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Why aren't smart people happier? (2022)

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

#401

Post by basscomm »

smithniels wrote: post #351
basscomm wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It really isn’t. I haven’t watched the news on tv in probably 20 years It's frequently beneficial to know what's happening in the world around you, even though possessing a sense of empathy can make knowing what's happening in the world around you unpleasant.

Okay I'll bite, in your opinion what are the benefits?

You're asking me to enumerate the benefits of knowing what's going on the world around you? It's probably not relevant or beneficial if it's something like miners being trapped in a cave on the other side of the planet, but when you get down to your local community you might want to know about things like:

- Road closures - Boil orders - Product recalls - Neighborhood breakins - Weather forecasts and alerts - Updated laws and court rulings that might impact you - Public safety notices - Health inspections - Public works projects - and a zillion other things that happen as a consequence of living in a complex society

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

#402

Post by eudamoniac »

siren2026 wrote: post #341
rootusrootus wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I got labeled "smart but lazy" at a pretty young age (high test scores, didn't do any homework) Same experience here. I could find just about anything else I wanted to do except homework. Spent all night coding many times. Went to school and aced all the tests, skipped all the homework, did not get good grades as a result. My dad actually arranged a visit with a psychiatrist who did an official IQ test (wooo! I'm a…

>> My dad actually arranged a visit with a psychiatrist who did an official IQ test (wooo! I'm a genius! yay!) One must love the irony that those tests are mainly use as a way to pat yourself on the back (you and your dad) more than any possible actionable item out of it. Funny how most people that take an IQ test come out as "geniuses"

> most people that take an IQ test come out as "geniuses"

This is by definition false.

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

#403

Post by [deleted] »

moate wrote: post #400
torginus wrote: post #256

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 just never understood why the secondary education system is set up to make smart and lazy people succeed without effort while the hardworking, but less gifted kids struggle. It just gives you an impression that life is much easier than it is, and you can BS your way…

"The 'smart but lazy' adults who stayed that way, who I've encountered IRL have been maliciously manipulative work avoiders, or straight up losers with superiority complexes." Counterpoint, the "I had to work twice as hard for my A" people are prudish buzzkills who think that working hard has inherent value. "Being smart won't get you a date, wont get you fit, play an instrument, learn to draw, program, wont allow yo…

[deleted]

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

#404

Post by dahart »

Xirdus wrote: post #393
dahart wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because intelligence is a physical attribute, and everything you listed is not a physical attribute and depends almost entirely on learned skill. None of those are physical limits of the body, and they change dramatically with practice. Most (all?) human physical attributes have relatively narrow ranges of distribution, which is why we should assume physical intelligence capacity does too, until proven otherwise. Ass…

> Because intelligence is a physical attribute I question this assumption. Especially considering you can train intelligence .

You can’t train human intelligence. It seems like you’re unaware of the goals and history of IQ. The whole point is to try to factor out learnable skills and measure pure cognitive capacity.

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

#405

Post by eudamoniac »

As a Smart Person with at least 2 sigma IQ, never studied in school, college was not a wake up call it was also easy, yes it was a good college, blah blah...:

Knowing what is worth doing or what would make me happy is the hard part. Achieving the goal isn't the hard part, it's setting one. Knowing what will make me happy is something philophers smarter than me have been wondering about for thousands of years.

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

#406

Post by FeloniousHam »

S_Bear wrote: post #385
FeloniousHam wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never met anyone who was sorry they had children, but I've met a lot of people who missed the opportunity (to be fair, I've never met the parents of a violent criminal). Kids can be hard, especially if you're not a natural, and especially when they're young, but-- it's impossible to describe the fulsome love I have for my kids. I'm not a sentimental person, and probably wouldn't have had them without my wife (wh…

"I've never met anyone who was sorry they had children" I've met my parents for 18 years before I moved away.

I'm sorry for you. Genuinely. I've only read of cases like yours (I think Neko Case has a hard story).

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

#407

Post by siren2026 »

eudamoniac wrote: post #402
siren2026 wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> My dad actually arranged a visit with a psychiatrist who did an official IQ test (wooo! I'm a genius! yay!) One must love the irony that those tests are mainly use as a way to pat yourself on the back (you and your dad) more than any possible actionable item out of it. Funny how most people that take an IQ test come out as "geniuses"

> most people that take an IQ test come out as "geniuses" This is by definition false.

When the test is designed, they use a wide variety of people.

But the only people I ever hear taking an IQ tests are people that already know they are smart. Why? Because it probably feels good. Because why else? Is there any actionable item out of that test?

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

#408

Post by FeloniousHam »

dns_snek wrote: post #379
FeloniousHam wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never met anyone who was sorry they had children, but I've met a lot of people who missed the opportunity (to be fair, I've never met the parents of a violent criminal). Kids can be hard, especially if you're not a natural, and especially when they're young, but-- it's impossible to describe the fulsome love I have for my kids. I'm not a sentimental person, and probably wouldn't have had them without my wife (wh…

I don't really expect anyone to casually admit that they regret having children to anyone but their closest confidants, perhaps not even themselves, the social stigma and shame would be unbearable. I don't know how much research there is on this but anecdotally there are many emotionally absent and neglectful parents out there. They might be able to cope with the way their life is but that doesn't mean that they're g…

Of course there are bad parents. I'm unlikely to encounter them, and even if I did I would probably not associate with them. But I suspect that you and anyone else on this thread offering thoughtful responses, are not the kind of person who would fall into that category.

I only offer my own experience, because I had the same fears as you. One datapoint, but parenting changed me in so many good ways, and the hardships fade from memory.

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

#409

Post by eudamoniac »

siren2026 wrote: post #407
eudamoniac wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most people that take an IQ test come out as "geniuses" This is by definition false.

When the test is designed, they use a wide variety of people. But the only people I ever hear taking an IQ tests are people that already know they are smart. Why? Because it probably feels good. Because why else? Is there any actionable item out of that test?

They are usually taken when a child struggles in school. The actionable item is 1. IQ is low, they probably need tutoring or special education classes; 2. IQ is high, they are probably too bored and need harder classes or some other intervention; 3. IQ is normal, probably it's some other issue.

As an adult the actionable item may be to adjust your expectations of yourself. For example if I'm 90IQ and beating myself up about not being a 10x dev despite my efforts, or if I'm 150IQ and feel too unqualified for some intellectual endeavor, I could make adjustments after knowing the truth.

I took one as an adult and my impetus was that I am contrarian about a lot of things, i.e. there are a lot of things I believe that most people don't believe. I wanted to know if I was just a midwit being an idiot contrarian or if there's at least some reason to believe I might have a better idea about things than average people. In the end I scored very highly, so I can now feel more comfortable trusting my own judgement. If I had scored much lower, I would accept I'm probably wrong about a lot more things and stop having such strong opinions.

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

#410

Post by Xirdus »

dahart wrote: post #404
Xirdus wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Because intelligence is a physical attribute I question this assumption. Especially considering you can train intelligence .

You can’t train human intelligence. It seems like you’re unaware of the goals and history of IQ. The whole point is to try to factor out learnable skills and measure pure cognitive capacity.

And yet, people who do IQ tests a lot score better. Sure, you can claim IQ test solving skill is not the same as intelligence - but then why are you measuring intelligence with IQ tests?
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