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4 Reasons Why Highly Intelligent People Are

Happier with Less Socialization

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May 22nd, 2014

The idea that a high degree of

socialization and intelligence dont 6 Reasons
Why
go together seems not just to be a Intelligent People Fail
popular perception but a fact. to Be Happy
November 24th, 2016

You know the typical crowd, Wow, its Friday

6 Mind
night, what are you going to do? Just sit
Expanding
there? Well, yeah. Because theres nothing
Movies That Will
out there. Its stupidity. Stupid people
Make You Question
mingling with stupid people. Let them
Reality and Life
stupidify themselves. October 18th, 2014
~ Charles Bukowski

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A study aimed at
nding the 8 Struggles
correlation between of Being a
evolution and Deep Thinker in the
socializationfound Modern World
May 13th, 2016
that more intelligent
individuals
experience lower life How To
satisfaction with Crack Open
more frequent Your Pineal Gland
socialization. August 20th, 2014

The researchers
posited that the 14 Truths
reason for this may about Being
be that highly an Introvert (That
intelligent people Mainly Introverts Will
are more adapted to Understand)
September 23rd, 2014
modern living than
others, as ancestral
living conditions
entailed Recent Quotes
farmorereliance on
socialization for
survival.

There are other possible reasons why intelligent people

may avoid a high degree of social contact:

1.Intelligent people may lack social skills

I am alone, I thought, and they are

everybody.
~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky

William Littles Introduction to Sociology cites the case of a

man called Chris Langan the smartest man youve never
heard of. It describes Langan as having an IQ of over 195,
which is 100 points higher than that of the average human
being. Hes thought to have been among the most
intelligent people the world has ever seen.

Chris Langan, however, enjoyed no success or achievement

in his life. He worked various low-level jobs and had a life
story lled with disappointment and isolation. The problem,
according to psychologist Robert Sternberg, was that Chris

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Langan lacked the social skills to make achievements LearningMind

corresponding to his intelligence. He was incapable of LikePage 1.5Mlikes
knowing what to say to whom, knowing how to say it, and
knowing how to say it to maximum eect (Sternberg et al. 2friendslikethis
2000).

This is an extreme example, of course, and many intelligent

LearningMindaddedanew
people know at least how to communicate enough to get
photo.
on in life. However, its possible that what people gain in 1hr
intelligence, they often lose in social skills.

2. Socialization is a distraction from work

I want to be with those who know secret

things or else alone.
Rainer Maria Rilke

An obvious factor behind the avoidance of socialization that

we see in intelligent people is that socializing takes up a 246 42 42

good deal of time and eort. Intelligent people are far more
likely than unintelligent people to have interests that reach LearningMind
2hrs
beyond who is dating whom and what so-and-so is wearing.

Most intelligent people are compelled to act on their

intelligence in some way by working on something, whether
its a personal project or something to do with their career.
They may also simply prefer consuming knowledge through
reading or other intellectual pursuits than spending time
out with friends.

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3. Its more difficult to fit in with the

crowd

So many people are shut up tight inside

themselves like boxes, yet they would open
up, unfolding quite wonderfully, if only you
were interested in them.
~ Sylvia Plath

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5/27/2017 4ReasonsWhyHighlyIntelligentPeopleAreHappierwithLessSocializationLearningMind

Lack of socialization may not always be a conscious choice

for intelligent people. However, being more intelligent than
others can be isolating for reasons that are beyond the
intelligent persons control. Even if they have adequate
social skills, they may still nd it very dicult to t in with
people and may nd they share little common ground with
people of average intelligence.

People dont understand, and care even less, about the

things they are interested in. People may view them as
boring at best and arrogantat worst. People often dont like
being around people who are their intellectual superiors as
it makes them feel stupid.

Intelligent people who face loneliness as a result of their

dierences with the vast majority of people may nd
themselves having to play dumb to get along with people.
This can make them appear more normal to others, but
below the surface, they may suer from an even greater
degree of loneliness and isolation as they realize that none
of their friends actually know who they are on the inside.

4. Socialization causes greater anxiety in

intelligent people

I have long held the opinion that the

amount of noise that anyone can bear
undisturbed stands in inverse proportion to
his mental capacity and therefore be
regarded as a pretty fair measure of it.

~ Arthur Schopenhauer

Research has shown that intelligent people are more prone

to anxiety than people of average intelligence. It has been
shown that theyre more likely to spend time replaying
unpleasant or embarrassing scenes in their head than
anything else even than thinking on intellectual matters if
such scenes should occur.

This demonstrates that socialization can have an adverse

rather than positive eect on intelligent people, as theyre
more likely to suer than average people if something goes
wrong which it frequently does. As such anxiety can have
a negative impact on health, its easy to understand why

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intelligent people may choose to shy away from excessive

social interaction.

As German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer pointed out

in his essay entitled On Noise, intelligent people are less
likely to be able to stand environments with a great deal of
noise and disturbance. For this reason, going to clubs and
busy bars where people usually like to socialize is
something that intelligent people may try to avoid.

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Ultimately, loneliness may be an a
iction the intelligent

have to bear as the price they pay for their intelligence.
Whenever you feel down because you feel like you dont t
in and never will, remember: youre in good company.

A great re burns within me, but no one

stops to warm themselves at it, and passers-
by only see a wisp of smoke
~ Vincent van Gogh

Have you experienced isolation as a result of

your intelligence? Share your experiences with
us.

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Caroline Hindle

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Caroline Hindle is a freelance writer, editor,

and translator living in Athens, Greece. She
has an MA in Ancient World Studies, but has
a wide spectrum of interests, including
philosophy, history, science, literature,
politics, morality, and popular culture.

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By Caroline Hindle | December 30th, 2016 | Categories: Brain Power, Introvert's

World, Personality | Tags: communication, depression, intelligence, introversion,
relationships | 6 Comments

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6 Comments

me December 30, 2016 at 8:50 pm - Reply

I would love to share my experiences with you of

isolation as a result of my intelligence, but right
now my *intelligence* is preparing to be homeless
in the streets tomorrow in the Artic as a result of
the isolation of my experience!!!

2 0 Rate This

Nilanjib Roy December 31, 2016 at 7:42 pm - Reply

I dont socialize too. But I dont think I am

intelligent.

1 0 Rate This

David Betts December 31, 2016 at 8:07 am - Reply

Very interesting stu! I wouldnt say Im highly

intelligent, but I often feel anxious in social

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settings, and I LOVE deep thinking. Right now Im

camping in the bush by myself, just contemplating
things. Im also right into spiritual stu NDEs
(Near Death Experiences).

3 0 Rate This

Glen December 31, 2016 at 4:42 pm - Reply

Nah, its strictly the rst quote. Stupid people

stupidifying themselves. I can socialize with
anyone, but when I talk, their heads cave in and
implode with the suggestion of THINKING. Thats
the main problem the dierence between those
of us who actually can think and those who
thought they think something. Then due to the
class and caste system of society, where double
highs gain positions of authority, from which
everyone else draws their information, you truly
have the blind leading the blind (and the dumb,
and deaf, etc.) My issue is dumbing myself down
arbitrarily for shallow conversation sure if you
were my boss at my job Id entertain you with an
answer as to whether or not its hot/cold enough
for me? today, but if youre just some buoon its
pointless and nothing is gained for me personally
to even acknowledge you.
The ultimate problem with this article is that it
doesnt explain intelligence. It is multifaceted,
which is why artists probably tend to hang around
other artists of a kind (spacial intelligence), and
politicians tend to be around other talking heads
(social intelligence), etc. etc. and since were taught
from an early age to gravitate towards cliques (due
to school) you tend to forgo individualism in favor
of the monkey-see monkey-do method of
evolution. Then if you ever do become an
individual, you realize everyone else is just a
cardboard cutout of everyone else and you nd
better things to do than become stupider! haha

2 0 Rate This

somerandomperson December 31, 2016 at 6:40 pm - Reply

Very insightful article about the manifestations of

highly intelligent peopleI dislike calling myself

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highly intelligent, but I do know Ive grown up to be

excessively shy in elementary through high school
and only talked to people where we seemed to
understand each other on an intellectual, deep
level. I admit that in 9th grade I attempted the
playing dumb act so I could at least try to t in
with everyone, but I realized that I was simply
draining myself muttering stupid things. I think I
subconsciously went back into my shell about
three days after trying.
Im pretty selective when it comes to my friends,
toonot that I choose to be that way but my
friendships last the longest whenever Im able to
maintain depth with them and were able to keep
up with each other.

1 0 Rate This

Karthik January 1, 2017 at 2:54 am - Reply

Every 31st of December I feel lonely for no

apparent reason as I see people all around me are
enjoying their celebrationsapparent because I
have never enjoyed partying

1 0 Rate This

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