> One of my friends would always say (after poor grades or job rejections) "I wasn't even trying." By his logic, if he didn't try, then he didn't really fail, because the true extent of his abilities remained untested. He would often play videos games rather than study, just so he could have a plausible excuse for failure. It would be an existential threat for him to do his absolute best but come up short.

I knew someone that fit this. Extremely smart and would often run circles around everyone. But when we landed a top-tier school she crumbled and used this exact excuse often - "she didn't fail because she didn't try."

Eventually she started showing mental illness in the form of delusions of grandeur and something else (not sure what). She claimed she was tested for "special" powers as a kid by the government - mind reading and ability to move objects with her mind. Eventually she came up with a story that she had cancer and needed to miss class all the time for chemo. She ended up getting expelled from the school because she refused to provide any documents from the doctors (ends up she lied and was cured "by a miracle" after she left school).

I've often wondered if her intelligence played a part in this psychotic break she demonstrated. I met a few others that were scary smart and clearly outliers at the school that showed similar behavior.