Anonymous
Post 12/26/2025 23:52     Subject: Wait, some of you on DCUM are really smart!
OP it can be a bit lonely much of the day for high IQ types. I know someone here will match or push my thinking. So an odd, erratic community that allows me to feel seen.

From Wikipedia:

An IQ difference of more than two standard deviations (approximately 30 points) can lead to challenges in effective communication and interaction, as it may create significant gaps in understanding and cognitive processing. Generally, individuals with IQs that differ by this amount may struggle to relate to each other's perspectives and problem-solving approaches
Anonymous
Post 12/26/2025 23:49     Subject: Wait, some of you on DCUM are really smart!
I think that younger people prefer videos and don’t frequent a text based site like DCUM. I’m in my 40s and discovered the site when expecting my first child in 2009. Many posters are likely a similar age.

Back then, the private schools required IQ testing for admissions. My toddler was 127. Very run-of-the-mill in DMV independent schools. It wasn’t until we left for the Midwest that I noticed that that this is above average.

I miss everyone having graduate degrees and speaking multiple languages. DCUM is my favorite online indulgence.
Anonymous
Post 12/26/2025 23:34     Subject: Wait, some of you on DCUM are really smart!
Another book writer here. I am here mostly bc I have a procrastination problem. But also I sometimes see posts that genuinely move me. And sometimes I get glimpses into people who think and approach the world very differently than I do, so that’s interesting too.
Anonymous
Post 12/26/2025 23:27     Subject: Wait, some of you on DCUM are really smart!
Reddit is way better for responses these days and half of the posts here are trolls. I still come here to follow forum topics and local insight. But the trolls make it less enjoyable.
Anonymous
Post 12/26/2025 23:17     Subject: Wait, some of you on DCUM are really smart!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I can tell from your vocabulary, writing style, and insights that you aren’t like the rest of us. Just how intelligent are you?? Give some stats or your schooling or something…, or do you just take time to craft your response? And given your brainpower why are you here on DCUM?


Why wouldn't we be here? Where would/should we be instead? Smart people need to relax with guilty pleasures too. I also binge watch tv shows.

HYPSM + top 5 law school grad

I haven't taken an IQ test since jr high. I think it was 130 if memory serves. So high but not stratospheric or anything. I'm smart, but I wasn't the smartest in college or law school. I'm also much better in some subjects than others. Math is not my thing.


Lol, I've got 5 IQ points on this poster but didn't apply to HYPSM so my life was ruined and so I'm an "interloper" who had to move away from North Bethesda and set up shop in flyover country to afford my suburban family dream home.
Anonymous
Post 12/26/2025 23:04     Subject: Wait, some of you on DCUM are really smart!
My favorite posts are actually the judgy grammar ones. It’s so refreshing to hear people care about grammar.

I joined dcum while pregnant because BabyCenter was insane. I couldn’t believe all the drama about baby daddies.
Anonymous
Post 12/26/2025 22:54     Subject: Wait, some of you on DCUM are really smart!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If you’re not being sarcastic:

Occasionally I get very positive replies to my writing here, even when it’s casual or done in a hurry.

I’ve been going through some hard years and am unemployed, with a long stretch of underemployment before that. DH ignores me. I have great friends but they are wrapped up in their lives. DCUM is a place where I can put some of my displaced career and social energy into helping others with their problems, providing recommendations, or just adding some levity to threads.

Before I was sidelined by a bad choice of DH, I considered a career in scripted TV but ended up on the advertising side. Ivy undergrad and grad, SAT >1500 in the olden days, but never ever have I been the wittiest, most clever, quickest, or smartest one in the room. Most people can’t write their way out of a paper bag so being an ok writer stands out. Sadly for me, it doesn’t count for much in the corporate world these days.


DP but this is very similar to my situation. I'm underemployed and under socialized due to some life circumstances I don't want to get into here. I write longer than average posts on DCUM and often get complimented for them being coherent and interesting. But really I am just an above average writer who has too much time on my hands and a desperate need to express myself.

I should spend less time on DCUM and more time on actual writing projects that could, in theory, be more personally rewarding. However, I like the instant feedback here. I'm lonely and this is one of a handful of ways I have to connect with people on many days. I also like that it's possible to be brutally honest here in a way that is simply not allowed in my social life most of the time.


DCUM is always here for you.
Anonymous
Post 12/26/2025 22:53     Subject: Wait, some of you on DCUM are really smart!
Anonymous wrote:If you’re not being sarcastic:

Occasionally I get very positive replies to my writing here, even when it’s casual or done in a hurry.

I’ve been going through some hard years and am unemployed, with a long stretch of underemployment before that. DH ignores me. I have great friends but they are wrapped up in their lives. DCUM is a place where I can put some of my displaced career and social energy into helping others with their problems, providing recommendations, or just adding some levity to threads.

Before I was sidelined by a bad choice of DH, I considered a career in scripted TV but ended up on the advertising side. Ivy undergrad and grad, SAT >1500 in the olden days, but never ever have I been the wittiest, most clever, quickest, or smartest one in the room. Most people can’t write their way out of a paper bag so being an ok writer stands out. Sadly for me, it doesn’t count for much in the corporate world these days.


DP but this is very similar to my situation. I'm underemployed and under socialized due to some life circumstances I don't want to get into here. I write longer than average posts on DCUM and often get complimented for them being coherent and interesting. But really I am just an above average writer who has too much time on my hands and a desperate need to express myself.

I should spend less time on DCUM and more time on actual writing projects that could, in theory, be more personally rewarding. However, I like the instant feedback here. I'm lonely and this is one of a handful of ways I have to connect with people on many days. I also like that it's possible to be brutally honest here in a way that is simply not allowed in my social life most of the time.
Anonymous
Post 12/26/2025 22:40     Subject: Re:Wait, some of you on DCUM are really smart!
Anonymous wrote:I owe my witty snark to my parents: they made me practice the CogAT for months so that I could get into the AAP (Advanced Academic Program) in FCPS. Without being in AAP, I’d be wasting away on babycenter and Reddit.


Anonymous
Post 12/26/2025 21:46     Subject: Re:Wait, some of you on DCUM are really smart!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:That’s why DCUM is a much better place than Reddit.


+1. Although the quality of responses has declined considerably in the last several years. I miss the days when DCUM was mostly full of highly educated DC-area posters.


+1. A lot more trolls with simple responses like “you idiot.” Old DCUM would have wit with their insult.
Anonymous
Post 12/26/2025 21:38     Subject: Wait, some of you on DCUM are really smart!
I started posting here four score and seven weeks ago because these are the times that try mens souls, as these are the best of times and the worst of times, including many days that will live in infamy.
Anonymous
Post 12/26/2025 21:14     Subject: Wait, some of you on DCUM are really smart!
Anonymous wrote:I can tell from your vocabulary, writing style, and insights that you aren’t like the rest of us. Just how intelligent are you?? Give some stats or your schooling or something…, or do you just take time to craft your response? And given your brainpower why are you here on DCUM?


Why wouldn't we be here? Where would/should we be instead? Smart people need to relax with guilty pleasures too. I also binge watch tv shows.

HYPSM + top 5 law school grad

I haven't taken an IQ test since jr high. I think it was 130 if memory serves. So high but not stratospheric or anything. I'm smart, but I wasn't the smartest in college or law school. I'm also much better in some subjects than others. Math is not my thing.
Anonymous
Post 12/26/2025 20:34     Subject: Re:Wait, some of you on DCUM are really smart!
Anonymous wrote:I owe my witty snark to my parents: they made me practice the CogAT for months so that I could get into the AAP (Advanced Academic Program) in FCPS. Without being in AAP, I’d be wasting away on babycenter and Reddit.


Anonymous
Post 12/26/2025 20:19     Subject: Re:Wait, some of you on DCUM are really smart!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:That’s why DCUM is a much better place than Reddit.


+1. Although the quality of responses has declined considerably in the last several years. I miss the days when DCUM was mostly full of highly educated DC-area posters.

It has gone downhill, but there are still amazing writers on here fairly frequently. Were you here for this really great thread? https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1005803.page#20998311
Anonymous
Post 12/26/2025 20:17     Subject: Re:Wait, some of you on DCUM are really smart!
Anonymous wrote:I owe my witty snark to my parents: they made me practice the CogAT for months so that I could get into the AAP (Advanced Academic Program) in FCPS. Without being in AAP, I’d be wasting away on babycenter and Reddit.


Those sites turned me into a classist.