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I find in my line of work, which I think the average person would rate as very intellectually demanding, I find my lack of social connections to be my greatest

I find in my line of work, which I think the average person would rate as very intellectually demanding, I find my lack of social connections to be my greatest weakness! Hard problems might need solitude, but really hard problems seem to need multiple minds and perpectives to solve. I of course need alone time, but only on focused portions of what adds up to a far broader and more cooperative strategy. I've also found the smarter you are, the more likely you are to look down on larger portions of humanity, and it multiplies in higher density regions. This is a pathway to unhappiness that seems to be rooted in my own ego though more than an objective reality.

swe 11y ago
Depends on the problem. If the general human consensus believes the sun revolves around the earth, you're going to have a hard time working with multiple minds. Problems which require radical shifts in ideology are more than likely going to be tackled alone. It would come down to the maximum power principle. You would waste a significant amount of energy pulling someone psychologically one step in your direction, whereas independently, you could be three steps closer to proving your thesis. Not to mention, social cohesion, or whatever you want to call it, encourages group think and naturally ostracises outsiders as a primitive form of bonding or fitting in with one another. Really hard problems fight monocultures of 'obvious truth' in the bonds of multiple minds.