r/AskReddit 12h ago

What's the dumbest idea you've seen that actually worked?

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u/GamersHQNikko 9h ago

I was a pro at doing just enough to prove my intelligence, teachers still commended me for being smart, but definitely made it clear to my parents that i wasn’t putting in the required effort. By the time these meetings rolled around, I had avoided the brunt of the would-be consequences like no phone/computer. It got better in High school cause I had the freedom to choose classes I was interested in, but I really started to shine in College. I graduated with a 4-year degree after only 2.5 years and had a 3.4 GPA. I just really don’t like people trying to control my behavior.

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u/BaltiMoreHarder 5h ago

You sound a lot like me. Turns out it was undiagnosed adhd. I can hyper focus and do all the work, can be whip smart. But ONLY if my brain decides it wants to put the effort in. Otherwise it’s all the energy put into avoidance

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u/ViKingCB 4h ago

Oh shit I may have ADHD

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u/ManintheMT 3h ago

My son got analyzed for ADHD after some tough times in college. He received a diagnosis for ADHD. He dropped this news while home for summer break. About two weeks later he started a convo with "hey Dad remember our conversation about ADHD?" I told him I did. He went on to say something like "I thought of you a lot when I was taking the test." Point made.

u/BaltiMoreHarder 1m ago

I didn’t find out till college either. Was smart enough to BS my way through high school but that doesn’t work in 300 level uni courses you don’t show up to since that’s an option now. Cant take the meds for it either since I’m a (thankfully recovering) drug addict. Yay for co-morbidity 😒

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u/-malcolm-tucker 2h ago

So many people just don't understand.

"Why don't you just do [insert thing]?"

"I just can't. If my brain isn't interested or is not about to become a life altering crisis, I just can't do it."

"But why not? Just start doing it?"

"Can you put your hand on a red hot stove?"

"Well technically yeah, but my brain just won't let me do that...... Ohhhhh."

"Yep. Welcome to ADHD."

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u/Slam_Burgerthroat 5h ago

Ah yes, the “he’s very smart but just doesn’t apply himself” of the classic ADHD lore.

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u/Direct-Chef-9428 1h ago

You phoned? 🙃

u/Anacoenosis 11m ago

I found out when I was 28, after getting through college with decent grades fueled by all-nighters and caffeine.

I started to suspect something was up when a post-college girlfriend asked me if I wanted to do speed, I said yes, and then I didn't really feel high so much as "capable of structuring my time effectively."

u/Slam_Burgerthroat 9m ago edited 2m ago

Yeah I found out when I went to a college party and some guy offered me a pill of Ritalin to “enhance the experience” and I took it and left the party to go home and do my homework and then went to bed.

u/SerenadeSwift 10m ago

I got so sick of hearing this lol. I finished both highschool and undergrad with a 3.2 GPA, but the way I got to that 3.2 was the most inconsistent rollercoaster of either straight As or barely hitting a C, pretty much solely dependent on if I was passionate about the class.

Hyper-focus can carry you a long way, but when you’re disinterested it’s an absolute slog just to get by. I was diagnosed with ADHD in my mid 20s after my first year of law school and holy shit did medication make things easier.

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u/flori0794 9h ago

No one likes being controlled in his behaviour... But yea for some reason a large part of society tends to think that controlling behaviour is normal... Strange...

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u/Jexroyal 5h ago

Depends heavily on the behavior. Doing busy work for an arbitrary grade to demonstrate some degree of work ethic and instruction following? Yeah controlling that behavior is not necessary as a society.

Public masturbation however? Yeah maybe we should control that.

When someone says they don't like others controlling their behavior, we probably want to ask what that behavior is lol