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It is only difficult to deal with average people if you believe yourself to be above them and look down on them. Nonsense. Unless you are going to insist on tw
by azanar 17y ago
It is only difficult to deal with average people if you believe yourself to be above them and look down on them.
Nonsense. Unless you are going to insist on two things: that everyone has the same cognitive capacity, within some delta; assuming the first, that anyone in a conversation who leaves anyone else behind in understanding is at least a narcissist, and possibly otherwise degenerate.
People don't get difficult just because you are intentionally condescending to them. People learn at different rates, people reason at different rates, and some people take the mere acknowledgment of this fact as condescending and narcissistic. They also take the fact that a conversation amongst friends went down a particular thread faster than they could keep up as a sign they are being patronized and degraded. Social etiquette would dictate that the conversation always slow down to the point that everyone keeps up, but that has its own drawbacks, not the least of which that it turns being able to think and reason fast into a psychosis -- so this looking down upon can go both ways, and usually does if even behind the veil of social propriety. Neither party is guilt-free here.
You only annoy people by asking questions at inappropriate times, if you were really that much smarter then you would know when to ask and when to shut it.
As I pointed out in a different thread here, what happens in the case when the inappropriate time is unreasonably restrictive -- for instance, there is no appropriate time. Are you really going to assert that a smart person show unwavering obedience? Do you realize the consequences of such a philosophy?
I'm not defending the OP; I think his list of correlations is presumptuous. However, the responses here (so far) are likewise very presumptuous about the poster -- perhaps it is to dose the poster with his own medicine, but that it is done under the auspices of discussion social skills is quite ironic. I really wish this were not the standard knee-jerk reaction of the community to these sorts of posts.
- stonemetal 17y agoPeople don't get difficult just because you are intentionally condescending to them. People learn at different rates, people reason at different rates, and some people take the mere acknowledgment of this fact as condescending and narcissistic. Not really, it is important to understand cognitive differences between people and for both parties to make allowances. The smart should slow down and the slow should bow out. As a non-offensive example my wife seems to have a blind spot when it comes to navigation. She uses GPS if she is going more than three blocks even if there are only a few turns involved. I still include her anytime I talk about how to get somewhere, and she bows out of the conversation when she gets to lost. Let's face it most social interactions aren't discussing astrophysics and if they are most regular people are going to get bored and leave, leaving the few who are able and willing to keep up. When I was in college I hung out with a couple of classmates who were Mensa members, and you know what, they liked beer, video games, and bowling as much as the next guy. I also had classmates who were on the other end of the scale who thought they were hot and exhibited everyone of the signs the OP brought up. From where I am sitting it seems that being a prick is more a personality trait than a side effect of being 'smarter than the average bear'. Are you really going to assert that a smart person show unwavering obedience? Who said anything about obedience? Not being an offensive jerk is something we should all aspire to achieve(Not quite there yet but I try). If a question has no appropriate time then I suggest that the question is more than likely naive and with little more thought\research to couch it in more scientific terms could be an acceptable question at some more private moment. Anyway asking questions at inappropriate times is usually unlikely to get you an answer so all the asking has done is make you look like a jerk and not satisfied your curiosity in any way. Blaming your high IQ for your lack of social graces A) Is an easy cop out, to you know, actually developing them. B) Makes you look bad because the other high IQ people have gotten over it and learned how to make friends with us lowly common folk. Sorry if it comes off as callow but I have dealt with more average people with the I am so smart chip on their shoulder than actual smart people with it, so much so that as soon as the I am so smart dance starts your IQ drops a few points in my eyes.
- dagw 17y agoTotally agreed. A high IQ (whether real or imagined) is never an excuse to not develop any social grace. And all the problems originally listed are all about lack of social skills and have nothing to do with being 'smart'.