Would you like to be cleverer?

[TheGreatIndoors]

Hello

I watch The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon and muse about whether my life would be better if I were super-clever.

Imagine being able to really and truly understand complex subjects eg physics and philosophy. Being inside your own head would be really interesting!

But your life is frustrating because most people don't understand you or your ideas or just talk crap basically, as far as you are concerned.

I suppose it must be like me living my life surrounded my monkeys rather than other humans. Presumably you would have to actively seek out a small pool of other super-intelligent humans. (Your colleagues at NASA or whatever)

In the programme of course life is harder for Sheldon as he has social difficulties.

Would you like to be cleverer?

Is there anyone who wishes they were LESS clever?!

Sometimes they say that ignorance is bliss after all! Maybe OVERthinking about concepts like the meaning of life/the universe makes one miserable?!

I'd say that's more about application of intelligence than intelligence itself, though - that lateral thinking, cryptic crossword-type problem solving is one way to measure cleverness, but I don't think it's the only way.

I don't doubt my intellectual ability to sit down and learn physics or maths stuff given sufficient time, for example, and I know I get better at cryptic crosswords and similar puzzles with practice. But I wouldn't be able to sit down and solve a complex equation or challenging cryptic crossword quickly and effortlessly with no prior practice.

I should imagine that people who tend to be quick at solving escape rooms are people who do similar kinds of puzzles and games for fun already, as those kinds of problem-solving skills do improve with practice.

Good supplementary question. Do you wish you were a psychopath? You'd achieve lots but never experience real love. Or true sadness I suppose.

Nah - it's better to have loved and lost, and all that.

As annoying as they are, emotions are what makes this all real, at the end of the day.

I'm quite clever. Have a high iq. But no common sense. I'd like more common sense. And social skills please. Yes I'm autistic.

Me neither, but I've met more intelligent men than knuckle-draggers! If all you're finding is knuckle-draggers, you're hanging out in the wrong places

I like to think I'm quite clever,I did an IQ test that gave me a result of 130,which is above average. But whereas I'm good with words, language and science,I'm really not that good with anything to do with numbers. I'd like to be cleverer in that respect.

I have a genius level iq. (Just)

It's very frustrating being surrounded by stupid people.

DP & DS are smart too.

You just lower your standards.

I act dumb to fit in.

People can be nasty when I outsmart them.

I am clever and have an iq in the top few % of the population.
I don't need to be cleverer but it would have served me well to be better educated.

I’m clever, but it’s not always a blessing. The urge to correct people is irritating because you know it’s socially unacceptable. When you can see a solution to a problem, but no one else gets it it can be frustrating.
On the plus side I can entertain my brain for hours on the internet. As a child I spent hours in our local library in the reference library just reading about anything. Now I can do it in the luxury of my own home. I love documentary’s but can waste hours reading around a subject that piques my interest.
I loved reading “A brief history of time” and I do read a lot of non-fiction.
One drawback is that I love to research anything that I buy to the point where I often end up not buying it because I realise I don’t need it.
My husband frequently uses me as an encyclopaedia if he’s in a discussion at the pub. Adds a whole new dimension to phone a friend.
Most of the time I dumb down but I am a demon scrabble player and unbeaten at Trivial Pursuit.

It’s not that I know a lot of things but I can work out an answer by application rather than memory. I remember seeing Benedict Cumberbatches Sherlock for the first time and really relating to his mind palace. It’s how my brain works. I love detective dramas, I have a visual memory and acute observational skills so often spot the clues early on.

In real life I present as a bit of a dumb blonde because it’s easier to blend in. People don’t like someone who is cleverer than themselves.

It is harder, I'm funny witty clever ... single as most men I date I'm bored of within 5 minutes.

I am a part time psychopath. As a dentist I have to hurt people sometimes and perform some pretty horrendous stuff so I have switch that I flick. Unfortunately I’ve never been very good at hurting children which is why I know I’m not at the same level as a surgeon. Although they probably have an easier time because their patients are unconscious and covered in drapes.
Outside of work i am defo not psychopathic although in an emergency I can flick the switch and go straight into calm zero emotion mode.
When my DH had a stroke my DS couldn’t believe how I calmly organised the ambulance and gave him clear instructions to wait outside for the ambulance. It’s a bit like clearing a corridor to make way for the important stuff. Once DH was in the ambulance I could open all the doors in my brain and let the emotion back in. I suppose it is “tunnel thinking”.

Interestingly, DS, who is very clever, discovered that he can do the same. As the ambulance crew were moving DH he spotted that DH was about to knock his head on the door frame ( he couldn’t hold his head up) and calmly stepped forward to hold his dads head until they reached the ambulance.

I think it is why some people are cool headed in a crisis. You lock out emotion until the crisis is over. A clear head is a massive advantage when all around you are losing it.

I've always been very smart. I come from a deprived family and became a doctor.

I got 100 percent in all my Math A-level exams effortlessly. Problem solving, abstract reasoning and risk straficiation. I'm like a human calculator in those areas.

When I was younger nobody wanted to be smart and I was constantly called a nerd. Now in a group of the same people, if I ever say... "because I'm smart," it is offencive. I knew that would be the case as a child. It's part of my risk stratification skill.

I like being smart and seeing things other people don't see. Sometimes it's frustrating. Especially when I have baby brain. I can't be bothered explaining how I got from A to J instead of A to B when it seems so obvious.

Nope!

Between me and my siblings, and between my children, there are a couple of averagely-bright siblings and one super-clever one in each set, and the super-clever one is not the happiest in either set!

I'd like to be a bit quicker with things like mental maths and difficult crossword puzzles but in terms of general intelligence I find most people extremely boring and I get frustrated with people not "getting it" so no I don't think I'd like to put myself even further from my peers in relation to overall intelligence than I currently am.

Definitely this. I won't settle any more and would rather be single than bored to tears by someone with nothing much between the ears.

ARGH
Cleverer is NOT A WORD

I would love to have been blessed with real brains, or even a special gift like painting. To have an obsession and to be able to make money out of it must be incredible. But to have a high IQ yet no social awareness.. no thanks .

I used to wish I was less clever!! I feel raw intelligence is like a fire - it can really burn you out.

I was a ‘gifted’ child. I breezed through school academically - I never did any homework for some subjects - and went to Oxford still. I was gifted in lots of different areas - but hopeless in many day to day things!

I daydreamed through a lot of primary school as I’d finished the work/it seemed so obvious. I don’t think it was great for my general development, it got me in the habit of spacing out.

As I grew older it was hard to switch off my brain from exploring all the different avenues in situations. Sometimes this feels really useful. Other times it just feels like there’s an unnecessary amount of deep analysis going on within me that has no application!

I can sometimes be seen as quite bumbling socially though and I’m not always taken seriously. So it can end up feeling a little isolating. I’m very social and loving though - not all-cerebral.

I think there’s related here for me which isn’t inherent to being intelligent but the context I grew up in (and being a woman) - I learned to dumb down my intelligence as a child…..and appear harmless. Over time this obviously affected my confidence and demeanour.

I think if you find your channel and place for your intelligence, it’s great - but it feels like something I really have to manage in modern society - like a wild horse….

thanks for the thread - interesting

I’m not particularly clever, average I’d say, but rather than being cleverer I would like to be able to sing. Whatever the place, time or situation, anywhere in the world, imagine being able to open your mouth and just sing beautifully. That would open as many doors as having a big brain

People tend to socialise with and marry people of a similar intellect.

Many has been the time when I have been out with a group of people and felt quite thick in comparison - so I did the trick of trying to look thoughtful and pensive whilst not having a clue what they were talking about.

Equally there have been occasions when I have been with a group were the conversations were a bit basic and thick.

I just think people are more comfortable being with people or marrying someone of the same 'ish intellect.

I'm clever enough, but there are so many things I can't do that I don't spend enough time enjoying what I can do.

I had a casual fling with a guy with a huge brain (also very socially skilled) and I felt anxious having a conversation with him tbh. I could tell he was dumbing down his chat a bit for me.

I also get all my DIY done by other people, and one particular nice guy is quite upset by the simplicity of the practical things I can't do. I can just about hang a picture, if the wall isn't difficult, but that's it.

I have a high IQ, got straight A*s then straight As and a 1st at Oxbridge. I do enjoy maths, and thinking about complex problems. But that doesn't mean I have emotional intelligence. The older I get the more I realise that is the most valuable form of intelligence in life.

I wish I wasn’t as clever. It’s sometimes a burden and I am only just slightly more clever than average. I wish I could just listen to people talk bullshit and just think it was correct.

Many has been the time when I have been out with a group of people and felt quite thick in comparison - so I did the trick of trying to look thoughtful and pensive whilst not having a clue what they were talking about.

^ I really enjoy those moments sometimes. It’s easy and light. You can just say mmm. But you’re still clever enough to KNOW what you don’t know. That’s the trick. Be oblivious. I sometimes think it’s the key to happiness.

This ♥️ and articulated far better than I ever could.

The most financially successful people I know are certainly not the Sheldon types. They are smart enough but are very good at networking/ socialising/ charming people. I always did well academically but I suspect my life would be benefited more by these type of skills than by adding on some more IQ points.

Someone mention Sam Bankman-Fried up thread. I remember hearing about how terribly difficult he found relating to other children as a child. I think being that level of intelligent must be deeply isolating.