History Main / IThoughtEveryOneCouldDoThat

Generally, characters like this are either a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, CaptainOblivious, a FishOutOfWater, or very young and inexperienced. Depending on the feat, this can also be an [[AchievementsInIgnorance Achievement in Ignorance]]. Often a case of TruthInTelevision for a variety of reasons.

** In Sikozu's first appearance, she's rather surprised to discover that Crichton can't [[WallCrawl shift his centre of gravity]], having presumed that all the species she had associated with so far (Scarran, Grudek, Sebacean, Human) were able to do so. Unfortunately, she only finds this out while bandaging Crichton's mauled legs - courtesy of the MonsterOfTheWeek Sikozu had easily escaped from.
** In another ''Farscape'' example (though this time more of "I Thought Everyone ''Couldn't'' Do That''), Crichton discovers that every member of Moya's crew has better eyesight than he does when he mentions that the small warning text on something is so tiny, there's no way anyone could read it from this distance—and then the others take turns reading it aloud.

* In Sikozu's first appearance in ''{{Farscape}},'' she's rather surprised to discover that Crichton can't [[WallCrawl shift his centre of gravity]], having presumed that all the species she had associated with so far (Scarran, Grudek, Sebacean, Human) were able to do so. Unfortunately, she only finds this out while bandaging Crichton's mauled legs - courtesy of the MonsterOfTheWeek Sikozu had easily escaped from.
** In a another Farscape example (though this time more of "I Thought Everyone ''Couldn't'' Do That''), Crichton discovers that every member of the Moya's crew has better eyesight than he does when he mentions that the small warning text on something is so tiny, there's no way anyone could read it from this distance—and then the others take turns reading it aloud.

* Celia from ''{{The Order of the Stick}}'' designs her [[strike:booty talisman]] summoning talisman to [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0529.html break from energy blasts]], completely unaware that this was not something normal humans could do at will, which leads to some [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0443.html unfortunate consequences]] when her boyfriend fails to use it. She also can detect abjurations like the Cloister spell through the way her teeth tingle, and because she thought everybody could do the same, she only mentioned it in passing, assuming Haley already knew about it.
** After that last one, she actually gets angry about how worthless human(oid) senses seem to be compared to her own.

* Goku of ''DragonBall'' thought that every boy has a tail. Amusingly, when he tells Bulma, she gets upset that she still doesn't [[IfYouNoWhatIMean know about the male anatomy]] at her age.

* Goku of ''DragonBall'' thought that everyone has a tail.

* In the ''{{Dragonriders of Pern}}'' series, F'lar chastises Lessa for not telling him that she can hear the telepathic speech of other people's dragons. Her response boils down to "How was I supposed to know you couldn't?" Of course, as far as she knows at this point ''he'' is still the big bad dragon rider and expert while ''she's'' still fairly new to the Weyr, so it's somewhat justifiable.
** Except that she had worked out long before that it was a unique talent, and she'd been hiding it to put F'lar in his place.

** It's mentioned that Susan thought nothing of her ability to [[strike: walk through walls]] make herself unnoticeable, and assumed for the longest time that ''everyone'' could do that. Even in her second appearance (by which time she knows her origin), she finds stopping time to be so easy that she wonders why ordinary people can't do it.
*** Partially justified, in that many of Susan's (and Death's) "supernatural" abilities really ''are'' much more straightforward than the way regular humans approach reality. For instance, it’s not that she can see things that aren’t real, it’s that everyone else can ''not'' see things that are.

* In the ''{{Dragonriders of Pern}}'' series, F'lar chastises Lessa for not telling him that she can hear the telepathic speech of other people's dragons. Her response boils down to "How was I supposed to know you couldn't?" Of course, as far as she knows at this point ''he'' is still the big bad dragon rider and expert while ''she's'' still fairly new to the Weyr, so it's somewhat justified.

* Fitz's daughter Nettle in the ''Tawny Man'' trilogy is a DreamWeaver, but doesn't realize that this is anything special. She doesn't understand why other people have nightmares, because why would anyone want to stay in a dream they didn't like?

* People with Asperger's/Autism are even WORSE, as this is a symptom. They are normally in a state of hyperfocus, in which they obsess over a single topic for months or years. They have the ability to recognize and memorize an incredible amount of detail about their obsessions, but they're literally unable to understand the difference between what's interesting to ''them'' and what's interesting to ''others''. Many have a compulsive need to talk about their obsessions, and no way to recognize social awkwardness. The result: they babble ''on and on and on'' about a topic for months, thinking it's all really interesting to the people they talk to. (And then, if they find out it's not, they're unable to stop obsessing and babbling - it's ''literally'' compulsive.) Plenty of training ''can'' help, but not always. It's also annoying from the other side; imagine being {{surrounded by idiots}} everywhere you go.

* People with Asperger's/Autism are even WORSE, as this is a symptom. They are normally in a state of hyperfocus, in which they obsess over a single topic for months or years. They have the ability to recognize and memorize an incredible amount of detail about their obsessions, but they're literally unable to understand the difference between what's interesting to ''them'' and what's interesting to ''others''. Many have a compulsive need to talk about their obsessions, and no way to recognize social awkwardness. The result: they babble ''on and on and on'' about a topic for months, thinking it's all really interesting to the people they talk to. (And then, if they find out it's not, they're unable to stop obsessing and babbling - it's ''literally'' compulsive.) Plenty of training ''can'' help, but not always.
** It's also annoying from the other side, imagine being {{surrounded by idiots}} everywhere you go.
*** See, that's the thing. Not having this disorder or compulsion, or not focusing on the details to such a degree, doesn't make someone stupid, just different.

** People with Asperger's/Autism are even WORSE, as this is a symptom.
*** To elaborate: people with Asperger's are normally in a state of hyperfocus, in which they obsess over a single topic for months or years. They have the ability to recognize and memorize an incredible amount of detail about their obsessions, but they're literally unable to understand the difference between what's interesting to ''them'' and what's interesting to ''others''. Many have a compulsive need to talk about their obsessions, and no way to recognize social awkardness. The result: they babble ''on and on and on'' about a topic for months, thinking it's all really interesting to the people they talk to. (And then, if they find out it's not, they're unable to stop obsessing and babbling - it's ''literally'' compulsive.) Plenty of training ''can'' help, but not always.

* In one of the few actually funny moments of ''MadTV'', recurring character Rusty Miller, a geeky college student, is having a trivia contest with two girls, and infuriating them by getting every question right. Except the last question, which asks the average length of a penis. The girls get it right by answering six inches. Rusty protests that the machine is wrong, and the average is ten inches, then leaves the bar in disgust. The girls give each other a look, then rush out after him. [[HoYay As do several guys]].

** Until the middle of ''{{Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets}}'' (when he does it in front of an audience for the first time), Harry assumes that all wizards can [[SssssnakeTalk talk to snakes]] -- in fact, he doesn't even realize he's speaking a different language when he does. In the sixth book, he takes him some time to understand than Morfin Gaunt is speaking [[SssssnakeTalk Parseltongue]] in the PensieveFlashback, as he only hears it as perfect English.

*** This has more to do with the fact that [[spoiler: no one bothered to mention to Harry (and thus, the reader) that invisibility cloaks are usually not perfect, and lose their magic after a while, hence Harry not realizing that his cloak (which stems from his father, even) is special.]]

* Celia from ''{{The Order of the Stick}}'' designs her [[strike:booty talisman]] summoning talisman to [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0529.html break from energy blasts]], completely unaware that this was not something normal humans could do at will, which leads to some [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0443.html unfortunate consequences]] when her boyfriend fails to use it.
** She also can detect abjurations like the Cloister spell through the way her teeth tingle, and because she thought everybody could do the same, she only mentioned it in passing, assuming Haley already knew about it.

** For that matter, mildly-nearsighted people seldom realize their vision is impaired until it's actually tested. Plenty of teens only learn they need glasses when they get their eyes checked while qualifying for a driver's permit.

** So do people with absolute direction and absolute hearing.

** It's mentioned that Susan thought nothing of her ability to walk through walls, and believed for the longest time that ''everyone'' could do that. Even in her second appearance (by which time she knows her origin), she finds stopping time to be so easy that she wonders why ordinary people can't do it.

* Color blindness is also an inversion: Colorblind people are likely to think people see the world the same as they do, until proven wrong.
* So do people with absolute direction and absolute hearing.
* And people with impaired or nonexistent depth perception.

* People with Asperger's/Autism are even WORSE, as this is a symptom.
* It's also annoying from the other side, imagine being {{surrounded by idiots}} everywhere you go.