5 ms·

The Outsiders (1987)

38 points by wolfgke 12y ago

zoba 12y ago
It is known that humans require the company of other human beings or else bad things start happening (think solitary confinement: anxiety, depression, cognitive disturbances, perceptual distortions, and psychosis). I wonder to what extent it is important to just be around other humans, versus, be around other humans who are similar to us. For the super unique, I imagine it can feel incredibly lonely. It doesn't have to be limited to intelligence, it can be cultural, linguistic, etc. The article even says "He is saying that they are a different kind of mind, a different kind of human being." It is like humans have a built in mainstream-ification device which inherently punishes those who stand too far from the middle. What is particularly interesting is how good our tools are at connecting people with similar interests. The internet is helping isolated individuals feel like they are part of a community, good or bad.
- spb 12y ago
  I feel it's important to keep that "good or bad" part in mind. As humanity's drifting away from the external influences that "punish those who stand too far from the middle", we need to start internalizing some of those checks to make sure that the way we're standing far from the middle is a good thing, and not just being an asshole.
  - sanoli 12y ago
    Since today someone said SMBC is overtaking XKCD as the comic reference king on HN(1), here's another: http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=2832#comic http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=2832#comic (1) news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8320741
simonster 12y ago
I wonder how one differentiates the possibility that exceptional individuals are alienated from others around them by their exceptionality from the possibility that exceptional mental ability is intrinsically accompanied either directly by social difficulties or by social development that is less resilient to negative aspects in one's upbringing. I suspect that both of these happen to some degree, but they seem difficult to disentangle.

38 points by wolfgke 12y ago

zoba 12y ago

It is known that humans require the company of other human beings or else bad things start happening (think solitary confinement: anxiety, depression, cognitive disturbances, perceptual distortions, and psychosis). I wonder to what extent it is important to just be around other humans, versus, be around other humans who are similar to us. For the super unique, I imagine it can feel incredibly lonely. It doesn't have to be limited to intelligence, it can be cultural, linguistic, etc. The article even says "He is saying that they are a different kind of mind, a different kind of human being." It is like humans have a built in mainstream-ification device which inherently punishes those who stand too far from the middle. What is particularly interesting is how good our tools are at connecting people with similar interests. The internet is helping isolated individuals feel like they are part of a community, good or bad.

spb 12y ago
I feel it's important to keep that "good or bad" part in mind. As humanity's drifting away from the external influences that "punish those who stand too far from the middle", we need to start internalizing some of those checks to make sure that the way we're standing far from the middle is a good thing, and not just being an asshole.
- sanoli 12y ago
  Since today someone said SMBC is overtaking XKCD as the comic reference king on HN(1), here's another: http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=2832#comic http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=2832#comic (1) news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8320741

simonster 12y ago

I wonder how one differentiates the possibility that exceptional individuals are alienated from others around them by their exceptionality from the possibility that exceptional mental ability is intrinsically accompanied either directly by social difficulties or by social development that is less resilient to negative aspects in one's upbringing. I suspect that both of these happen to some degree, but they seem difficult to disentangle.