6 ms·

No offense, but I mean this, earnestly: get over yourself. If you talk to a person, and the conversation is dull, they might be a boring person. If most of the

No offense, but I mean this, earnestly: get over yourself. If you talk to a person, and the conversation is dull, they might be a boring person. If most of the people you talk to seem boring, then you are the boring person. You bemoan that you find almost everyone a "paper shell". And yet you are the one who has restricted your opinion of interesting people and topics with a PhD attached to it. You dismiss pursuits that have spanned all of human history like sports, family, food, religion as "pedestrian". That is indicative of an incredibly shallow and one-dimensional person. If you "peel back" the layers of people and frequently find nothing, that doesn't mean their is nothing there, it means you don't have the perception or ability to find it. You say "all I really want is to talk to deeply self-aware people struggling with the boundaries of human knowledge", and those with "reflection" or "relevant context", and yet you seem to have done little to no reflection, have limited relevant context outside your very limited definition of what is interesting, and have little to no self-awareness. You have constructed a fantasy where everyone else is inferior and uninteresting rather than accept the reality that you are likely a dull, uninteresting person who isn't nearly as intelligent as you believe. I strongly recommend you take a step back, and seriously challenge your current beliefs about your relative intelligence and depth, and ask if the problem is not that others are dull, but rather you are a shallow, uninteresting person without the breadth of interests or life experience to relate to others. Doing so may open up avenues you have closed to yourself previously and help you relate to others more easily.

TheArcane 7y ago
This is the only proper response to OP's throwaway rant. If you find a problem with most people you meet, the problem's probably with you.
- ak39 7y ago
  Well, there are only two ways to respond to such comments: 1. The inky "proper" way (as you say) 2. Complete and utter lack of words to respond. Is there anything in between? Doubt it.
  - cr0sh 7y ago
    As I noted earlier, take a screenshot and post it on "/r/iamverysmart" - then crosslink it back to this thread. Though that would probably be downvoted to oblivion here; you might even get banned - not sure if that's considered "against the rules" of HN or just "really bad taste"? I kinda suspect the latter, and probably a warning from a mod or two...
  - TheArcane 7y ago
    > 2. Complete and utter lack of words to respond. > Yikes. I see what you did there
wesammikhail 7y ago
Not sure how this is helpful to the parent comment. > If you talk to a person, and the conversation is dull, they might be a boring person. If most of the people you talk to seem boring, then you are the boring person. And I don´t really understand how you can come to that conclusion. That´s like 2+2 = duck In fact, > have limited relevant context outside your very limited definition of what is interesting If the person in question has a limited (according to you) definition of what is interesting then asking him/her to "expand" the notion of what is "interesting" to match or be as "encompassing" as your own definition is not helpful. It isn´t even a viable solution really because you are not the same person. And one more thing: > You dismiss pursuits that have spanned all of human history like sports, family, food, religion as "pedestrian" Some people are not interested in those pursuits and they are, in comparison, very "pedestrian" in terms of complexity. Now I enjoy all things related to food for example, but I would stab myself in the ears if I had to talk to people about their eating habits for more than 30 seconds once every 13 years. Some topics are simple, others are more complex. The parent comment clearly enjoys pursuits that are of higher complexity and feels as if people in general do not share that interest and hence to him they seem boring. Asking him to change his personality and what he "enjoys" just so that he can fit in is so absurd to me because it hints at the idea that you should surrender your individuality in order to fit in with the group. An idea that I don´t really appreciate all that much! Edit: and adding no offense at the beginning of your post does not make it less offensive. It just makes seem passive-aggressive :P
- blaser-waffle 7y ago
  > Edit: and adding no offense at the beginning of your post does not make it less offensive. It just makes seem passive-aggressive :P Your post sounds passive aggressive, mate. Parent's post just sounds direct, bordering on blunt.
- MiroF 7y ago
  > Some people are not interested in those pursuits and they are, in comparison, very "pedestrian" in terms of complexity. Now I enjoy all things related to food for example, but I would stab myself in the ears if I had to talk to people about their eating habits for more than 30 seconds once every 13 years. There's no depth or complexity to non-PhD-esque pursuits and interests? I moved from Reddit to HN because commentators here seemed more self-aware. It's threads like these that really make me question that decision.
Allower 7y ago
Spoken like a true paper shell. No attempt at empathy, just hollow tropes regurgitated without thought. Sure you might find it threatening that others see themselves as vastly more intelligent than yourself. Suck it up, its true.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
collyw 7y ago
That's pretty much what I wanted to say, but am not eloquent enough to put it in to words.
- cr0sh 7y ago
  Same here; While I probably could have wrote as much, because brevity is not my thing usually (anyone here regularly has probably seen some of the chapters of my future book /s)... What I really wanted to say was "this post needs to be put on /r/iamverysmart" - but even that doesn't convey what really needed to be said.
plutonorm 7y ago
I think everyone is being a little rude and reactionary here. People enjoy what they enjoy, it's not ok to demand that they change. Suppose you lived in a world where everyone was obsessed with Pokemon. No one talked about anything else. Everyone around you had the mind of a 10 year old, in terms of intellectual and emotional development. How would you feel, could you really feel like you belonged? There are people out there who are so smart that this how they feel about the people around them. They are just genuinely beyond them across the board, emotional, intellectual and spiritual development. They are lonely and they are bored and they are often a little bitter. It's not their fault. It's not your fault. It just is. Leave them be and listen sympathetically to their point of view.
- lordCarbonFiber 7y ago
  The reaction here is more over the idea of "unknown unknowns". This poster doesn't demonstrate the self awareness to even suspect the average person might have something to teach them which, rather than super intelligence, belies a lack of emotional maturity. Pointing to arbitrary metrics like phd reinforces this initial read. But at the end it's a numbers game; is a 6th sigma super intelligence on this board venting to the void with a throwaway, or is it an average/below average intelligence person who for one reason or another is emotionally stunted to the point of lacking both introspection or empathy. I've, for one, seen far more people in the second camp (hell, there was a time when I struggled with identity where I was one, saved from eternal shame on the internet by the philosophy "lurk more"), than the first.
- ghostbrainalpha 7y ago
  Is it generally true that people of extreme intelligence have richer lives in terms of emotional and spiritual development? This is definitely not the case in my circle, where the MENSA candidates tend to sound a little bit like the Throw away comment, and if they don't have outright disdain for typical human connections and spiritual pursuits, they definitely don't spend the average amount of time on emotional or spiritual development.
  - easymodex 7y ago
MattSayar 7y ago
> If you "peel back" the layers of people and frequently find nothing, that doesn't mean their is nothing there, it means you don't have the perception or ability to find it. Everyone, literally every person, has at least one valuable thing they can teach you.

TheArcane 7y ago

This is the only proper response to OP's throwaway rant. If you find a problem with most people you meet, the problem's probably with you.

ak39 7y ago
Well, there are only two ways to respond to such comments: 1. The inky "proper" way (as you say) 2. Complete and utter lack of words to respond. Is there anything in between? Doubt it.
- cr0sh 7y ago
  As I noted earlier, take a screenshot and post it on "/r/iamverysmart" - then crosslink it back to this thread. Though that would probably be downvoted to oblivion here; you might even get banned - not sure if that's considered "against the rules" of HN or just "really bad taste"? I kinda suspect the latter, and probably a warning from a mod or two...
- TheArcane 7y ago
  > 2. Complete and utter lack of words to respond. > Yikes. I see what you did there

wesammikhail 7y ago

Not sure how this is helpful to the parent comment. > If you talk to a person, and the conversation is dull, they might be a boring person. If most of the people you talk to seem boring, then you are the boring person. And I don´t really understand how you can come to that conclusion. That´s like 2+2 = duck In fact, > have limited relevant context outside your very limited definition of what is interesting If the person in question has a limited (according to you) definition of what is interesting then asking him/her to "expand" the notion of what is "interesting" to match or be as "encompassing" as your own definition is not helpful. It isn´t even a viable solution really because you are not the same person. And one more thing: > You dismiss pursuits that have spanned all of human history like sports, family, food, religion as "pedestrian" Some people are not interested in those pursuits and they are, in comparison, very "pedestrian" in terms of complexity. Now I enjoy all things related to food for example, but I would stab myself in the ears if I had to talk to people about their eating habits for more than 30 seconds once every 13 years. Some topics are simple, others are more complex. The parent comment clearly enjoys pursuits that are of higher complexity and feels as if people in general do not share that interest and hence to him they seem boring. Asking him to change his personality and what he "enjoys" just so that he can fit in is so absurd to me because it hints at the idea that you should surrender your individuality in order to fit in with the group. An idea that I don´t really appreciate all that much! Edit: and adding no offense at the beginning of your post does not make it less offensive. It just makes seem passive-aggressive :P

blaser-waffle 7y ago
> Edit: and adding no offense at the beginning of your post does not make it less offensive. It just makes seem passive-aggressive :P Your post sounds passive aggressive, mate. Parent's post just sounds direct, bordering on blunt.
MiroF 7y ago
> Some people are not interested in those pursuits and they are, in comparison, very "pedestrian" in terms of complexity. Now I enjoy all things related to food for example, but I would stab myself in the ears if I had to talk to people about their eating habits for more than 30 seconds once every 13 years. There's no depth or complexity to non-PhD-esque pursuits and interests? I moved from Reddit to HN because commentators here seemed more self-aware. It's threads like these that really make me question that decision.

Allower 7y ago

Spoken like a true paper shell. No attempt at empathy, just hollow tropes regurgitated without thought. Sure you might find it threatening that others see themselves as vastly more intelligent than yourself. Suck it up, its true.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

collyw 7y ago

That's pretty much what I wanted to say, but am not eloquent enough to put it in to words.

cr0sh 7y ago
Same here; While I probably could have wrote as much, because brevity is not my thing usually (anyone here regularly has probably seen some of the chapters of my future book /s)... What I really wanted to say was "this post needs to be put on /r/iamverysmart" - but even that doesn't convey what really needed to be said.

plutonorm 7y ago

I think everyone is being a little rude and reactionary here. People enjoy what they enjoy, it's not ok to demand that they change. Suppose you lived in a world where everyone was obsessed with Pokemon. No one talked about anything else. Everyone around you had the mind of a 10 year old, in terms of intellectual and emotional development. How would you feel, could you really feel like you belonged? There are people out there who are so smart that this how they feel about the people around them. They are just genuinely beyond them across the board, emotional, intellectual and spiritual development. They are lonely and they are bored and they are often a little bitter. It's not their fault. It's not your fault. It just is. Leave them be and listen sympathetically to their point of view.

lordCarbonFiber 7y ago
The reaction here is more over the idea of "unknown unknowns". This poster doesn't demonstrate the self awareness to even suspect the average person might have something to teach them which, rather than super intelligence, belies a lack of emotional maturity. Pointing to arbitrary metrics like phd reinforces this initial read. But at the end it's a numbers game; is a 6th sigma super intelligence on this board venting to the void with a throwaway, or is it an average/below average intelligence person who for one reason or another is emotionally stunted to the point of lacking both introspection or empathy. I've, for one, seen far more people in the second camp (hell, there was a time when I struggled with identity where I was one, saved from eternal shame on the internet by the philosophy "lurk more"), than the first.
ghostbrainalpha 7y ago
Is it generally true that people of extreme intelligence have richer lives in terms of emotional and spiritual development? This is definitely not the case in my circle, where the MENSA candidates tend to sound a little bit like the Throw away comment, and if they don't have outright disdain for typical human connections and spiritual pursuits, they definitely don't spend the average amount of time on emotional or spiritual development.
- easymodex 7y ago

MattSayar 7y ago

> If you "peel back" the layers of people and frequently find nothing, that doesn't mean their is nothing there, it means you don't have the perception or ability to find it. Everyone, literally every person, has at least one valuable thing they can teach you.