I could go down the list of "cognitive errors" and point out which ones you are making here...

Of course you have impressive brainpower, even among the brainy. This cannot be denied. As for having no other redeeming qualities and no talents, well, I'm not going to waste the time here trying to convince you, your skull is as thick as mine for that sort of thing.

The sorts of dumb stuff you describe here are not only classic pitfalls for all of humanity to the point of cliche (My wallet is in my other pants), but one of your mental aspects that allows you access to such brilliance predisposes you to these problems. How can you admit to having ADD, particularly in the intact natural state, and still be surprised when you occasionally forget the trivial details of life?

I am reasonably smart, and yet I still forget my stupid keys, wallet, where I left my glasses, where I put important paperwork, and everything else. I have gone to exotic lengths to tie my wallet and keys to my body so I don't leave them places. Still, the only reason I seldom actually leave the house without my keys is that I can't start my car without them. I can't tell you how many times I have piled my family into the car, sat in the driver's seat, and wondered for a second why I couldn't make the car go. When I carry a backpack, I loop one of the straps around my ankle when I sit down so I won't just leave it there when I get up (and I've been carrying a backpack with me to classes for, oh, 15 years?).

That's all without ADD. I have watched my own exotically-intelligent family members pull impressively brilliant mental stunts, and then try to leave the house in their underwear (you ever do that?). I watch my guy take showers with his glasses on, and he wonders why he suddenly can't see so well when the water hits. I have received several phone calls over the years from somebody asking me to pick up the lunch he made himself (and just happened to leave on the kitchen counter... again).

His parents actually had a big sign on the inside of their front door for their own brood of ADD people. It was a checklist of things like keys, lunch money, and homework. It wasn't just for the kids, either! All this ADD had to come from someplace... It was such a constant problem that they ended up posting a sign! We also have a checklist for Alex writ large on a whiteboard, complete with pictures. He actually checks it to make sure he's ready for school, or he really would forget to put on his shoes.

Yeah, forgetting wallet and keys really sucks. It doesn't make you stupid, though, so stop believing that it does. 'Cause I said so.

It's not a matter of logical reasoning, though; it's a reflection on how powerfully, frequently, and tenaciously my brain regurgitates this sort of mistake. I'm still living down the ancient idiocy of accidentally running a red light, two years ago -- my brain replays that memory no matter how I try to forget it, excuse it, or simply let it rest. My brain likes to summon these memories to scourge me whenever possible.

I'll be feeling idiotic over this one for months to come. Which, as an aside, is a big reason that I don't like productions being made to save me from my own idiotic actions. ^.^ It's also why I still hate phones and visiting other people's houses, to this day.

Okay, apparently I am better at letting some things go than you are. I wouldn't have even recalled blowing the stop sign last night except for you saying something about the red light.

That's the sort of "Oops, shit happens" thing I shrug about. No one got hurt? Great. I'm not going to let it bother me.

Well, yeah. This is one respect in which I'm king -- beating myself up for dumb stuff literally YEARS after the fact. When I do something boneheaded, it haunts me. I'm absolutely no good at setting it away.

Yes, well, if it didn't or doesn't hurt anyone, it's not something you should hang onto forever. Even you count, here.(Yes, with this sort of thing, even I count, so...take that as you will.)

Believe me, this is not something I do voluntarily. It astounds and disgusts me that my brain can dig up painful, embarassing memories and smack me with them so long after the fact.

Powerful processor, bad drive sectors. I totally feel you, and there's a reason that the absent-minded professor is an archetype.

. . . I thought you were good at archery . . . and knocking people's heads together . . .

I lost the keys to my car for a few weeks. Thankfully, I had a backup set, but I literally lost the keys to my car.

For one, average human memory is not as ideal as you seem to believe, and for a specific counterexample, I'm smart, but my memory sucks. Oh yeah, sure, ask me to memorize a string of numbers, that I can do. But if you want me to remember to call the doctor, or to pick up something essential at the store, or where I put that electronic doodad (or my keys), my mind's a sieve.

Hey, where the heck have you been? I have a Pokemon for you!!

Work is trying to subsume me. I'll try to catch up with you sometime today.

I'll drop you a message when I get home and am free. ^.^