On multple occasions now, I have not been told that I am smart, but actually asked how I am so smart. It's a horrible question. How can I answer?
First, I say that I'm not necessarily so smart, and I have weaknesses. But I know that's not what they want to hear. They think I'm being falsely modest and at any rate are looking for advice.
So second, I have to try and come up with a credible explanation. I typically say it was the way I was home-schooled, the fact that I had no friends, and wasn't made to do chores, and was simply left with tons of free time in a house full of books. Oh, and one parent was not involved and the other made everything into a confusing open-ended question instead of telling me what to believe.
But that's no good, because it reflects the lengthy past, thus not functioning as advice useful now. So going for broke I usually say for them to study logic and critical thinking and hone a dispassionate temperament and they'll be on the right track.
Then I walk away thinking "I have little idea if what I just told them has merit, but they wouldn't take 'I don't know' for an answer".
It doesn't make me any more confident in my intelligence. It makes me feel bad for the other person because I know they must be looking down on themselves. It makes me feel like there is at least a perceived standard I now have to live up to. And it forces me to go through that awkward routine. There's nothing good about it.