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Why aren't smart people happier? (2022)

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Re: Why aren't smart people happier? (2022)

#141

Post by rootusrootus »

nico wrote: post #109
annzabelle wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got labeled "smart but lazy" at a pretty young age (high test scores, didn't do any homework), and I let that label stick with me for far too long. I took some pride in how I could get the top score in a class without studying, and didn't realize that studying itself was a useful skill. I let this whole mindset drag me down through undergrad (especially once I hit the point where I really ought to have studied), an…

Sometimes accountability is not enough. Medication and therapy might help, as it can be the case with ADHD. Many people with it fit the pattern of “smart but lazy”

I won't claim that I've ever suffered real ADHD, but after an experience I had years ago with phentermine, that stuff would have been magic when I was a teenager. Turned me into an unstoppable, focused machine. And phentermine isn't labeled for that effect, which makes me wonder what adderall would be like.

Re: Why aren't smart people happier? (2022)

#142

Post by Nail2680 »

xyzelement wrote: post #139

I think being smart universally trumps being less smart - but the definition of smart needs to be more encompassing. For example take the stereotype of a brilliant man or woman who neglected family for career, and are forever single and childless forever -- while someone less brilliant just "ends up" with a family and ultimately more fulfilled in life. Superficially this is an example of an average person being happi…

Right, there is a problem with even defining "smart", a decent number of mathematicians I have known would not call themselves smart, but persistent. I have known a lot of physicists too, some of whom forget simple integrals all the time, but publish like a monster, and some very smart physicists who know almost any fact you could want off the top of their head who don't publish almost at all. One group is more successful than the other.

Re: Why aren't smart people happier? (2022)

#147

Post by mjklin »

tomComb wrote: post #14

Because we are depressed by the realization of how stupid we are. We aren't optimized for smart, for happy, or for truth - we are optimized for getting our genes into the next generation.

“Look at the happy moron, he doesn’t give a damn. I wish I was a moron - my God, perhaps I am!”

Re: Why aren't smart people happier? (2022)

#148

Post by bittercynic »

xyzelement wrote: post #139

I think being smart universally trumps being less smart - but the definition of smart needs to be more encompassing. For example take the stereotype of a brilliant man or woman who neglected family for career, and are forever single and childless forever -- while someone less brilliant just "ends up" with a family and ultimately more fulfilled in life. Superficially this is an example of an average person being happi…

As a single and childless person, I don't like the implication that those are marks of a less fulfilling life. I know some people married with kids who seem very happy and fulfilled, and some profoundly miserable and trapped. I may be missing out on some good things, but I'm also avoiding some extreme misery, and generally do feel content and fulfilled.

Re: Why aren't smart people happier? (2022)

#149

Post by bittercynic »

mmorriso wrote: post #98

I find it interesting that there's an expectation that smart people would be happier. Being smart is essentially "having a strong brain". Would we expect people with a strong back or legs to be happier? I wouldn't expect someone good a maths or puzzles to be any happier than someone good at carrying heavy things. There's a difference between smart and wise. Some smart people become wise people, and I find them to be…

I kinda would expect a person with a strong back or legs to be happier. I think there's a strong correlation between health and fitness and happiness.
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