Study: Smart People Need More Time Alone

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A new study conducted by evolutionary psychologists from Singapore Management University and the London School of Economics and Political Science found that smart people need more time alone. I guess that means that, while all the smart people are off being hermits, all of us dumb bastards should get busy partying! :D

Smarter people can more easily adapt to their surroundings in the modern world, so they don’t need close relationships to help them with food and shelter, like our ancestors did. Or, in the modern equivalent, the Wi-Fi password and a spare phone charger. Their other theory is that smarter people are more aspirational, and want to spend more time working towards their goals, rather than socialising.
 
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So all of the anti-social idiots who live on their phones and think Selfies are a way of life can now claim that they are intelligent. Great.
 
Another aspect to this is that folks that have a very high IQ and as a result are very quick to grasp concepts etc. can find it quite fatiguing and frustrating to be around those that do not on the same level, because they are always waiting for folks to catch up.
Had this conversation a number of times with a family member that has experienced this since she was very, very young.
"get on my level, bro!" lulz :)
 
Momo said:
Another aspect to this is that folks that have a very high IQ and as a result are very quick to grasp concepts etc. can find it quite fatiguing and frustrating to be around those that do not on the same level, because they are always waiting for folks to catch up.
Had this conversation a number of times with a family member that has experienced this since she was very, very young.
"get on my level, bro!" lulz :)
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I can attest that I find it very mentally exhausting trying to train someone who just won't get it no matter how I try to approach things.
 
Momo said:
Another aspect to this is that folks that have a very high IQ and as a result are very quick to grasp concepts etc. can find it quite fatiguing and frustrating to be around those that do not on the same level, because they are always waiting for folks to catch up.
Had this conversation a number of times with a family member that has experienced this since she was very, very young.
"get on my level, bro!" lulz :)
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That's not just smart/dumb. Same thing goes for trying to convince nearly anyone of anything they don't already believe. Like the current Democrat/Republican mess, religion, California vs. Texas...
 
I must be a goddamned mastermind! I've lived alone, no pets, no wife, no GF, for 30+ years. And you can't tell me I'm dumb for living that way because, apparently, the study says I'm smarter than you. :p
 
So your no anti social your smart? I believe Eric Cartmans Mom used to tell him a similar lie. . .
 
I believe this. My lineage is engineer based, so I have decent genetics. I've always found social interaction to be a chore and it is something I have had to work on. I'd rather be in my workshop making something versus hanging out at a bar. I spent a lot of time in libraries growing up versus the playground. Besides the joke above, I don't find Social Media appealing. It seems like a waste of time to me as I don't care what you had for lunch nor do I expect you to care what I had.

I think as you get higher and higher IQ's, you also see more mental disorder traits on a percentage basis. I know some people that may be on a really high level, but their ability to think is also their crux. They have good days and bad days, the good days they think of great new ways to tackle a problem, the bad days they think of fine details and fixate on those until being overwhelmed. Some of the smarter people in history have shown traits like these.
 
Nukester said:
So all of the anti-social idiots who live on their phones and think Selfies are a way of life can now claim that they are intelligent. Great.
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No, taking selfies and using social media in preferring to be, it's someone who wants to be social but just isn't good at it.
 
The study found that more intelligent people actually had lower life satisfaction the more frequently they socialised with friends - spending time with friends actually made them unhappy. But the researchers discovered that these highly intelligent participants actually spent more time socialising with friends.
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So these intelligent people want to be sad ... that does not sound intelligent to me.
 
Yay, I'm not a socially-retarded borderline autist, I'm just a genius, and y'all aren't even ON my level. Pshhhh!

forever-alone-face.jpg
 
Even if this is true the relation can't be reversed. The effect doesn't necessitate the presence of a specific cause. Just because you're alone doesn't mean you're alone because you're smart.

This is like astrology, just even more blatant. If you tell people something that justifies them it doesn't matter if it's completely unscientific, and has absolutely no merit. They'll run with it. Confirmation bias is alive and well.

And it goes the other way round as well. Tell an inconvenient truth and people will duck their head in the sand in denial.
 
Armenius said:
I can attest that I find it very mentally exhausting trying to train someone who just won't get it no matter how I try to approach things.
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Or you show them how to do something and then the very next day you have to show them again.. and again.. and again.. and again.

AGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!

I literally get super exhausted if I am around people too much. Doesn't help at all when I have to explain not so technical stuff a huge number of different ways in order for somebody to even start to grasp it.

In the scene in Rocketman, where Fred(basically single handedly designed the circuits and software for the space shuttle) is in the isolation chamber, the test comes to an end and he asks for them to close the door so he can finish his literal sock puppet play and the other guy has basically gone insane... I would be super content to be in an isolation chamber like that for a few days.

Just gimme my laptop, some art supplies, food, water, and a restroom and I would be set to go and get a huge amount accomplished.

I really wish I had an isolation chamber.
 
M76 said:
Even if this is true the relation can't be reversed. The effect doesn't necessitate the presence of a specific cause. Just because you're alone doesn't mean you're alone because you're smart.

This is like astrology, just even more blatant. If you tell people something that justifies them it doesn't matter if it's completely unscientific, and has absolutely no merit. They'll run with it. Confirmation bias is alive and well.

And it goes the other way round as well. Tell an inconvenient truth and people will duck their head in the sand in denial.
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You do realize that Sir Issac Newton as well as the great astronomers were all astrologers? Galileo and Kepler made their money selling data to other astrologers.

Granted 99.9% of astrologers are wacko nut jobs but The Farmers Almanac is based upon similar principles. In as far as the seasons and climate patterns are based upon the influences of the Sun, Moon, and to a much lesser effect the other planets, and we humans are effected (and affected) by seasons and weather, than there is a very limited correlation between behavior and personality and the physical environment. I don't consider myself intellectually superior to Sir Issac Newton therefore I would not disparage a subject he considered to be a subject worthy of study.

With regards to the topic at hand: Smart people need peace and quiet to think and reflect. The smarter they are the more likely they are to immerse themselves into their own minds therefore solitude becomes it's own reward...
 
thejokker said:
You do realize that Sir Issac Newton as well as the great astronomers were all astrologers? Galileo and Kepler made their money selling data to other astrologers.
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And they were also theologists. Just because they were right about something doesn't mean they had to be right about everything.

Even Darwin was wrong about everything except that evolution is actually happening. But he had no clue about the how and why.

In science there are no absolute truths it's always evolving. Galileo, Kepler, and the rest were fucking brilliant for the period they lived in. Now probably an astronomy student would wipe the floor with their asses.
 
Momo said:
Another aspect to this is that folks that have a very high IQ and as a result are very quick to grasp concepts etc. can find it quite fatiguing and frustrating to be around those that do not on the same level, because they are always waiting for folks to catch up.
Had this conversation a number of times with a family member that has experienced this since she was very, very young.
"get on my level, bro!" lulz :)
Click to expand...

So.... not smart enough to be able to explain those concepts in a more simple way to the layperson?

If you truly understand the subject matter, you can explain it in simple terms or in the more advanced terms.

I'm not that smart, but I like time alone. I'll be in my bunk.
 
Damn it! I came out of my man cave to post here.

Screw this, I'm going back home to my cats.
 
I live in the middle of nowhere. Nearest street light is 10 minutes drive away. No cellphones, shitty internet, can't rely on anyone else out here but your close neighbours, plus I'm not as social these days.

While isolated out here, it's great place to work on solutions to some hugely lucrative issues for my own companies and that of another. The other company has a boss who is very similar and prefers to work in isolation also. When we are constantly harassed, it really puts a dent in productivity and creativity. Sometimes you need hours to yourself to construct/troubleshoot/solve something in your head. Someone interrupting to ask 'where did the knife go' can put you way off track.

Tesla was much the same way inclined but to an OCD level that makes most seem blasé.
 
M76 said:
And they were also theologists. Just because they were right about something doesn't mean they had to be right about everything.

Even Darwin was wrong about everything except that evolution is actually happening. But he had no clue about the how and why.

In science there are no absolute truths it's always evolving. Galileo, Kepler, and the rest were fucking brilliant for the period they lived in. Now probably an astronomy student would wipe the floor with their asses.
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I'm going to have to respectfully disagree. Newton et al were absolutely brilliant and that brilliance would only be multiplied if they were alive today. What these men accomplished in the primitive conditions they lived and worked is staggering. Most absolutely were not theologists. Newton would be more accurately described as an occultist. Most were persecuted by the church for heresy.
 
thejokker said:
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree. Newton et al were absolutely brilliant and that brilliance would only be multiplied if they were alive today. What these men accomplished in the primitive conditions they lived and worked is staggering. Most absolutely were not theologists. Newton would be more accurately described as an occultist. Most were persecuted by the church for heresy.
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You disagree, then say the exact thing I did. I didn't say if they lived now. If they lived today they'd have had access to much more accumulated knowledge, therefore they could've done even more. But their 17-19th century selves couldn't hold the candle to a person with access to today's knowledge. I admit I didn't look up if Newton was exactly a theologist or not. But many if not most scientist of the era were, some only as a pretense, but many were true believers trying to reconcile science with religion, since most scientific research was done within the church. I even read somewhere that Darwin was trying to prove intelligent design, instead he ended up with an alternative for it, but that might only be creationists trying to whitewash his work.
 
I think for me personally there's some truth to this, ever since I got graduated from school and started working and got more and more distanced from my old schoolmates and thus I've spent most of my time for myself, I've become smarter which I see mostly due the fact I get more time THINKING and reflecting over life in general, psychology is an ever increasing subject for me, why do we think like we are, what's the reason behind this and that etc, ie. deeper thinking about things in life. This wasn't something I was doing when I was studying simply because I had no time for this or well busy with other stuff. Politics started getting way more interesting, I start having way more common knowledge and interest in happenings around the world. I wasn't good at maths back then in school but I feel if I had entered school now, my logical thinking and reasoning would be on a much better level, it was hard for me to grab the reason why this and that worked like that which seemed easy for those "smart" people 'duh', now it feels I would be the person that would easily grasp these new things, I feel my brain's logical thinking have developed greatly ever since when I started being more alone.

My hobby of promoting newcomer artists on YouTube got ever increasingly more important too, it was my goal to become the biggest promoter in the genre and a few years later I actually achieved my goal after spending way too much time on the channel.

I don't think it's so much about smart people NEED the time alone but for the logical reason they are smart because they have spent more time alone so they have had more time to process things in their brain than the "social party hero". Brain doesn't get activated in the same way when simply hanging around friends, it's more like a relaxed state for the brain IMO, at least that's how I feel whenever there's the occasions of hanging out with my working mates now. When you are out n' about with other people you can rely more on their knowledge when you are alone you have to process all the things yourself if you are not familiar with how something works for example.
 
I think that the way you think about things has a lot to do with your ability to explain concepts to people. I like to understand things and I can't wrap my head around people that don't wonder and want to know at least at a base level how things work, be it physical or metaphysical.
 
Makes sense. The only people I really get along with are highly intelligent. My wife earned her master's degree in a year while working full time. Proud of her. Anyway. My closest friends are mathematicians and engineers. I do sometimes wish I could feign interest in the mundane but yeah. Most of the time I am bored shitless. As I write this I am listening to people at the bar. It sounds like sheep bleating. Just being real with ya'll.

Oh and I can tie my dick in a knot.
 
mcravenufo said:
As funny as that is, my opinion is that alone is alone without any other human interaction whether it be through social media or electronic communications.
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So, you are saying us guys around here ain't too smart? ;)
 
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