The Curse of Smart People (2014) • Hacker News Board

Re: The Curse of Smart People (2014)

#161

Post by brokenmachine » Tue, Feb 14, 2017, 4:07 AM UTC

arjie wrote: post #112

watwut wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inability to understand emotions is not the same thing as being smart. It is possible to be smart and not to understand them, but plenty of smart people do get why people cry at funeral. Also, majority of people who attend funerals don't cry and even more don't cry publicly. It is highly inappropriate to laugh or look happy, but if he was trying to simulate cry, then his idea of funerals was not based on reality nor…

I agree. Feynman was incredibly intelligent, musically inclined, and charmingly social. Anyone who feels out of touch with (perceived inferior) normal people due to being too smart is creating a hierarchy of people which places them just one step off the bottom. At the same time they present as if their position is the top step on the ladder. People pigeonhole themselves into categories based on RPG mechanics. In the…

Not saying you're wrong at all (in fact I agree), but I think that an important thing to remember is that smart people still have limited time like everyone else, hence they will probably be less enthusiastic to fritter it away on "meaningless" social interaction and small-talk when they could be doing something they consider useful, challenging or stimulating.

This tendency IMO tends to make some smart people less adept at social interaction, just because they do less of it. Not all smart people, but definitely some of them. Probably everyone knows an intelligent person who is socially awkward.

So that's another influence. But it's all generalizations.

Re: The Curse of Smart People (2014)

#162

Post by brokenmachine » Tue, Feb 14, 2017, 5:16 AM UTC

Nition wrote: post #8

WalterBright wrote: post #5

> very easy to describe all your successes (project not canceled) in terms of your team's greatness, and all your failures (project canceled) in terms of other people's capriciousness. I see this belief in probably about 80% of people I encounter, and it has little correlation with how smart one is. I like to hang out with people who take responsibility for their failures rather than complaining about how circumstanc…

It's the same kind of thing as how when you accidentally cut someone off while driving it's because they were in your blindspot and you're having a bad day and it's the first time that's ever happened etc etc... and when someone else cuts you off they're an idiot who shouldn't be on the road and they probably always drive badly.

I feel like I get cut off sometimes multiple times per journey, while I only cut off somebody perhaps once a month, if even that often.

Everyone else is a terrible driver!

Re: The Curse of Smart People (2014)

#163

Post by brokenmachine » Tue, Feb 14, 2017, 5:23 AM UTC

walljm wrote: post #139

WalterBright wrote: post #5

> very easy to describe all your successes (project not canceled) in terms of your team's greatness, and all your failures (project canceled) in terms of other people's capriciousness. I see this belief in probably about 80% of people I encounter, and it has little correlation with how smart one is. I like to hang out with people who take responsibility for their failures rather than complaining about how circumstanc…

> I see this belief in probably about 80% of people I encounter, and it has little correlation with how smart one is. The virtue he is discussing is humility vs pride, and I think you're right that it isn't really correlated with intelligence. People all over the IQ spectrum will exhibit both. Pride may be a common stumbling block to those who don't often experience failure though (i.e in the smarter crowd), because…

> failure teaches circumspection and trains you to question your assumptions and reasoning when challenged.

In smart people maybe...

Just thinking out loud, but maybe dumb people continue to do dumb things because they don't have the insight or motivation to question their behaviour or the possible outcomes of their behaviour? ie they're not as good at learning from their mistakes?

Re: The Curse of Smart People (2014)

#164

Post by brokenmachine » Tue, Feb 14, 2017, 5:37 AM UTC

sunstealer wrote: post #35

234dd57d2c8dba wrote: post #4

Here's a summary for why smart people are "cursed": If you are two or 3 standard deviations about the mean, you'll quickly realize society is optimized and caters to the average intelligence. You'll find it very boring and frustrating having to deal with rules and decisions that do not make sense. You must continually push yourself to stay entertained and meet like-minded people otherwise you'll get very depressed th…

As a smart person, I see things a different way. There are certain hobbies that are only appeal to smart people, like pure math. But there are a lot of things that appeal to a broad range of people, like sport, arts, music and literature. I think it's very good to get involved in these things because they bring balance and a way to related to other people. In fact I created a "no programming related hobbies" rule for…

I like that attitude and have found it to be true in my experience.

Sports are good for this, you interact with people from many different occupations and age groups.

It's cool to see people from different walks of life solving the problems presented by the challenges of the sport in their own ways according to their own attributes.

Re: The Curse of Smart People (2014)

#165

Post by brokenmachine » Tue, Feb 14, 2017, 5:42 AM UTC

jschwartzi wrote: post #137

jacobolus wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The “smart people” I know are seldom bored, because they are constantly reading interesting books, are fascinated by an endless stream of ideas, can think about a number of hard problems anytime they like, and have the curiosity and empathy and enough basic knowledge to coax an information-rich conversation out of almost any interlocutor. YMMV.

"If you're bored, then you're boring."

I heard it phrased as, "Only boring people get bored".

Re: The Curse of Smart People (2014)

#166

Post by brokenmachine » Tue, Feb 14, 2017, 5:55 AM UTC

yourapostasy wrote: post #106

tene wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there's really something there that can't just be dismissed as "Just learn to enjoy the mundane". Go spend some time around people significantly more mentally challenged than yourself, like young children, and make an effort to enjoy their recreational activities in the same way that they do directly, and I think you'll find some things they genuinely enjoy that are just too simple for you, like watching a si…

> Go spend some time around people significantly more mentally challenged than yourself...and I think you'll find some things they genuinely enjoy that are just too simple for you... Speaking as a non-smart person of boringly average IQ, so perhaps I'm inflicted with the myopia of someone without the raw intellectual horsepower of a 2-3 standard deviation smart person. But I do have an insatiable curiosity about the…

Nice. I will use this, although I generally find both kids and funny gifs pretty entertaining anyway.

Do you have any suggestions for boring bureaucratic meetings with lots of contrived jargon? That's where I struggle to find entertainment.