learn This In Highschool
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#74 Someone I Found On Instagram, Sorry For The Awful Blurring
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#75 On A Post About The Discovery Of Universes Existing Before Our One
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#76 The “Prediction”
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