School starts tomorrow!

After much recent thinking (mostly due to being around Silas so much), I have come to the conclusion that there are three types of people in the world: dumb people (pardon my lack of politically correctness), pseudo-intellectuals and intellectuals. The first and third categories aren't what I'm worried about, it's the middle category. The pseudo-intellectuals are all of the assholes you meet in life who try to challenge your intelligence, even in the most trivial of ways (for example: a girl Rebecca who was in my first grade class would ask me every time I came back from GT [it was a pull-out program and I was the only one in my grade in it] how to spell 'antelope', as if that was the universal IQ test and would help her determine whether I was worthy of my status as a GT student). They spend their time on Facebook commenting random people's statuses and posts to correct their grammar and/or spelling, or even just the content of the post, to feed their pathetic superiority complexes. They are the ones who make you feel bad for breaking the curve (therefore ruining their chance of getting extra points to help their grade pass), because it was your fault that you studied and/or paid attention the first time and got a good grade on the assignment; the flip-side is that if they break a curve then they tell everyone they possibly can. They are the ones who like to collect knowledge so they can slip it into small talk and make themselves look so much more intelligent. They are the ones who update everyone on the novel they are "reading" at the time (generally a social commentary, one of the glamorous classics or a political theory). They are the ones who love to flaunt their knowledge of the latest bands and how long they've listened to them. They are the ones who never got past the egocentric phase in their childhood development. They are the ones who claim that they're extremely intelligent, they're just too lazy to do things for themselves. They are the assholes who talk about things they don't understand (for example, most teenagers seriously talking about politics). They are the ones who pretend to read the newspaper to keep up appearances. They are the ones who say that they'd never stoop to cheating, but they do anyway. They are the ones who reference obscure things and claim them as their own. They are the ones who make everyone feel shitty about themselves.

I'm only bitter because I'm about to start school, and this is something I think of when I think about school. As much as I love school and I love learning, I hate people (especially teenagers) that I have to sit with in classes. I've always been surrounded by at least one pseudo-intellectual who wants to simultaneously ruin my self esteem and leech off of my brain (hoping that somehow they can gain a random bit of information they can "casually" slip into conversation and further their status as a blow-hard or severe bullshitter). I'm purposefully quiet in my classes now because I don't want to attract people like this; it's unfortunately a feeble action considering that I've been in the district long enough that people are familiar with me, and instead of quietly asking me for help, they have to shout out to everyone and humiliate me. And I suppose this only bothers me because I heavily associate intellect with common sense and humility. My mom is one of the smartest people I've ever met, yet she dumbs herself down around her work friends for just this reason. There's another kid in a higher grade than me who is a genius, but he is also extremely down-to-earth. He never refuses anyone when they ask for help, and he's the type who stammers when he gets complimented (which happens quite often). They know that they're intelligent, but they take it as a figment of their character; not something meant to be used as a weapon or way of demeaning others.

Although this post is possibly the most pretentious, contrived stream of conscious I've ever written down and makes me look like a huge asshole, I know that I'm not the only one who feels this way. I'm simply tired of people making me feel guilty for knowing more or different things than they do.