On Humans

[JBeukema]

Why is it that so few people are capable of having an intelligent discussion about anything of import? It seems like all most people care about is American Idol or what car or band they like. At the risk of sounding like a jackass (nothing new, I'm sure), I've never been able to dumb myself down enough to feign interest in the petty discussions and concerns of most people. I've always felt starved for intellectual stimulation and companionship. Even when visiting the universities, it seems like people turn their brains off whenever they're not in the classroom. Political matters are reduced to ;conservative' versus 'liberal' or democrat versus republican. Matters of law and ethics are reduced to appeals to legal authority or religious squabbles with ethical philosophy getting lost somewhere along the way. The effect seems to be compounded as the group gets larger.

I've known maybe two or three people who actually seemed to use their brains with any regularity and perhaps a handful of others who could discuss any given topic. I don't mean the nitty gritties of quantum mechanics or some other specialized technical matters, but simply using critical thinking skills and being willing to think about what you believe and why and looking at what the world might or should be like and what we can do to make it better. Are all the philosophers dead? Have we all surrendered our minds in return for mind-numbing popular entertainment? Have we chosen to be ruled by the republicrats in order to avoid the need to actually think about the issues? Or is it the other way around- are the philosophers I idolize and the few people capable of meeting on any sort of intellectual level simply a deviation? Or am I simply the worst of both worlds, unable to be content among the idiot masses not quite up to par to join a more enlightened group at the table?

People don't make sense to me. As a whole, they don't seem to enjoy learning or intellectual stimulation. They seem to be governed by emotions and drives wholly alien to my understanding. Perhaps the intellectually and philosophically curious class I've spent my life in search of only exists in my own mind, a figment of my imagination? Is that higher level of relation and human understanding simply a pipe dream?

 

[JW Frogen]

Can I get the Cliff notes on that one?

 

[AllieBaba]

Lol..don't dumb yourself down, then people are tricked into thinking they're smarter than you are, and you will never convince them later that it isn't true.

I do understand what you're saying. I am pretty much always myself; and I have people frequently stare at me as if I'm speaking another language. Some actually say "Wow it's like you're talking in another language" or "I'm not sure we're even talking about the same thing". My clients are often completely bewildered, which isn't so much a reflection of their intelligence as it is the complexity of my job. I try to inform them, but it's just too much. They stare vacantly at me and wait for the moment they can say "when will my foodstamps come in?"

I do know it's impossible to have meaningful relationships with people if you aren't being yourself. So if they don't understand you, well, they don't understand you. They won't understand you better if you repress your understanding of life or change the way you present your thoughts. They'll still not understand you, and you could possibly lose intelligence points, over time.

Here's what I do...I don't judge people who can't communicate meaningfully with me, and I doto my very best to speak honestly and sincerely to them..but I remain myself. I still express my own humor, I still give my opinion, if it's asked for or appropriate, I still admit to my own views and faith.

At the end of the day, it's about the people you surround yourself with, it's about self improvement, charity towards others, and honesty. Nothing else matters.

 

[JW Frogen]

Or just dive in, and let the ripples ripple as they will.

 

[AllieBaba]

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say.

This is probably one of those moments when people are going *what the hell language are you talking in, Allie?*

 

[strollingbones]

even the brain likes to relax....i come here to relax....if i want to be stimulated....i find something in real life....as for messageboards...they are good for shooting the mal..but not much else

 

[JBeukema]

even the brain likes to relax....i come here to relax....if i want to be stimulated....i find something in real life....as for messageboards...they are good for shooting the mal..but not much else

What the ***** did Mal ever do to you?

 

[RadiomanATL]

even the brain likes to relax....i come here to relax....if i want to be stimulated....i find something in real life....as for messageboards...they are good for shooting the mal..but not much else

What the ***** did Mal ever do to you?

I think 'bones would answer......


he exists.

 

[editec]

Why is it that so few people are capable of having an intelligent discussion about anything of import? It seems like all most people care about is American Idol or what car or band they like. At the risk of sounding like a jackass (nothing new, I'm sure), I've never been able to dumb myself down enough to feign interest in the petty discussions and concerns of most people. I've always felt starved for intellectual stimulation and companionship. Even when visiting the universities, it seems like people turn their brains off whenever they're not in the classroom. Political matters are reduced to ;conservative' versus 'liberal' or democrat versus republican. Matters of law and ethics are reduced to appeals to legal authority or religious squabbles with ethical philosophy getting lost somewhere along the way. The effect seems to be compounded as the group gets larger.

I've known maybe two or three people who actually seemed to use their brains with any regularity and perhaps a handful of others who could discuss any given topic. I don't mean the nitty gritties of quantum mechanics or some other specialized technical matters, but simply using critical thinking skills and being willing to think about what you believe and why and looking at what the world might or should be like and what we can do to make it better. Are all the philosophers dead? Have we all surrendered our minds in return for mind-numbing popular entertainment? Have we chosen to be ruled by the republicrats in order to avoid the need to actually think about the issues? Or is it the other way around- are the philosophers I idolize and the few people capable of meeting on any sort of intellectual level simply a deviation? Or am I simply the worst of both worlds, unable to be content among the idiot masses not quite up to par to join a more enlightened group at the table?

People don't make sense to me. As a whole, they don't seem to enjoy learning or intellectual stimulation. They seem to be governed by emotions and drives wholly alien to my understanding. Perhaps the intellectually and philosophically curious class I've spent my life in search of only exists in my own mind, a figment of my imagination? Is that higher level of relation and human understanding simply a pipe dream?

Making small talk is an social skill that not everybody has.

Being able (or not) to have casual conversations with other people really doesn't have anything to do with what most of us think of as intelligence.

Only it is a function of a kind of intelligence...INTERPERSONAL intelligence - one of the seven known kinds of human intelligence.

FWIW, I basically suck at making small talk, too, JB.

In the best circumstance, I end up lecturing people who either don't mind or are too intimidated to complain.

In the worst circumstance I just end up boring the hell out of people who are busy trying to think of an excuse to leave while I go on and on obliviously yakking away.

I suspect that a LOT of people who spend a LOT of time on boards do so precisely because in RL we bore the hell out of most people.

Just a guess, of course.

No doubt some of us can be social butterlies if we choose

 

[spectrumc01]

People are taught not to talk about religion or politics as it might offend the company you are currenty engaged in conversation with. This usually limits most conversations to the mundane.i.e. the weather and other peoples families. Both of which bore the hell out of me.

I come here to exercise my mind and get differing view points on a variety of subjects. As for thinking that I'm too smart for everyone else, I hope I never get like that. When you think you are smarter than everyone else your ears close to their opinions and ideas of others. When this happens we loose the critical part of the equation, which is the wisdom to apply the knowlege we have.