18 Of The Dumbest Mistakes Made By Pretty Smart People

Smart people always make us feel admirable for their intelligence. However, they are smart doesn't mean they never make mistakes. We are equal. Yeah. equally dumb. And actually, sometimes the silliest mistakes are made by the smartest people we know.
When Redditor u/lord-stryker117 wanted to hear about the moments when common sense goes out the window, so they asked other users: "Think of the smartest person you know, what is the dumbest thing they've ever done?". And people responded with the funniest stories ever. Here we have selected some of them to present to you in the list below. Hope you enjoy.
 

#1.

Image source: Steven G. Johnson

My one college professor had a double doctorate, several masters, and was literally was the head of the national magazine for his field and had a lot of respect in the science community. He didn't know electric eels were real. Like he argued with us. - suitology

#2.

Image source: Remy Sharp

I have a neighbor, he is by far the smartest person I know. A couple fourth of July’s ago he got a quarter stick of dynamite and strapped it to an RC boat with a detonate button and a timer. He sent it out on the lake at night, flipped the switch and it didn’t go off. So he took it back into the house to fix it, but never turned the detonate button off. So when it was fixed the 7-second timer started going. It ended up going off in the house and blowing out all of the windows. Everyone was safe. - Jmiller13202

#3.

Image source: Rachel

I did my undergrad with a guy who got an almost perfect score on his MCAT but also ate a raw chicken breast because he thought it was a really bad hot pocket (he was sober) - oksothisonetime

#4.

Image source: Ksenia Makagonova

My dad is the smartest person I (and anyone who knows him) know and once when we were kids he tried to make us laugh by sticking peas in his nostrils and ended up accidentally snorting them up into his nasal passages. Best part: he’s an ear, nose, and throat surgeon. One of the best in the region I can still hear him pleading with my mother to take them out because he couldn’t face his colleagues with peas up his nose that he voluntarily put there. - katierose0324

#5.

Image source: Andrew "Donovan" Valdivia

They used their bare hand to check if the stove was still hot by pressing it directly on the burner, and they had two doctorates. - PeppermintFart

#6.

Image source: L.Filipe C.Sousa

My husband. He’s a mathematician for the Feds, but he has repeatedly gotten us to the wrong airport in cities that have more than one. Like at least three times. He’s brilliant, but a moron. - Azryhael

#7.

Image source: Peter Schad

My friend has a master's degree in mechanical engineering and robotics. He once made a potato salad with raw potatoes because he thought, since it's a salad, you're not supposed to cook it. - massi95

#8.

Image source: Matthew Lakeland

My aunt. College professor. PhD in mathematics. Was blown away when watching my father cook rice without a rice cooker. - t-h-e-d-u-d-e

#9.

Image source: Neil Drumm

My brother was in uni in the UK And needed a toaster. He ordered on off of Amazon for £3 and was surprised to find one so cheap. Turns out it was a kids toy, it came with plastic pieces of bread as well. - Comprehensive_Crab79

#10.

Image source: Andrea Davis

Couldn't figure out how a shower curtain worked so she flooded my bathroom. - alicat2308

#11.

Image source: freestocks

My brother has PhDs in bioengineering. We were on a call one day and he was saying "I can't find my phone. Probably my kids took it." Didn't realize until i told him that he was using his phone to talk to me. - needsomevitaminstbh

#12.

Image source: Yusuke Kawasaki

My friend in college graduated Summa Cum Laude with a double major in Biology and Chemistry. She went on to medical school and became a physician in a hospital you’ve definitely heard of.
One day she put a fork in the microwave when heating up a bowl of green beans, and I had to explain to her why the microwave sounded like it was full of firecrackers. - Bonnie_Blew

#13.

Image source: El_Dentistador

I was picking up my date (future wife) when her valedictorian roommate turned quickly away from the TV and said in all seriousness “don’t look, they’re welding! It will damage your eyes”. She got more serious as I continued to look back and forth at the tv and her. She actually yelled “it’s going to blind you!” I then asked her “So when your tv is showing an image of the sun…”. That’s as far as I got. You could see the wave of embarrassment wash over her face, she immediately started laugh/crying and begged me not to tell anyone. - El_Dentistador

#14.

Image source: Sharon McCutcheon

While applying for a job, he thought “sick pay” meant that the job paid really well - sizzlingmaniac69

#15.

Image source: Philip Swinburn

I know a guy with a Ph.D. who thought reindeer were fictional - fencerman

#16.

Image source: Priscilla Du Preez

My older brother was the highschool validictorian and decided to cut an apple with a large knife while holding it in his hand. He has a lovely scar from it. - cootbaybee

#17.

Image source: Solen Feyissa

My friend M is really good at math. She literally minored in it for fun.
One day, we were walking along, and she said "guys, I saw something on Facebook this morning - we're only 81 years from the year 3000." (This was in 2019.)
I thought she was making fun of the silly Facebook people. Then she said "isn't that crazy?" And then I realized that my friend who enjoyed calculus... Genuinely thought that 2019+81=3000. I had to break it to her gently. I will never let her live it down. - ParsnipPizza2

#18.

Image source: imgur

Brother in law is a pretty clever guy. Ran a bath for his kid, couldn't get the tap to turn off, mad panic, rang a plumber friend asking him to come round quick or the house is gonna flood. Friend was like, you could just pull the plug?
Real nice, real clever guy. Zero common sense - whydidyadothat