Genius People Who Beat The System

Lots of smart people have figured out genius ways to beat the system. Let's find out about the smartest people who beat the system in the most genius ways.

April 6, 2023・

11 min read

Sometimes, rules are made to be broken. But for some people, stepping around the rules with top-tier finesse comes so naturally to them, it almost becomes an art form. From the passive-aggressive to the utterly brilliant, let’s check out some creative thinkers who beat the system in ingenious ways.

20. Action Fan

In the excitement of a match, sports fanatics have been known to sneak their way onto the pitch. Usually, it ends with them being rough-handled by security and escorted away. However, one fan became the exception to the rule during a 2015 soccer match between Lokomotiv Moscow and Besiktas.

The avid Lokomotiv Moscow supporter, immortalized in video form, doesn’t feel like being thrown out after a successful pitch-invasion. Instead, with the help of a fellow fan, he goes full-blown Indiana Jones.

He clears the fence by the pitch, with the guards in pursuit. But just when it seems his escape has been foiled by a steep drop separating him from his fellow supporters, genius strikes. He whips off his scarf and hurls it upwards.

His partner in crime grabs it, providing some impressive support, and away he goes, greeted by cheers. If this guy pursues the stunt-man career we all know he should, he’d be wise to include a link to this video on his résumé.

19. Dorm Room Hack

The annoying rules in certain colleges make it so that students are only allowed to hang out in the dorms of their own gender. While some would just ignore a dumb rule like that, the clever couple in the image below found a way to technically obey the rules while still getting some downtime together.

With a tactically-placed couch outside the dorm room window and a re-positioned TV, they can watch a movie together while sticking it to the man. Until it rains, that is.

18. Reverse Psychology

This next student deserves an honorary degree in reverse psychology. When he received an 89.41% grade, he did the opposite of what a student would normally do when coming so close to the next grade up at 90%.

Instead of asking the teacher to bump his grade up, he asked her to drop his grade by a couple of percent. By his reasoning, his parents wouldn’t see how close he was to getting an A-, and would give him less hassle.

How noble of him. But the outcome was far better than you might think. Not wanting to drop a student’s grade, the professor instead bumped him up to 90.11%, bringing him up to an A-. Whether this was reverse psychology or just a lucky break, I’d give the kid an A+ on boldness alone.

17. First Class Idea

A man in China took playing the system to new heights when he came up with this next brilliant idea. He bought a refundable first-class ticket from Eastern China Airlines, not to see the world, but to get free meals for a whole year. First-class ticket holders have access to the airport’s VIP lounge where VIP travelers eat for free.

The man would casually come to the airport, enjoy his free meal, then reschedule his flight for the next day for free and do it all over again. The airline only caught up to him after he’d already rebooked over 300 times.

They confronted him about it, and he was forced to stop his sneaky plan. But he had one more trick up his sleeve. The airline was legally obliged to reimburse him the full amount for his ticket, and even after all the free food, he cashed that sucker in.

16. The Cycle Of Justice

What do you do when someone steals something from you? Steal it right back. At least that’s what one Vancouver woman did when she spotted her stolen bike up for sale on Craigslist. As the police told her they couldn’t handle her case that day, this brave woman decided to take justice into her own hands.

She called the thief and said she was interested in purchasing the bike. They met up at Mcdonald's and she immediately knew the bike was hers. She asked if she could try it out and the thief agreed, as long as she promised not to ride off with it. With her heart pounding, she hopped on her bike and sped away, leaving the thief in the dust.

15. Sweden’s Day Off

Have you run out of excuses for skipping work? Have you considered telling your boss you’re too gay to work? As ridiculous as it sounds, this was a legitimate excuse in mid-20th century Sweden, when homosexuality used to be classified as a mental illness.

In 1979, some Swedes turned this discriminatory practice to their benefit, while simultaneously protesting it. Gay Swedish folk began calling in sick en-masse, claiming to be bed-bound with a terrible case of homosexuality. Some even went as far as to claim social security benefits for the so-called ‘illness’.

In a development any protest expert will be all-too-familiar with, when company profits were at stake, change finally came. In October 1979, homosexuality was declassified as a disease. Sweden was, incidentally, the first European country to do so; and all thanks to a few sick days.

14. Fruit Loophole

When Halloween season came around in 2019, the University of Akron decided to put a ban on carved pumpkins in the dorms. This didn’t stop student Alex Schwartz from finding an innovative loophole. Specifically, a fruit loop-hole. Schwartz tweeted a picture of his rule-bending invention: a jack-o-lantern carved from a pineapple.

But the dorm’s college official threw away his pineapple, as the University feared Halloween-inspired carved fruit might rot and attract bugs and rodents. For Schwartz, this meant war. He retaliated by carving an army of mini-jack-o-lanterns from apples.

If his apple army disappeared, they would only be replaced with twice the fruit. The college finally gave up against their worthy opponent, and Schwartz proved himself a true jack of all lanterns.

13. Nutty Rules

Some rules are so stupid, they’re just asking to be broken. Like when MusicFest Northwest in Portland, Oregon banned festival shops from selling bottled water in an attempt to grant exclusive hydration rights to only a few drinks stalls. The idea was especially dumb, considering the temperature was 90F, but one shop found a crafty way around the ban.

The Grilled Cheese Grill staff put up one sign admitting they weren’t allowed to sell drinks, and another sign announcing a very special sale: 1 peanut for $1, with a free bottle of water on the side! Genius.

12. Permit, Schmermit

When a Belgian man wanted to add a garage to his home for his BMW, the city required him to get a permit. Unfortunately, his request was denied, but instead of giving up on his garage door dreams, he saw a window of opportunity. Instead of installing a door, he installed a giant window, so technically he wasn’t breaking the law.

While the mechanism has many more steps than simply opening a garage door, it doesn’t make his solution any less clever. The authorities might never admit it, but deep down they must be a teeny bit impressed too.

11. Drunk At A Distance

On vacation, nothing gets between a dude and his beer. When a group of pals found out they weren’t allowed to take drinks into the pool area, the rule sounded more like a challenge to them.

They connected a chain of straws to siphon their beer from about 20 feet above them. Their beer-support friend on the balcony proves long-distance relationships can work, after all.

10. Like Mother Like Son

When a high school student’s phone was confiscated, he used a mighty bold technique to get it back. The audacious high-schooler disguised himself as his mom to try to retrieve it. Unbelievably, his slapdash disguise worked! Not sure if that’s a compliment or an insult to his mom, but I doubt she’d be too pleased about her dress being stolen if she ever finds out.

9. Don’t Step Foot Outside

When this little boy’s mom told him not to “step foot outside”, he did his best to obey. In his defense, both feet are inside. Clearly aware of the fact that technically correct is the best kind of correct, this kid is destined to be a lawyer.

8. Boozy Burrito

When bringing your own booze is banned at a music venue, there’s always the option to bring your own burrito. For this girl, who concealed her vodka within an ingenious salad-topped tortilla, the booze-laden burrito was a success.

7. Brains Over Beauty

In 2017, Instagrammer ‘Aidilhzq’ decided to play his fellow gram-users to make himself seem like a social-media-certified hottie. In the caption to a picture of himself, he asked his followers to comment either an 8, 9, or 10 on the pic if they’d like to see a magic trick.

Intrigued, several did so. He then changed his caption to read “Rate me on how sexy I am, out of 10”. Forget cosmetic surgery: this is the new way to guarantee hotness in the public eye.

6. The Calming Chair

It’s not surprising that airport staff have to deal with some pretty unpleasant, stressed-out customers on a regular basis. But Reddit user ‘greyham0707’ beat the system in a hilarious way while he worked in the luggage department for a major airline.

On shift, he’d borrow an airport wheelchair and sit on it behind his desk. His apparent “disability” turned angry, aggressive customers into nice, sympathetic people, who were reluctant to berate a wheelchair-bound individual.

As a result, the reddit user reported having lower blood pressure and generally being in a better mood. Who knew pretending to have a disability could be good for your health?

5. Intentional Ignorance

When Kimberley Oakley left a post-it note for her son Jason on a recently-washed shirt, asking ‘can you hang this out please’, the task seemed simple. But Jason took his mom’s choice of words, which didn’t technically specify what ‘this’ referred to, more interpretatively than she’d expected.

Jason sent the above pic to his mom showing he’d done as she’d asked. Her hilarious response, complete with countless exclamation marks and the excellent insult, ‘gimp boy’, was almost as good as the cheeky act itself.

4. Doggy Bags

The New York City subway has a specific rule when it comes to taking your furry friend onboard: “No person may bring any animal on or into any conveyance or facility unless enclosed in a container.” The rule doesn’t specify the size or type of container, so these dog lovers found creative solutions.

3. Respecting Boundaries

For one kid, his mom’s rules were simple: no food in the living room and no smart tablets in the kitchen. Seems like a reasonable way to make sure he’s sociable at the dinner table, but this smarty-pants found a way to beat the system. His mom is right to be fearful of what’ll happen once he hits the rebellious teenage stage. Evil genius inbound.

2. At An Impasse

Parents have had a love-hate relationship with Lego since it was invented. While they help improve children’s creative and problem-solving abilities, they hurt like the mighty horns of Satan when you step on them barefoot.

One boy decided he could use this to his advantage and covered his bedroom floor with Lego to keep his parents out of his room.

They can’t get you out of bed and up for school with a trap like that in the way! But one parent is fighting back against this type of brick-based tyranny. Nick Harvey uses Lego slippers so the bricks will only make him taller and stronger in his battle against tiny humans.

Lego themselves have even jumped on the trend, with anti-Lego Slippers designed to protect your feet. But it’s too little too late, Lego: All those feet will never forget what they’ve been through.

1. Picture Perfect

When a Twitter user’s dad went to Las Vegas weekend, he set up a live-feed camera in the living room to make sure his son didn’t throw any parties. He could breathe a sigh of relief upon checking the camera footage, seeing everything remained quiet, calm and in place for the whole time away. But of course, it would, because the quick-witted son had placed the camera in front of a screenshotted picture of the living room!

I can’t speak for how good the inevitable party was, but I can confirm: this kid is living in the future.

If you were amazed at these clever people, you might want to check out our entire genius people who beat the system series. Thanks for reading!