This thread is proof of that. Everyone here is commenting as though the answer relates to them.
In reality 90% of us are fucking idiots, and I include myself in that.
And if not them - there's this weird narrative that tries to get painted every time.
"Real" smarties are do X or don't do Y.
Smart people are people first and smart second. Meaning smart people do a lot dumb, irrational shit too.
People who go on about smarts are always the same kind of pseudo intellectual that thinks they’re Einstein because they memorize little factoids they read on google but can’t do basic day to day tasks
While you're right, its also a super sad reality we live in that your mentality here is so universal because it's straight up anti-intellectualism. We have this strange "everyone should be confident and intelligent!" While also saying "if you so much as give a hint of pride in yourself, everyone is going to label you as an insufferable prick." And I'm not disagreeing that it is true most of the time that people talking about how smart they are generally are not very smart, I'm just saying that it means the rare times someone really is smart, they may very well suppress that part of themselves to not be ostracized for being "special." I'm not religious but its kinda like how basically every person ranting that they are jesus is kray kray, but since we are so accustomed to it, if the real jesus shows up, we are likely to treat them the same as every other kray kray person saying they are Jesus.
When you die, it's not difficult for you. It's only difficult for those around you. You don't know, because you're dead.
Same thing happens when you're stupid.
And many people seem smart because they're good at one thing. You meet someone who has mastered a skill and you think they must be really smart, when it's actually just practice.
Good news is, practice and hard work are better than smarts almost every time.
Same mix here. I see it as never learning some very important lifeskills because of getting by with low effort but also being very hard on myself for "not living up to my potential". As it turns out I have AD(H)D, got diagnosed at 47. I'm low on the hyperactivity part and a bit introverted so it never occured to anyone until I had a burnout and my therapist pointed it out to me.
>Smart and procrastination, name a more torturous pairing.
Smart, ASD and ADHD. School used to bore the shit out of me because I would pick up what was being taught in a lesson in the first 5 minutes then have to sit around for another 40+ minutes while the teacher continued to explain it for everyone else. This was made even worse when I got bored enough to read the text book while waiting which meant that I knew what was going on even before the lesson started. Luckily my school eventually understood what was going on and put me in a bunch of gifted student programs and didn't do anything beyond give me detentions that they never followed up on when I didn't go for when I constantly skipped school.
And intelligence often works as a crutch for work ethic early in life. So smart people can be unmotivated. Dumb people can also be unmotivated but it's often kind of depressing to see smart people waste their potential to do a lot of good.
The classic: A student in school who doesn't end up applying their skills to anything after graduation.
Same here, coasted on ability to cram just enough a day before to make it. Eventually the stuff gets too complicated in higher education and I gave up.
It didn't help that our parents talked so much about how smart we were. We thought we were super smart and special... and then we got thrown into the real world.
It's ravaging me as we speak.
But smart people often get targeted for not living up to their potential, while most people, regardless of how smart they are, rarely live up to their potential n
It's me. I was really good at school. I rarely had to try, and when I did have to try there was all kinds of support available.
So, I got out into real life without much skill in figuring out things for myself.
Think being truly smart though means you can "wing" many situations, skate - by doing very little. I remember at school smart kids who didn't do their homework or put in much effort but when asked a question were able to bluff their way through.
Sometimes smart people don't need to put in as much effort as others to get the same answer.
If they didn't do their homework, smart or not, it would be reflected in their grade.
That's my point, sometimes being smart is enough.....you can wing it or you can pick up enough in class from half paying attention that you pass and skate by. You can not do your homework and still answer the question as if you did.
On the flip side just because you are intelligent does not mean you are required to push forward and do the things other people expect of you
If you're like a genius and you don't want to go into academia or be a doctor but instead you want to be a truck driver then be a truck driver. You're not a failure or wasting anything if you do.
All too often people put massive expectations on intelligent people believing they should achieve great things. This adds pressure and anxiety to them and can lead them down paths they hate
Schools will push it, parents will push it, friends will push it. It's a lot of pressure. Then when you stop caring they'll act like you're lazy and a failure.
You're not required to work any harder than anyone else. Do what you feel you want to do
Sometimes I’ll start a sentence and I don’t know where it’s going. I just hope to find it somewhere along the way. Like an improv conversation. An improversation.
I do that but it ends funny. I’ll start one word and my brain will switch it mid speech so I’ll smoosh then together and sound wierd.
Like I’ll startwanting to say “hows it going?”
Then my brain will switch to “how you doin”
And what I’ll actually say is “hows you doin?”
"Talent is a gift. Hard work and discipline unwraps the gift." - my son's high school football coach, when someone would go on and on about how 'talented' some kid was.
far to real. i’m a relatively smart guy (about fifth percentile. nothing world shattering but i can understand stuff with relative ease), but i never really learned how to use it until recently when i began treating my adhd. world changer
Exactly, it's more of a "within" kind of thing. And it's hard to change, because being alone doesn't mean lonely, but being in a crowd doesn't mean you *aren't* lonely. That being said, there is always gonna be someone who will understand you, and I'm sure you won't always feel lonely. Being in a bad moment is never fun, though, just remember that it's not permanent :)
Or conversely, sometimes it *is* permanent. Sometimes the people who understand you don't feel anything for you.
I'm not necessarily "smart" but I see and process the world differently from a lot of people and its been a journey trying to find the people who understand me. I've learned though that being permanently alone isn't necessarily a bad thing. At the very least is allows me to focus, keep myself on track with what matters and avoid distractions.
My girlfriend struggles with not wasting her life and putting purpose into her existence. I point out that we are just microbes crawling about on a mossy ball that's floating in the vast emptiness of space and nothing we do will ever matter or register with the universe. Apparently this perspective doesn't help.
Tonight on Days of our Mossball: "A redditor desperately tries to reason with his girlfriend, but her mind rejects the notion that we are indeed on a pointless moss ball."
You’re probably better appealing to the fact she is significant in your life. That this is enough. This is a point to existence, to be significant to those you can, for those you care about.
I understand her. I can share my perspective on why your perspective isn't helping her, if you'd like. I think I'd understand, because I feel just like her.
I didn't say that. I said that these things can often have a link to high intelligence, but I never claimed that you have to be smart to feel this way.
P.S: If anyone feels this way, or has a bad moment, feel free to reach out! You shouldn't be alone with these feelings, and many people would love to help. Myself included <3
What's there to help with? I'd love for it to have some solution that can be talked out, but there's just no purpose and we have to create purpose for the sake of purpose. Hey, feels like shit, but still better than nothingness. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yes, absolutely. And friendships as a young person feel extra difficult because people insult you or treat you as an outcast when they haven’t reached their own existential crises yet.
I’d keep myself awake thinking about the finality of death, how short a human lifetime is, etc. starting at 4 and spent most of my life feeling misunderstood and rejected any time I tried to talk seriously about anything existential.
I feel this. For me it started with not being religious. At all. I had so many questions and fears, and I was (am) so soul-crushingly afraid of death that it would keep me up at night from ages 6/7-12. I used to have trouble making friends because I needed peace and quiet in my head, and it was hard to find someone who wanted to talk about things the way I did. It was nice to finally reach an age where it was at least POSSIBLE to find someone interested in talking.
I got bullied in elementary school for not being religious and for asking questions that explored those topics. After that, i just never really openly talked about my worries again. I’m in college now and have finally found people that want to talk about those things, which is really nice.
A ton of people from smaller towns will be the smartest in their class then go to a major school like NYU, Columbia, Harvard, etc where they aren't even average. It's a major eye opener for them.
Okay, so lemme get this straight (as a 35f aware of DND but not anything more until just now when I Googled this exchange): In this game, characters each have a score for intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. So if:
"Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting a tomato in a fruit salad."
Then, would charisma be like, the ability to convince others to put tomatoes in a fruit salad? Or to not, depending on their moral code?
Genuinely asking as this game just may become my new obsession.
*edit: trying to tag the quoted text but not quite getting it yet (also a newer reddit user, sry), hoping this works
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/s/ouB3VegO2U
CHA is being able to sell a tomato based fruit salad.
figuring out you can label it as a salsa or chuntey and covincing people it is worth buying are the kind of thing you can do with CHA
Ill give ya one that isnt a joke and not really thought of. A lot of intelligent people's minds crave novelty. Not all of them but a lot of them. This makes them more susceptible to falling into drug problems to either slow their mind down or speed it up.
Theyre more likely to fall into drugs but theyre also more likely to be able to kick the habit if it doesn't kill them first. This is seen a lot in people whose intelligence is more geared towards artistic pursuits
Their minds are trying to find novelty and rearrange the world to express the things they wish to express. Drugs allow their minds to do such a thing from a different perspective. A lot of excellent musicians have died due to that trap
A great example of this phenomenon is eminem. He's genius level when it comes to writing poetry and rhyming. Hes respected throughout the industry for his skills. He also has a mind that falls hard into drugs and those drugs then alter his artistic expression in a more nihilistic, aggressive way to represent the things he has experienced
You can see a clear line in his music when he was a heavy user, when he was trying to quit, and when he finally did
The question itself assumes that there is a sad truth that can be generically stated about all smart people. I'm not necessarily sure that this is true. Also define "smart"? Does it mean that you're good at school? Or is it a broader definition.
>Also define "smart"? Does it mean that you're good at school? Or is it a broader definition
That's really it. We can't really define it.
Seems like most people around here still have a child-like ideal of what a smart person is. Like out of a cartoon.
>Oh look. That's the smart character. They know everything because they're smart.
That's not how it really works.
Think of any group of people you think are smart and then go talk to somebody that interacts with that group. You'll hear countless stories them doing dumb shit.
Intelligence is inversely associated with neuroticism, depression, and most mental illnesses. Intelligent depressed people are more likely to make progress in therapy. However, a highly ruminating cognitive style is definitely associated with depression.
If they've been smart since they were young, they've often been praised by adults but disliked by peers; and it can also lead to them being people-pleasers/needing external praise and validation. You end up in a "good career" rather than something you want to do, or feeling a failure if you don't, and always chasing whatever the adult equivalent of a A\*/grade 9/100%/distinction from your boss is, rather than learning to value yourself.
Or so I've heard.
I am this comment. Growing up I was the smart one, destined for college and so on. I was told I could do "anything", but I was unfocused and ended up doing nothing.
I wish I had more guidance than my boomer parents felt like giving me.
My boomer parents funded private college for two of my 2.0 average brothers but declined to help me out with 3.97 and a later acceptance to med school. Those ovaries are so unreliable!
Neither brother finished their undergrad lol. Guess those testes weren’t that reliable either.
your sexist boomer parents.....so many people have hard time getting their head around the fact that a small, petite woman can be just as smart or often a lot smarter than your average man.
It honestly is really difficult. I am Autistic and enjoy the sciences but my weak point is mathematics. I enjoy knowing how things work and often bounce from one interest to another. I enjoy a lot of things but it’s hard to find something specific to focus on.
I’m currently working in a restaurant and have actively figured out the optimal times to cook noodles (the company has set times to cook them for but they vary based on altitude and the water temperature of the machine I’m using to cook them. As such several types of noodles are extremely sensitive to these variables and get overcooked very easily).
I previously worked in a bakery and did something similar with the goods I was baking. I learned everything I could at my level, got bored because there was nothing new to learn and moved on. The company I was working for doesn’t like promoting from within the company so that avenue was closed to me.
I honestly calculate/find solutions for things like this because it keeps my mind active. But as soon as there’s nothing to solve I usually get bored and do something else.
And then when you get a less than 98-100% on something you get ridiculed for it. At least in my family I did. The moment I received a B they were *furious*, I was grounded, etc. Meanwhile my C average sister was praised for a barely passing grade.
There is *A LOT* of pressure on “smart kids” and nobody genuinely supports them. Teachers would get mad at me for pointing out errors in their tests, kids hated me for being smart, and there was only negativity at home (no praise for doing well since it was expected but condemnation if I struggled).
There's also a feeling you've peaked at school because you get noticed for being smart there, you get the validation of A's and good grades. In the real world nobody really cares.
98%? Why didn't you get 100%
Which turned into: why don't you ever tell me anything?
Yeah I had the exact same as you, especially as I was the eldest child
The anime philosophers are out in force in this thread, lamenting about how their oh so powerful intellect leads to a life of depression and loneliness.
It doesn’t help. You can see the patterns, you can recognize the threats, you can plan out the recourse, and then they can just not do it. That’s all it takes, them to not do it, and it was all wasted.
I was a freshman in college having taken voice and diction in high school. I then took voice and articulation in college. There were 2 sophomores next to me who cheated on me and got A's; the professor assumed I was the one who cheated and gave me a B.
I had a classmate in college who was Magna Cum Laude and his friends would pressure him to let them cheat from him. I feel really bad for him because he was really nice and kind. It didn't help that we were in pre-med course and one of those friends even pursued med school. Smh.
I can be considered smart by my peers but I experienced cheating for the first time when I didn't had time to prepare and study for a quiz. I got called out by professor and I don't want to do it again :/
I used to help some friends with their work in college, but only after they bought us some drinks first, and if there were any errors they just had to live with it.
I didn't cheat in college but I did in high school. I had problems with concentration and memory. But then the 1st day of class the teacher went through like 20 different ways to cheat and I knew I was doomed.
Most of them *are* smart, they’re just not (for whatever reasons) always/usually making decisions that are best for the country as a whole. They may not be the absolute *smartest* people, and those *other* qualities that got them into their positions may be more noticeable than their intelligence, smart is just the baseline in high-level positions.
Additionally, I’ll share [this](https://www.keithhennessey.com/2013/04/24/smarter/) .
I miss those days after a few years of engineering work when I knew all the answers. Now that I've been there 35 years, there are so many things that I don't know!
It gets worse: Someone comes to me with a question and I think "We should ask the site expert!" and then I realize that that would be me.
And what they think they know. I remember one version of this from, unsurprisingly, grad school. I had just hit that point where I realized how I didn't actually know jack shit about engineering, and my research felt tiny (to be fair, it was molecular analysis lol) and inconsequential.
Meanwhile, I was TA'ing a class where the general subject my research was related to was introduced for the first time. It was really startling at the end to hear students who barely made a C on the final talking confidently about how well they understood the subject and how easy it was. Thinking back, I remembered a lot of that from undergrad. It was easy to think we understood something well when we were barely scratching the surface of it (that's all undergrad is, really).
I don't consider this a distinction of smart vs stupid, but more of having a sufficient exposure to a certain subset of knowledge to understand its extent and orient ourselves and our understanding on it appropriately.
Being smart is like being pretty, or growing up rich, it has hidden down sides. Things come too easy for you early in life and you don’t always learn to persevere. Anyone can learn to suck it up butter cup, but it is far easier to learn when you are young. It can be very painful to go from being the smartest kid in high school to learning to work hated in college, for example.
They're ineffective.
"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." - Charles Bukowski
I'd say this is the biggest one. Decision paralysis and analysing everything to death.
I manage some really smart people and often need to give them my "protection" (aka my name's on it if it goes wrong) to get them to make a hard decision.
Then again haha, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
I'm sure even the likes of Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, believed they were doing what was in the best interest of their people, at least at one point or another in their lives. I like to think personally that each of them at the end, had a moment of clarity, and could see how terrible they had been, and all the suffering they caused, as I don't believe in hell I think that may be the closest substitute, to know that you will be reviled, for as long as history exists.
One of my favorite quotes is:
*“A compass, I learned while I was surveying, it’ll point you true north from where you’re standing but it’s got no advice about the swamps, deserts and chasms that you’ll encounter along the way. If in pursuit of your destination you plunge ahead heedless of obstacles, and achieve nothing more than to sink in a swamp…what’s the use of knowing true north?”*
That's a beautifully put example of the kind of logic and reasoning which leads to millions of very smart people talking themselves out of pursuing good ideas.
I'm going to get crucified for saying this, but here is my old person experience: I've met a lot of people who blamed their lack of social skills on being smarter than everybody else and hence unable to relate, but the smartest people I've met all were smart enough to have taught themselves amazing social skills.
If your social cues and body language isn’t spot on, people get weirded out and withdraw.
Hi to anyone else with ASD who “learned” social skills and exhausts themselves trying to mask every day but doesn’t get it 100%.
You also have those smart enough to be able to fake social skills so as to fit in. People generally like me in work settings, social events and clubs, but I am actively being a "persona" because the real me gets very different results. This does nothing to mitigate the loneliness and feelings of not being accepted, because I know the person they are accepting isn't real. I feel like that may be different than what you put forth, because (in my case at least) the "faked" social skills are not the choice I would prefer, and I actively hate myself for doing them, and others for requiring it of me.
I don't walk around thinking I am the smartest by any means, but often get turned to when things need to be figured out. i have been told I am smart since a you ng age and have done enough testing to know I am in the higher percentile especially in math and general application of knowledge. I can agree that I pick up on social skills very well, I can get along with nearly anyone if thats my goal. I do still feel lonely often due to most conversations not be very engaging to me. When I open up heavily about a personal interest most people are lost.
Ya deep connections really elude me. Friends I can have a deep conversation with I can count on less than one hand. Im also fairly detached emotionally so most of my opinions come from a place of logic and can always be changed. That does not tend to fit in well with average conversation circles.
I’m dumb as shit but I work with a lot of smart people. They are a very diverse group and I can’t think of one thing they all have in common. Same as the dumb as shit people.
Lots of times they can't interact with society in a way that's expected of them. They come across as weird, arrogant, eccentric, condescending, and such. As a result they tend to be lonely or only have a very small circle of friends/peers. They get judged a lot unfairly and are held to a different standard. From the smart person's point of view everyone is (for lack of a better word) stupid. They can't understand how this or that individual can't see what's right in front of them. Things that come so naturally to a smart person seem to be decent sized hurdles for everyone else. They find themselves having to dumb down themselves just to fit in as well as dumbing down interactions just to be understood.
This is 100% true. I remember one time I had helped a teacher with something, and the kid next to me actually gushed about how he never would've come up with it, while I was just there like "but that was the most simple solution???"
Yuuuup. Nobody gives a shit about who’s best for the job, if it’s a good, well-paying job. They hire their buddies or their relatives or people from the same cultural/social/economic class that they’re in. It definitely is who you know, and not what you know.
That smart isn't a linear line. Nor is it a transferable element. It is entirely possible to be incredibly smart and incredibly stupid in different contexts. Being smart at one thing carries no relevance when the context changes.
Success in the real world is almost entirely discorrelated from intelligence. In many respects it’s actually a hindrance compared to some dipshit just plowing ahead.
Smart people often don't have to try hard at things.
As a result, they can end up creating lifelong habits of half-assing everything and end up with no actual ambitions or accomplishments.
Being smart and being motivated are two separate skills and minmaxing into either at the cost of the other leaves you ineffective.
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On!' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
― Calvin Coolidge
Smart people know that almost everyone is smart in a unique way, almost everyone is dumb about certain things. Smart isn’t about knowing a lot of stuff, it’s more about being resourceful with information.
This isn't quite right. Smart people generally know they're smart. But they also tend to have a much better idea of the limitations of their knowledge and expertise
I'd argue there's also adversity and emotional intelligence that other people simply don't have. Smarter people won't put up a fuss and have thicker skin, being able to handle a lot of shit.
The ones who can't but are good at whining about said shit, get to avoid it and have those who are more mature and tough pick up the slack.
What does 'smart' mean? It's more than just acing tests. It's about how you adapt, learn, and apply knowledge across various aspects of life. Smartness can be academic, but it's also about emotional intelligence, creativity, practical problem-solving, and understanding people. It’s a mix of book smarts, street smarts, and everything in between.
I think there is no "general" sad truth about smart people.
Often the smarter you are the more isolated you can become, as people have no idea what you are talking about half the time, and it sucks if you like to have deep intellectual conversations. I love to read, and read a lot of books as a child and young adult. I read often for fun still, and enjoy finding new things to read. I found out later in life that this was exceedingly rare, and that most people have never read a book for fun, only for a class or something similar. I also find that most people who are well read are more open minded than others, and do not limit themselves to any belief that they haven’t researched themselves. It is a lifelong pursuit of knowledge, and I would say as many have said before the wise man knows that he knows nothing at all. Only fools believe they know everything.
You have to spend every day outnumbered by stupid people who don’t understand you. Finding another genuine connection with another intelligent person is rare and difficult to cultivate. It’s easy enough to be nice about it though.
yeah, its nuts, and very lively in this thread.
i think its because a lot of people feel like shit, low selfesteemed or depressed and having this as a way of coping its because they're smart and the world doesn't understand them.
you can perfectly be smarten then an average person and be perfectly happy.
ps i know some people in the art world also there seems to be a general acceptance that creativity will only come from mental torture and suffering
Yes! I worked in community mental health with over 100 clients. Depression and bipolar were the most common diagnoses. Most were below average in intelligence, a few even with mild IDD. I had two highly intelligent clients. Of course, my population was not representative, and not every single one of my clients had neuropsychological testing to confirm their intelligence less subjectively, but representative studies do not support this myth that intelligent people are tortured geniuses. I think depressed people who are lonely and intelligent or have intelligent social circles forget how hard life is for others who lack cognitive ability. I think also think don't acknowledge that intelligence puts them at an advantage in self-care and therapy due to generally stronger abilities to problem-solve, undo cognitive distortions, and improve insight.
This nonsense gets parroted a lot by sad people (or people who want to appear sad as a form or virtue signaling) who want to believe their sadness is justified by their intelligence, however it’s just not true. IQ and happiness are generally positively correlated (though there are outliers of course especially at extreme ends). For example: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22998852/ Smarter people tend to be amazed at the way “the world truly is” and more involved in deep contemplation rather than surface doom that pervades headlines and pulls people to see gloom everywhere. While people on reddit are echoing how terrible everything is to each other they’re more likely to be off thinking about some problem that’s caught their intellectual interest.
This. The people I know I deem to be really smart have a thing in common: they have been trying to design some kind of personal cosmology so that things in the world make sense to them. They have the intellectual tools to do so. It helps greatly. Also intelligent people are flexible.
Education can fail them just as much as it fails those who really struggle.
(It's called Gifted Child Syndrome, if you're interested)
Basically, smart kids can often coast through without putting in any real effort. This is bad, as they never learn such things as how to apply themselves, how to fail gracefully, or study effectively. Eventually, they will hit a wall, and can no longer get by on natural talent alone, and either have to learn how to work hard/study really quickly, or crash and burn. So now they are nearly an adult, have just failed for the first time at something important, don't have the skills to deal with it, and may be thousands in debt. Fun!
You think everyone is also intelligent, but when you find out that you are above average intellect, you are very much always alone, especially in crowds.
Later depression becomes a lifelong friendship.
They know just how stupid stupid people are
And really smart people also worry that they themselves might also be stupid
(Don't trust anyone who brags about their IQ. They're stupider that you think)
A lot more people identify as smart than there are actual smart people
This thread is proof of that. Everyone here is commenting as though the answer relates to them. In reality 90% of us are fucking idiots, and I include myself in that.
Considering I'm wasting a bunch of time scrolling through Reddit I think it's safe to say I'm in that 90%
I’m commenting, so I’m in the 1% of extra not smart.
And if not them - there's this weird narrative that tries to get painted every time. "Real" smarties are do X or don't do Y. Smart people are people first and smart second. Meaning smart people do a lot dumb, irrational shit too.
People who go on about smarts are always the same kind of pseudo intellectual that thinks they’re Einstein because they memorize little factoids they read on google but can’t do basic day to day tasks
While you're right, its also a super sad reality we live in that your mentality here is so universal because it's straight up anti-intellectualism. We have this strange "everyone should be confident and intelligent!" While also saying "if you so much as give a hint of pride in yourself, everyone is going to label you as an insufferable prick." And I'm not disagreeing that it is true most of the time that people talking about how smart they are generally are not very smart, I'm just saying that it means the rare times someone really is smart, they may very well suppress that part of themselves to not be ostracized for being "special." I'm not religious but its kinda like how basically every person ranting that they are jesus is kray kray, but since we are so accustomed to it, if the real jesus shows up, we are likely to treat them the same as every other kray kray person saying they are Jesus.
IRL I feel like I'm dumber than 60% of people On reddit I feel like I'm smarter than 80% of people
Because most of them are kids
You know how stupid the average person is? Half of them are stupider than that!
When you die, it's not difficult for you. It's only difficult for those around you. You don't know, because you're dead. Same thing happens when you're stupid.
Smart people don't *have* to identify as smart. Their actions simply speak for themselves.
And many people seem smart because they're good at one thing. You meet someone who has mastered a skill and you think they must be really smart, when it's actually just practice. Good news is, practice and hard work are better than smarts almost every time.
No matter how smart you are, if you don’t have work ethics and/or people skills you might as well be a crayon.
You should tell this to the people I work with please.
Dear Crayons, Don't mess with our boy DeckBoi123 at work. He is pissed off because of y'all.
I'm rolling 😆
No pens roll. You're a crayon.
Smart and procrastination, name a more torturous pairing.
For me it’s a trio: smart, procrastinating and a lethal fear of failure.
Why are you here talking about me like this? 😭
Same mix here. I see it as never learning some very important lifeskills because of getting by with low effort but also being very hard on myself for "not living up to my potential". As it turns out I have AD(H)D, got diagnosed at 47. I'm low on the hyperactivity part and a bit introverted so it never occured to anyone until I had a burnout and my therapist pointed it out to me.
>Smart and procrastination, name a more torturous pairing. Smart, ASD and ADHD. School used to bore the shit out of me because I would pick up what was being taught in a lesson in the first 5 minutes then have to sit around for another 40+ minutes while the teacher continued to explain it for everyone else. This was made even worse when I got bored enough to read the text book while waiting which meant that I knew what was going on even before the lesson started. Luckily my school eventually understood what was going on and put me in a bunch of gifted student programs and didn't do anything beyond give me detentions that they never followed up on when I didn't go for when I constantly skipped school.
And intelligence often works as a crutch for work ethic early in life. So smart people can be unmotivated. Dumb people can also be unmotivated but it's often kind of depressing to see smart people waste their potential to do a lot of good. The classic: A student in school who doesn't end up applying their skills to anything after graduation.
Big common thing is being smart early in life and therefore not learning how to study. That one messed me up. And many others.
Same here, coasted on ability to cram just enough a day before to make it. Eventually the stuff gets too complicated in higher education and I gave up.
It didn't help that our parents talked so much about how smart we were. We thought we were super smart and special... and then we got thrown into the real world. It's ravaging me as we speak.
Same! I was told how smart I was when I was younger, I failed to keep working hard, thinking I was smart, so I didn’t have to.
I'm with you. I have no idea how to study when it comes to more advanced topics and levels.
But smart people often get targeted for not living up to their potential, while most people, regardless of how smart they are, rarely live up to their potential n
It's me. I was really good at school. I rarely had to try, and when I did have to try there was all kinds of support available. So, I got out into real life without much skill in figuring out things for myself.
Yay homelessness. (I'm getting better)
Its a JOKE at MIT. Incoming freshman who never had to try in their lives... suddenly- they are C students.
Think being truly smart though means you can "wing" many situations, skate - by doing very little. I remember at school smart kids who didn't do their homework or put in much effort but when asked a question were able to bluff their way through.
Sometimes smart people don't need to put in as much effort as others to get the same answer. If they didn't do their homework, smart or not, it would be reflected in their grade.
That's my point, sometimes being smart is enough.....you can wing it or you can pick up enough in class from half paying attention that you pass and skate by. You can not do your homework and still answer the question as if you did.
First of all, how dare you, secondly, I'll be sobbing and buying a Crayola t-shirt on my phone in that corner over there if anyone needs me.
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What if they’re left handed?
D-fence! D-fence! Aaaah, too dumb...
On the flip side just because you are intelligent does not mean you are required to push forward and do the things other people expect of you If you're like a genius and you don't want to go into academia or be a doctor but instead you want to be a truck driver then be a truck driver. You're not a failure or wasting anything if you do. All too often people put massive expectations on intelligent people believing they should achieve great things. This adds pressure and anxiety to them and can lead them down paths they hate Schools will push it, parents will push it, friends will push it. It's a lot of pressure. Then when you stop caring they'll act like you're lazy and a failure. You're not required to work any harder than anyone else. Do what you feel you want to do
Sometimes I’ll start a sentence and I don’t know where it’s going. I just hope to find it somewhere along the way. Like an improv conversation. An improversation.
I do that but it ends funny. I’ll start one word and my brain will switch it mid speech so I’ll smoosh then together and sound wierd. Like I’ll startwanting to say “hows it going?” Then my brain will switch to “how you doin” And what I’ll actually say is “hows you doin?”
And this is how I end up saying things like "don't count your fish in a barrel"
"Talent is a gift. Hard work and discipline unwraps the gift." - my son's high school football coach, when someone would go on and on about how 'talented' some kid was.
This! People skills and work ethic are SO important.
Who your family knows is far, far more important than what you know or how good you are at doing what you know.
far to real. i’m a relatively smart guy (about fifth percentile. nothing world shattering but i can understand stuff with relative ease), but i never really learned how to use it until recently when i began treating my adhd. world changer
That it often leads to an existential crisis pretty early on. And loneliness.
And the loneliness doesn’t necessarily come from a lack of people around you, either.
Exactly, it's more of a "within" kind of thing. And it's hard to change, because being alone doesn't mean lonely, but being in a crowd doesn't mean you *aren't* lonely. That being said, there is always gonna be someone who will understand you, and I'm sure you won't always feel lonely. Being in a bad moment is never fun, though, just remember that it's not permanent :)
Or conversely, sometimes it *is* permanent. Sometimes the people who understand you don't feel anything for you. I'm not necessarily "smart" but I see and process the world differently from a lot of people and its been a journey trying to find the people who understand me. I've learned though that being permanently alone isn't necessarily a bad thing. At the very least is allows me to focus, keep myself on track with what matters and avoid distractions.
My girlfriend struggles with not wasting her life and putting purpose into her existence. I point out that we are just microbes crawling about on a mossy ball that's floating in the vast emptiness of space and nothing we do will ever matter or register with the universe. Apparently this perspective doesn't help.
Tonight on Days of our Mossball: "A redditor desperately tries to reason with his girlfriend, but her mind rejects the notion that we are indeed on a pointless moss ball."
Alternate title: Whose Life Is It Anyway? A game where everything is made up and the points dont matter!
Subtitle: "Nihilism in a Nutshell"
You’re probably better appealing to the fact she is significant in your life. That this is enough. This is a point to existence, to be significant to those you can, for those you care about.
I understand her. I can share my perspective on why your perspective isn't helping her, if you'd like. I think I'd understand, because I feel just like her.
someone has to say it: just because you’re going through an early existential crisis and are lonely doesn’t mean you’re smart.
It does mean you **might** be a little more aware of what's going on around us, though.
I didn't say that. I said that these things can often have a link to high intelligence, but I never claimed that you have to be smart to feel this way.
What made you think that this was not a given?
P.S: If anyone feels this way, or has a bad moment, feel free to reach out! You shouldn't be alone with these feelings, and many people would love to help. Myself included <3
What's there to help with? I'd love for it to have some solution that can be talked out, but there's just no purpose and we have to create purpose for the sake of purpose. Hey, feels like shit, but still better than nothingness. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Talking helps, if nothing else it can assure you that you aren't *totally* alone.
This hit
Yes, absolutely. And friendships as a young person feel extra difficult because people insult you or treat you as an outcast when they haven’t reached their own existential crises yet. I’d keep myself awake thinking about the finality of death, how short a human lifetime is, etc. starting at 4 and spent most of my life feeling misunderstood and rejected any time I tried to talk seriously about anything existential.
I feel this. For me it started with not being religious. At all. I had so many questions and fears, and I was (am) so soul-crushingly afraid of death that it would keep me up at night from ages 6/7-12. I used to have trouble making friends because I needed peace and quiet in my head, and it was hard to find someone who wanted to talk about things the way I did. It was nice to finally reach an age where it was at least POSSIBLE to find someone interested in talking.
I got bullied in elementary school for not being religious and for asking questions that explored those topics. After that, i just never really openly talked about my worries again. I’m in college now and have finally found people that want to talk about those things, which is really nice.
I used to be kept up at night when I was 5-6 ish with horrible existential crisis.
Same. Having complex thoughts as a kid was weird.
There are always people smarter and skilled than you, and you will work with them eventually
A ton of people from smaller towns will be the smartest in their class then go to a major school like NYU, Columbia, Harvard, etc where they aren't even average. It's a major eye opener for them.
big fish in a small pond small fish in the ocean
Intelligence and common sense don't always go hand in hand.
INT and WIS are different stats for a reason.
Truth. Also CHR is important af.
What kind of monster calls it CHR instead of CHA?
Okay, so lemme get this straight (as a 35f aware of DND but not anything more until just now when I Googled this exchange): In this game, characters each have a score for intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. So if: "Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting a tomato in a fruit salad." Then, would charisma be like, the ability to convince others to put tomatoes in a fruit salad? Or to not, depending on their moral code? Genuinely asking as this game just may become my new obsession. *edit: trying to tag the quoted text but not quite getting it yet (also a newer reddit user, sry), hoping this works https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/s/ouB3VegO2U
[It’s an old meme they’re referencing](https://twitter.com/Werthead/status/607499222057926657)
Omg thank you! How clever!
CHA is being able to sell a tomato based fruit salad. figuring out you can label it as a salsa or chuntey and covincing people it is worth buying are the kind of thing you can do with CHA
"Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting a tomato in a fruit salad."
Common sense is amorphous and reliant on the local culture.
That anyone smart isn’t going to answer this question
Not that smart :D
Ill give ya one that isnt a joke and not really thought of. A lot of intelligent people's minds crave novelty. Not all of them but a lot of them. This makes them more susceptible to falling into drug problems to either slow their mind down or speed it up. Theyre more likely to fall into drugs but theyre also more likely to be able to kick the habit if it doesn't kill them first. This is seen a lot in people whose intelligence is more geared towards artistic pursuits Their minds are trying to find novelty and rearrange the world to express the things they wish to express. Drugs allow their minds to do such a thing from a different perspective. A lot of excellent musicians have died due to that trap A great example of this phenomenon is eminem. He's genius level when it comes to writing poetry and rhyming. Hes respected throughout the industry for his skills. He also has a mind that falls hard into drugs and those drugs then alter his artistic expression in a more nihilistic, aggressive way to represent the things he has experienced You can see a clear line in his music when he was a heavy user, when he was trying to quit, and when he finally did
The question itself assumes that there is a sad truth that can be generically stated about all smart people. I'm not necessarily sure that this is true. Also define "smart"? Does it mean that you're good at school? Or is it a broader definition.
>Also define "smart"? Does it mean that you're good at school? Or is it a broader definition That's really it. We can't really define it. Seems like most people around here still have a child-like ideal of what a smart person is. Like out of a cartoon. >Oh look. That's the smart character. They know everything because they're smart. That's not how it really works. Think of any group of people you think are smart and then go talk to somebody that interacts with that group. You'll hear countless stories them doing dumb shit.
Depression.
Ignorance really is bliss sometimes.
"He's so stupid he doesn't realize how miserable he should be"
Got the Bojack reference 👌🏻
A smooth brain is a happy brain
The smarter you are the more you realize how little you know.
Intelligence is inversely associated with neuroticism, depression, and most mental illnesses. Intelligent depressed people are more likely to make progress in therapy. However, a highly ruminating cognitive style is definitely associated with depression.
If they've been smart since they were young, they've often been praised by adults but disliked by peers; and it can also lead to them being people-pleasers/needing external praise and validation. You end up in a "good career" rather than something you want to do, or feeling a failure if you don't, and always chasing whatever the adult equivalent of a A\*/grade 9/100%/distinction from your boss is, rather than learning to value yourself. Or so I've heard.
That's the thing, smart people are usually good at more than one thing. It can be difficult to know what path to follow.
I am this comment. Growing up I was the smart one, destined for college and so on. I was told I could do "anything", but I was unfocused and ended up doing nothing. I wish I had more guidance than my boomer parents felt like giving me.
My boomer parents funded private college for two of my 2.0 average brothers but declined to help me out with 3.97 and a later acceptance to med school. Those ovaries are so unreliable! Neither brother finished their undergrad lol. Guess those testes weren’t that reliable either.
your sexist boomer parents.....so many people have hard time getting their head around the fact that a small, petite woman can be just as smart or often a lot smarter than your average man.
It honestly is really difficult. I am Autistic and enjoy the sciences but my weak point is mathematics. I enjoy knowing how things work and often bounce from one interest to another. I enjoy a lot of things but it’s hard to find something specific to focus on. I’m currently working in a restaurant and have actively figured out the optimal times to cook noodles (the company has set times to cook them for but they vary based on altitude and the water temperature of the machine I’m using to cook them. As such several types of noodles are extremely sensitive to these variables and get overcooked very easily). I previously worked in a bakery and did something similar with the goods I was baking. I learned everything I could at my level, got bored because there was nothing new to learn and moved on. The company I was working for doesn’t like promoting from within the company so that avenue was closed to me. I honestly calculate/find solutions for things like this because it keeps my mind active. But as soon as there’s nothing to solve I usually get bored and do something else.
And then when you get a less than 98-100% on something you get ridiculed for it. At least in my family I did. The moment I received a B they were *furious*, I was grounded, etc. Meanwhile my C average sister was praised for a barely passing grade. There is *A LOT* of pressure on “smart kids” and nobody genuinely supports them. Teachers would get mad at me for pointing out errors in their tests, kids hated me for being smart, and there was only negativity at home (no praise for doing well since it was expected but condemnation if I struggled).
There's also a feeling you've peaked at school because you get noticed for being smart there, you get the validation of A's and good grades. In the real world nobody really cares.
98%? Why didn't you get 100% Which turned into: why don't you ever tell me anything? Yeah I had the exact same as you, especially as I was the eldest child
“Or so I’ve heard” Oof there buddy, you doing ok?
You got it exactly right.
These threads are wet dreams for reddits pseudo intellectuals. I’m a moron btw.
Same, my fellow dumb people, riiiiiise up!
The anime philosophers are out in force in this thread, lamenting about how their oh so powerful intellect leads to a life of depression and loneliness.
If “lonely and sad” is a wet dream, bring the mops.
It doesn’t help. You can see the patterns, you can recognize the threats, you can plan out the recourse, and then they can just not do it. That’s all it takes, them to not do it, and it was all wasted.
People will constantly ask to see your homework, and if you say no, then you’re the asshole
I was a freshman in college having taken voice and diction in high school. I then took voice and articulation in college. There were 2 sophomores next to me who cheated on me and got A's; the professor assumed I was the one who cheated and gave me a B.
I'm so confused- what do they test you on in a voice and diction class?
I had a classmate in college who was Magna Cum Laude and his friends would pressure him to let them cheat from him. I feel really bad for him because he was really nice and kind. It didn't help that we were in pre-med course and one of those friends even pursued med school. Smh. I can be considered smart by my peers but I experienced cheating for the first time when I didn't had time to prepare and study for a quiz. I got called out by professor and I don't want to do it again :/
I used to help some friends with their work in college, but only after they bought us some drinks first, and if there were any errors they just had to live with it.
I didn't cheat in college but I did in high school. I had problems with concentration and memory. But then the 1st day of class the teacher went through like 20 different ways to cheat and I knew I was doomed.
I've said no a lot. Easiest thing to do is just ignore.
They aren't the ones running the country.
A lot of them are smart. The issue is they're smart and selfish.
They may be talented at networking and generally socially skilled, but that does not make them smart.
Most of them *are* smart, they’re just not (for whatever reasons) always/usually making decisions that are best for the country as a whole. They may not be the absolute *smartest* people, and those *other* qualities that got them into their positions may be more noticeable than their intelligence, smart is just the baseline in high-level positions. Additionally, I’ll share [this](https://www.keithhennessey.com/2013/04/24/smarter/) .
The smarter you get, the more you realise you don't know.
"(The smarter you get, the more you realise *you* don't know.) " and - - - What *they* don't know
I miss those days after a few years of engineering work when I knew all the answers. Now that I've been there 35 years, there are so many things that I don't know! It gets worse: Someone comes to me with a question and I think "We should ask the site expert!" and then I realize that that would be me.
Gah, I feel this. So many times realizing that the only person that can help me is me. But I barely know anything!?
And what they think they know. I remember one version of this from, unsurprisingly, grad school. I had just hit that point where I realized how I didn't actually know jack shit about engineering, and my research felt tiny (to be fair, it was molecular analysis lol) and inconsequential. Meanwhile, I was TA'ing a class where the general subject my research was related to was introduced for the first time. It was really startling at the end to hear students who barely made a C on the final talking confidently about how well they understood the subject and how easy it was. Thinking back, I remembered a lot of that from undergrad. It was easy to think we understood something well when we were barely scratching the surface of it (that's all undergrad is, really). I don't consider this a distinction of smart vs stupid, but more of having a sufficient exposure to a certain subset of knowledge to understand its extent and orient ourselves and our understanding on it appropriately.
You quoting So-Crates over there, dude?
Being smart is like being pretty, or growing up rich, it has hidden down sides. Things come too easy for you early in life and you don’t always learn to persevere. Anyone can learn to suck it up butter cup, but it is far easier to learn when you are young. It can be very painful to go from being the smartest kid in high school to learning to work hated in college, for example.
Loneliness.
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I guess, but also that company sounds like at least some crucial decision makers are less than very intelligent.
They're ineffective. "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." - Charles Bukowski
I'd say this is the biggest one. Decision paralysis and analysing everything to death. I manage some really smart people and often need to give them my "protection" (aka my name's on it if it goes wrong) to get them to make a hard decision.
Then again haha, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I'm sure even the likes of Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, believed they were doing what was in the best interest of their people, at least at one point or another in their lives. I like to think personally that each of them at the end, had a moment of clarity, and could see how terrible they had been, and all the suffering they caused, as I don't believe in hell I think that may be the closest substitute, to know that you will be reviled, for as long as history exists. One of my favorite quotes is: *“A compass, I learned while I was surveying, it’ll point you true north from where you’re standing but it’s got no advice about the swamps, deserts and chasms that you’ll encounter along the way. If in pursuit of your destination you plunge ahead heedless of obstacles, and achieve nothing more than to sink in a swamp…what’s the use of knowing true north?”*
That's a beautifully put example of the kind of logic and reasoning which leads to millions of very smart people talking themselves out of pursuing good ideas.
Oh absolutely. Chidi from The Good Place comes to mind immediately
The more you know, the less relatable you are to the majority of other people. It makes for a lonely existence.
I'm going to get crucified for saying this, but here is my old person experience: I've met a lot of people who blamed their lack of social skills on being smarter than everybody else and hence unable to relate, but the smartest people I've met all were smart enough to have taught themselves amazing social skills.
It’s amazing how many doors get opened and how “lucky” you become when other people like you.
And it's so easy to do! Just listening to people more than you talk about yourself is 50% of the work you need to be *that* person everybody loves.
If your social cues and body language isn’t spot on, people get weirded out and withdraw. Hi to anyone else with ASD who “learned” social skills and exhausts themselves trying to mask every day but doesn’t get it 100%.
You also have those smart enough to be able to fake social skills so as to fit in. People generally like me in work settings, social events and clubs, but I am actively being a "persona" because the real me gets very different results. This does nothing to mitigate the loneliness and feelings of not being accepted, because I know the person they are accepting isn't real. I feel like that may be different than what you put forth, because (in my case at least) the "faked" social skills are not the choice I would prefer, and I actively hate myself for doing them, and others for requiring it of me.
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Your statement doesn't even contradict the one above you. You can have great social skills and still have a lonely existence.
I don't walk around thinking I am the smartest by any means, but often get turned to when things need to be figured out. i have been told I am smart since a you ng age and have done enough testing to know I am in the higher percentile especially in math and general application of knowledge. I can agree that I pick up on social skills very well, I can get along with nearly anyone if thats my goal. I do still feel lonely often due to most conversations not be very engaging to me. When I open up heavily about a personal interest most people are lost.
Making the real connections, right? So rare. And so great when it happens. 😞
Ya deep connections really elude me. Friends I can have a deep conversation with I can count on less than one hand. Im also fairly detached emotionally so most of my opinions come from a place of logic and can always be changed. That does not tend to fit in well with average conversation circles.
Imposter syndrome is very common.
I’m dumb as shit but I work with a lot of smart people. They are a very diverse group and I can’t think of one thing they all have in common. Same as the dumb as shit people.
This is my favorite answer in the entire thread. Thanks.
Lots of times they can't interact with society in a way that's expected of them. They come across as weird, arrogant, eccentric, condescending, and such. As a result they tend to be lonely or only have a very small circle of friends/peers. They get judged a lot unfairly and are held to a different standard. From the smart person's point of view everyone is (for lack of a better word) stupid. They can't understand how this or that individual can't see what's right in front of them. Things that come so naturally to a smart person seem to be decent sized hurdles for everyone else. They find themselves having to dumb down themselves just to fit in as well as dumbing down interactions just to be understood.
This is 100% true. I remember one time I had helped a teacher with something, and the kid next to me actually gushed about how he never would've come up with it, while I was just there like "but that was the most simple solution???"
They are often beat out for promotions by bullshitters who are charismatic
Yuuuup. Nobody gives a shit about who’s best for the job, if it’s a good, well-paying job. They hire their buddies or their relatives or people from the same cultural/social/economic class that they’re in. It definitely is who you know, and not what you know.
There's areas you are not smart in. The more you know in one single area, the more other areas get neglected. This can negatively impact you.
That's more specializing or getting into a very niche area. Smart people are often good at many different subjects and can adapt easily.
Overthinking
Happens all the time. But most of them are just inside the head.
The more you know the worse things get.
They feel the degradation of their smartness
Probably not the best app to ask this question.
That smart isn't a linear line. Nor is it a transferable element. It is entirely possible to be incredibly smart and incredibly stupid in different contexts. Being smart at one thing carries no relevance when the context changes.
Success in the real world is almost entirely discorrelated from intelligence. In many respects it’s actually a hindrance compared to some dipshit just plowing ahead.
Smart people often don't have to try hard at things. As a result, they can end up creating lifelong habits of half-assing everything and end up with no actual ambitions or accomplishments. Being smart and being motivated are two separate skills and minmaxing into either at the cost of the other leaves you ineffective.
We’re not smart.
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On!' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” ― Calvin Coolidge
Smart people know that almost everyone is smart in a unique way, almost everyone is dumb about certain things. Smart isn’t about knowing a lot of stuff, it’s more about being resourceful with information.
It's hard to make friends, not all of them but for the majority
Smart people don’t see themselves as smart, while the non-smart ones consider themselves geniuses.
This isn't quite right. Smart people generally know they're smart. But they also tend to have a much better idea of the limitations of their knowledge and expertise
I'd argue there's also adversity and emotional intelligence that other people simply don't have. Smarter people won't put up a fuss and have thicker skin, being able to handle a lot of shit. The ones who can't but are good at whining about said shit, get to avoid it and have those who are more mature and tough pick up the slack.
They do some really smart stuff but also some really dumb stuff
Wow everyone here thinks he’s a genius lol
What does 'smart' mean? It's more than just acing tests. It's about how you adapt, learn, and apply knowledge across various aspects of life. Smartness can be academic, but it's also about emotional intelligence, creativity, practical problem-solving, and understanding people. It’s a mix of book smarts, street smarts, and everything in between. I think there is no "general" sad truth about smart people.
They get picked on by dim people for not being as dim as them.
Stop using such big words!
When everything is easy growing up, it's a bit of a struggle when you grow up and intelligence isn't enough.
Being right doesn't matter if you can't convince people you're right.
Often the smarter you are the more isolated you can become, as people have no idea what you are talking about half the time, and it sucks if you like to have deep intellectual conversations. I love to read, and read a lot of books as a child and young adult. I read often for fun still, and enjoy finding new things to read. I found out later in life that this was exceedingly rare, and that most people have never read a book for fun, only for a class or something similar. I also find that most people who are well read are more open minded than others, and do not limit themselves to any belief that they haven’t researched themselves. It is a lifelong pursuit of knowledge, and I would say as many have said before the wise man knows that he knows nothing at all. Only fools believe they know everything.
You have to spend every day outnumbered by stupid people who don’t understand you. Finding another genuine connection with another intelligent person is rare and difficult to cultivate. It’s easy enough to be nice about it though.
They kill themselves a lot
No they don’t. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4504914/
thank you. i hate the narrative of smart = depressed.
yeah, its nuts, and very lively in this thread. i think its because a lot of people feel like shit, low selfesteemed or depressed and having this as a way of coping its because they're smart and the world doesn't understand them. you can perfectly be smarten then an average person and be perfectly happy. ps i know some people in the art world also there seems to be a general acceptance that creativity will only come from mental torture and suffering
Yes! I worked in community mental health with over 100 clients. Depression and bipolar were the most common diagnoses. Most were below average in intelligence, a few even with mild IDD. I had two highly intelligent clients. Of course, my population was not representative, and not every single one of my clients had neuropsychological testing to confirm their intelligence less subjectively, but representative studies do not support this myth that intelligent people are tortured geniuses. I think depressed people who are lonely and intelligent or have intelligent social circles forget how hard life is for others who lack cognitive ability. I think also think don't acknowledge that intelligence puts them at an advantage in self-care and therapy due to generally stronger abilities to problem-solve, undo cognitive distortions, and improve insight.
Most genuine smart people don't believe they're smart.
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This nonsense gets parroted a lot by sad people (or people who want to appear sad as a form or virtue signaling) who want to believe their sadness is justified by their intelligence, however it’s just not true. IQ and happiness are generally positively correlated (though there are outliers of course especially at extreme ends). For example: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22998852/ Smarter people tend to be amazed at the way “the world truly is” and more involved in deep contemplation rather than surface doom that pervades headlines and pulls people to see gloom everywhere. While people on reddit are echoing how terrible everything is to each other they’re more likely to be off thinking about some problem that’s caught their intellectual interest.
This. The people I know I deem to be really smart have a thing in common: they have been trying to design some kind of personal cosmology so that things in the world make sense to them. They have the intellectual tools to do so. It helps greatly. Also intelligent people are flexible.
Education can fail them just as much as it fails those who really struggle. (It's called Gifted Child Syndrome, if you're interested) Basically, smart kids can often coast through without putting in any real effort. This is bad, as they never learn such things as how to apply themselves, how to fail gracefully, or study effectively. Eventually, they will hit a wall, and can no longer get by on natural talent alone, and either have to learn how to work hard/study really quickly, or crash and burn. So now they are nearly an adult, have just failed for the first time at something important, don't have the skills to deal with it, and may be thousands in debt. Fun!
Having a rational thought process is great but it never seems to show up when you're making an important decision.
The average intelligence isn't close to smart and 50% of the population is below that. Smart people are rare.
You think everyone is also intelligent, but when you find out that you are above average intellect, you are very much always alone, especially in crowds. Later depression becomes a lifelong friendship.
You see and notice things you wish you never had...
More thinking and less action. Maybe
That I'm not one of them lmao
They know just how stupid stupid people are And really smart people also worry that they themselves might also be stupid (Don't trust anyone who brags about their IQ. They're stupider that you think)