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If you’re so smart, how come you’re not happy?

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Re: If you’re so smart, how come you’re not happy?

#21

Post by imiric »

derac wrote: post #3
incomingpain wrote: post #2

The smarter you are, the more unhappy and lonely you will be. Been known for millenia; doesn't have to stay this way. edit/ sorry got shadow banned over this post. cant reply to anyone.

I disagree, they are just not necessarily associated. Less intelligent people have problems too. Children constantly throw tantrums, for instance. I do agree that overthinking and the high neuroticism that usually comes with intelligence will lead to an unhappy life usually. Contentment imo requires understanding your insignificance in the universe and having strong values to drive your behavior. Usually that means n…

> I disagree, they are just not necessarily associated.

It's not a matter of agreement. There have been numerous studies that show a higher incidence of depression in conventionally "smart" people.

This doesn't downplay in any way the problems of "less intelligent" people, and we all percieve problems differently, but there are certain traits of "smarter" people that make them more prone to being unhappy.

So the article's question is based on a misleading premise.

Re: If you’re so smart, how come you’re not happy?

#24

Post by nyokodo »

I think a lot of us are unhappy a lot of the time because we’re all at least a little bit insane. Either we don’t see the cause of our unhappiness because we’re insane or we see it but don’t fix it because we’re insane.

Perhaps “insane” is too strong but “lacking sufficient sanity” is too long.

Re: If you’re so smart, how come you’re not happy?

#25

Post by lukas099 »

z5h wrote: post #12

We haven't established that intelligence should imply happiness. We haven't even established that intelligence should imply the desire to be happy. If intelligence enables a person to identify problems, and problems make a person unhappy, then an intelligent person will have at least one factor that tends to increase unhappiness.

> We haven't even established that intelligence should imply the desire to be happy.

Most people desire to be happy. I don't believe I need to prove this.

The point was that we should be able to use our intelligence to identify and resolve issues that decrease our happiness. I think this is true to a certain extent, but there is an upper limit where solvable problems are not the limiting factor to our happiness.

Re: If you’re so smart, how come you’re not happy?

#26

Post by welfare »

Was intrigued by the title, disagree completely with the content.

You can have a rewarding job and still be unhappy, you can have no job at all and be the happiest person out there. Happiness is not one-dimensional...

I still think it's a fascinating topic, anyone got any better recommendations for reading up on this?

Re: If you’re so smart, how come you’re not happy?

#27

Post by creativeideas »

Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.

Intelligence is worthless without a heart to use it lovingly, and even then, it has no direct correlation to wisdom. It is wise to use intelligence lovingly, but it is also wise to use money lovingly. Intelligence is simply a resource while wisdom is a quality.

Furthermore, you must define "happiness." Happiness is simply a feeling, while joy is a quality, like wisdom. Intelligence and happiness are circumstantial and transient while wisdom and joy are qualities that can be nurtured and cultivated in one's character.

Re: If you’re so smart, how come you’re not happy?

#28

Post by derac »

imiric wrote: post #21
derac wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree, they are just not necessarily associated. Less intelligent people have problems too. Children constantly throw tantrums, for instance. I do agree that overthinking and the high neuroticism that usually comes with intelligence will lead to an unhappy life usually. Contentment imo requires understanding your insignificance in the universe and having strong values to drive your behavior. Usually that means n…

> I disagree, they are just not necessarily associated. It's not a matter of agreement. There have been numerous studies that show a higher incidence of depression in conventionally "smart" people. This doesn't downplay in any way the problems of "less intelligent" people, and we all percieve problems differently, but there are certain traits of "smarter" people that make them more prone to being unhappy. So the arti…

Depression is also only one dimension of unhappiness. You might lose your wife and kids, but not be clinically depressed. Poor, uneducated people are also less likely to seek help, though that may be accounted for in the studies you are referencing.

I'd guess that the nature of unhappiness between educated high-achievers and uneducated people is quite different.

Re: If you’re so smart, how come you’re not happy?

#29

Post by hinata08 »

nadavr wrote: post #5
derac wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree, they are just not necessarily associated. Less intelligent people have problems too. Children constantly throw tantrums, for instance. I do agree that overthinking and the high neuroticism that usually comes with intelligence will lead to an unhappy life usually. Contentment imo requires understanding your insignificance in the universe and having strong values to drive your behavior. Usually that means n…

Interesting counterexample. I would argue that throwing tantrums when distressed — instead of bottling up anger, frustration, and disappointment — actually enables children to embrace happiness more easily than we do during the non-tantrum moments. We learn to suppress and not feel our difficult emotions, but unfortunately we can’t selectively numb just the hard feelings. I’m not claiming our society should be filled…

>I’m not claiming our society should be filled with adult tantrum-throwers

why not ?

you can do that with friends and family. Cry, be happy, get angry,... You're allowed to do everything at home. There are also online places where you can do that with strangers (like Discord)

You should be able to do all of that, go directly to the bottom of the problems, get a confirmation that it's not normal, and show others that your world isn't perfect either.

Internalizing and learning to cope, despite your expectations, is actually the worst. That's how you neglect yourself (get alienated, according to some ppl), and give a false image that your life is great.

Have you seen Kleo, on Netflix ?

Re: If you’re so smart, how come you’re not happy?

#30

Post by sureglymop »

z5h wrote: post #12

We haven't established that intelligence should imply happiness. We haven't even established that intelligence should imply the desire to be happy. If intelligence enables a person to identify problems, and problems make a person unhappy, then an intelligent person will have at least one factor that tends to increase unhappiness.

A mistake we sometimes make is to assume that intelligent also = good. But intelligence doesn't imply that a person is e.g. social, empathetic, ethically responsible etc.
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