My friend is always confused about everything, so people initially always think he's a bit slow, but he is actually super smart. Why is he so confused when I talk to him if he's so smart?

Many possibilities exist for this. A very intelligent person may have Asperger’s, a high-functioning form of autism, and may not have developed the “normal” conversation behaviors and processing. There are many other neuropsychological possibilities, including lack of interest, or lack of ability to focus on external stimulus. Einstein was possibly one of these people.

We assume other people process information the same way we do, have the same reactions, similar behaviors. But information is received and processed in very individualistic ways, which makes communication frequently misinterpreted. For example, Joe is an artist and words with art-related meaning may be necessary for him to take in new information. Or those same words may send him off into a daydream of a new work of art.

Most important, value the differences a creative mind brings, for these are strengths, not necessarily shared by the “normal” communicator.