# "A-Ha!" Moments: Have you ever felt smart and stupid at the same time? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 29, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192 "2006-11-29T14:41:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/41 "2006-11-30T22:10:10Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] THe other day while showering, I was thinking about something (I forget what) during the course of which I was trying to figure out what 26 times 26 is, as I had only memorized the squares up to 25 squared. Well, I thought, if this were a real square, you would have to add 25, to add an extra unit “edge” to the square, then add 26 to the top of it, and that would be a 26 by 26 square. Oh, that’s interesting, to get a square number, you can take one square lower, then add that amount, then add the higher number. So it’s like (x+1)^2 = x^2 + x + (x+1)… or… x^2 + 2x + 1. Congratulations, Matt, you have just rederived binomial equations from scratch! Bringing you up to grade, what was it, nine? Whee! [/QUOTE] :smack: ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/42 "2006-11-30T22:31:29Z")
[QUOTE=hajario] “Yep,” I said to myself, “the next time I am in the market I have to buy myself some of these…pipe cleaners.” Uh, yeah, I guess that’s how they got that name. :smack: [/QUOTE] Sweet jeebus, the same exact thing happened to me! I bet we were smoking out of the same kind of pipe, too! 😉 I’ve been trying for years to puzzle out if the Saturn logo was the planet or the cursive capital letter “s”. I think the answer is “yes.” Once when camping on a dark, new moon night (after dirtying our pipes), a friend and I went for a walk through the woods (on a trail, we weren’t that stupid). We didn’t have flashlights, but we did have some votive candles. Holding them in our hands blinded us, so we soon discovered that holding them on top of our heads was better. “Hmm…” I thought. “If only we had some sort of bucket with a long handle to hold the candles in that had a shield on top so the glare wouldn’t blind us…and maybe a glass window so dew wouldn’t drip on the wick. With some holes to let in air for the flame…” :smack: Yeah, I “invented” the [lantern.](http://www.bradfitzpatrick.com/stock_illustration/images/cartoon_lantern_01.jpg) Another time when eating a cheeseburger, I used a rather overripe tomato, which got rather squishy. “This is fantastic!” I thought. “It’s so sweet! All it needs is a little salt, and maybe a splash of vinegar for acidity! It would be perfect for a cheeseburger!” :smack: [D’oh!](http://www.heinz.com/images/world_easy_squeeze_ketchup.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/43 "2006-11-30T23:19:07Z")
[QUOTE=Ferd Burfel] I’ve got an “A-ha!” thats not so much smart, but at least now I feel better. For years I heard the phrase “Madison Square Garden” and associated it with a square garden modified by the location Madison. It wasn’t until about 5 years ago that I realized that the location was really a garden modified by the location Madison Square. I’d associated the “Square Garden” with televised prize fights, which, as I’m sure you all know, are conducted in a boxing ring also known as the “squared circle.” Somehow the two were connected in my mind. [/QUOTE] This is exactly what I thought. I thought it was Madison “Square Garden” when it is actually “Madison Square” Garden. Who knew?? 😃😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/44 "2006-12-01T00:18:26Z")
Last night, I dreamt I was, sadly and inexplicably, still in school, and my class was administered a four-page-long I.Q. test. Each question was a different type from the others; some were wordplay puzzles, some mathematical, a few used pictograms, etc. I had the very strong impression that every other student was zipping through the test with alacrity and even joy (to judge from the sounds of pencils scratching and page-flipping), while I was felt utterly intimidated and defeated by the thing before I had even begun – like I needed a good night’s sleep, or a caffeine hit times ten. I even procrastinated the fateful moment of starting it, by signing my name to all the pages first. When I finally addressed my attention to the puzzles, I was quickly stymied by most of them, to the point of not even understanding how I could go about solving them. Things were looking very dire, when I woke up… … and realized that the whole thing was a dream and [John Malkovich’s voice] in MY head! It’s MY HEAD![/JM voice] How exactly does one part of one’s brain cook up a gibberish I.Q. test that the other part of one’s subconscious brain can’t make any headway with? ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/45 "2006-12-01T03:59:46Z")
Well if it makes the logo lapsers feel any better, I still don’t get the Toyota logo. I keep thinking ‘bull’ or ‘Taurus’ when I see it. What am I missing? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/46 "2006-12-01T06:18:08Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] Well if it makes the logo lapsers feel any better, I still don’t get the Toyota logo. I keep thinking ‘bull’ or ‘Taurus’ when I see it. What am I missing? [/QUOTE] From [here.](http://www.dinesh.com/History_of_Logos/Car_Logos_-_Design_and_History/Toyota_Logo_-_Design_and_History/) [QUOTE=Toyota Logo - Design and History] The current Toyota Mark consists of three ovals: the two perpendicular center ovals represent a relationship of mutual trust between the customer and Toyota. These ovals combine to symbolize the letter “T” for Toyota. The space in the background implies a global expansion of Toyota’s technology and unlimited potential for the future. [/QUOTE] Yeh. Whatever, Toyota. :rolleyes: I’ve always admired the **old** [Northwest Airlines](http://www.logo-design99.com/nwa_logo2.gif) logo. First you see the “N”, then you see the “W”… then you notice the triangle that polarizes the N/W formation is actually the compass point for north-west. Then NWA had to ruin everything by changing it to their crappier new design. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/47 "2006-12-01T06:54:14Z")
[QUOTE=cmyk] From [here.](http://www.dinesh.com/History_of_Logos/Car_Logos_-_Design_and_History/Toyota_Logo_-_Design_and_History/) [/QUOTE] Hey, thanks! So it wasn’t me after all LOL. I’m with you on the NW Airlines logo. Too bad ‘new improved’ is rarely the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/48 "2006-12-01T13:28:43Z")
[QUOTE=The Scrivener] Last night, I dreamt I was, sadly and inexplicably, still in school, and my class was administered a four-page-long I.Q. test. Each question was a different type from the others; some were wordplay puzzles, some mathematical, a few used pictograms, etc. I had the very strong impression that every other student was zipping through the test with alacrity and even joy (to judge from the sounds of pencils scratching and page-flipping), while I was felt utterly intimidated and defeated by the thing before I had even begun – like I needed a good night’s sleep, or a caffeine hit times ten. I even procrastinated the fateful moment of starting it, by signing my name to all the pages first. When I finally addressed my attention to the puzzles, I was quickly stymied by most of them, to the point of not even understanding how I could go about solving them. Things were looking very dire, when I woke up… … and realized that the whole thing was a dream and [John Malkovich’s voice] in MY head! It’s MY HEAD![/JM voice] How exactly does one part of one’s brain cook up a gibberish I.Q. test that the other part of one’s subconscious brain can’t make any headway with? [/QUOTE] You know, I’ve had some similar dreams. Not similar in the way that I’d be sitting at the desk with a test, but I’d have something that I’d be looking at or reading or doing that made no sense to me and was something completely out of character for me too. I usually wake up from these dreams, stare straight up at the ceiling and wonder what in the hell just went on for the next couple minutes (or until I turn the alarm off and happen to doze back to slumberland, much to the chagrin of work). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/49 "2006-12-01T14:04:29Z")
I have used the expressions “eye candy” (good looking) and “nose candy” (theatre slang for cocaine) individually for years without realizing how similar they were. Maybe I should start using “ear candy.” ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/50 "2006-12-01T14:12:36Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] I have used the expressions “eye candy” (good looking) and “nose candy” (theatre slang for cocaine) individually for years without realizing how similar they were. Maybe I should start using “ear candy.” [/QUOTE] To me, _Ear Candy_ equates to sappy pop music. Usually performed by guys and girls who are undoubtedly _eye candy_, who are undoubtedly partaking of _nose candy_. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/51 "2006-12-01T14:26:42Z")
I’m still not seeing the cursive capital S in the Saturn logo. Doesn’t the cursive S lean to the right, not the left? Maybe 15 years from now I’ll be sitting behind one at a light and go “A-HA!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/52 "2006-12-01T14:40:55Z")
Theatre logos: the Canadian [Jane Eyre](http://www.castalbumdb.com/rec.cfm?RNumber=2564) logo has a face hidden in it. Ditto the better known [Miss Saigon](http://www.castalbumdb.com/rec.cfm?RNumber=1876), which took me years to find. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/53 "2006-12-01T14:57:23Z")
In my freshman year I studied Thomas Mann’s “_Mario und der Zauberer_” - which is an allegorical account of the rise of (italian) Fascism. The title translates as “_Mario and the Magician_”, and is intended to give the idea of a nation under a sorcerer’s spell. However… for some reason I read it as “_Mario and der Sauberer_”. In German, “sauber” means “clean” so I somehow managed to translate it as “_Mario and the Window-Cleaner_”. For 3 weeks I struggled to understand how shiny windows had anything to do with the rise of a fascist state. :rolleyes: The “a-ha” moment - when it came - was in the middle of a seminar and (most embarassingly) was exclaimed _out loud_ to my whole class. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/54 "2006-12-01T15:24:21Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] :o It took me years to realize that the Honda logo is an H. :smack: [/QUOTE] …and the Acura logo is and inverted Honda “H” with the ends pinched a bit more to make it an “A” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/55 "2006-12-01T15:38:16Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] Well if it makes the logo lapsers feel any better, I still don’t get the Toyota logo. I keep thinking ‘bull’ or ‘Taurus’ when I see it. What am I missing? [/QUOTE] Yeah, it says “longhorn cattle” to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/56 "2006-12-01T15:49:39Z")
All those who scrolled down to the bottom of the page immediately after reading post #32, raise your hands. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/57 "2006-12-01T16:04:33Z")
[QUOTE=Winston Smith] …and the Acura logo is and inverted Honda “H” with the ends pinched a bit more to make it an “A” :eek: [/QUOTE] I thought it was a compass/sextant type thing. :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![homeskillet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ba0ec/32.png) [@homeskillet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/homeskillet)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/58 "2006-12-01T18:02:07Z")
[QUOTE=NicePete] As a matter of fact, I had an AHA moment just the other day. I was sitting in a diner when an animated hand reached up through my menu, grabbed my hand and pulled me into his animated dimension. Some bad guys chased us around there, then we went back through a mirror into the “real” dimension. At least that was my take on it. [/QUOTE] Cute **Pete** , I just had my own “a-ha” moment trying to make sense of your post. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/59 "2006-12-01T18:40:54Z")
[QUOTE=Ferd Burfel] For years I heard the phrase “Madison Square Garden” and associated it with a square garden modified by the location Madison. It wasn’t until about 5 years ago that I realized that the location was really a garden modified by the location Madison Square. [/QUOTE] Wow, I didn’t realize that until I read your post. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192/60 "2006-12-02T14:03:19Z")
When I realized why my username pops up in threads about space travel. I chose it because at the time I was working on undersea (sub-) fiber optic (-light) cable projects. The other meaning didn’t occur to me for a long time after. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ha-moments-have-you-ever-felt-smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time/382192.md?page=4)