<p>This question stems from a conversation I had with a friend last week. We were talking about how socially in our school kids that come from families with higher incomes are worse off than the average kid who attends our school. He said that people can't connect with said kids because of where we live, our lives are very different apparently. It got me thinking...do people find you more intimidating than the typical high schooler in whatever (grades, family, personality)?</p>
<p>I never thought of myself as being one to be intimidated about. I thought I was doing a pretty good job of interacting. Though, my amount of close friends is in favor of his theory. This being CC, where kids excel in more areas than one, I thought you guys could relate. </p>
<p>I have a friend who is very academically gifted and the same theory goes applies to her. She intimidates most people around her, even other "gifted" kids.</p>
<p>It might not be intimidation so much as disconnection. We have friends because we can talk with them, laugh with them, relate to them, and etc. When someone is gifted, more so than others, the amount you can relate with that person (like, OMG CALC TEST IMPOSSIBLE!) lowers. Perhaps the gifted person is an introvert, as are many gifted people. That can play a factor into “intimidation”. Or maybe they just go do their own thing. In any case, the very smart generally tend to experience these kinds of things. And correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t smartness SOMEWHAT correlated with richness? Meaning the richer you are the more likely you are to be smarter, due to social status, environment, convenience, etc. So in that sense, you could argue that it is worse off to be richer, but I think it could go either way. Probably depends on the person more than the circumstance.</p>
<p>As for me, I doubt anyone finds me intimidating, but I can maybe see why. I don’t quite smile or pay much attention to others, but if they approach me, I light up like a flashlight. Perhaps they don’t know the 2nd part and think of me as too serious? Who knows.</p>
<p>People thought I was intimidating when I was quiet.</p>
<p>Now that they know me, they know me as weird in the good kind of way, not the, “I collect all the gum I’ve chewed since 3rd grade and have a collection of toenails in my closet” kind of weird :3.</p>
<p>People are still intimidated by me, only because I’m quiet as hell.
Or whenever I proceed with an onslaught of answers to questions, that intimidates many. </p>
<p>When I worked with JV… I made a few people cry.</p>
That doesn’t mean that the lower income kids are “intimidated”, it could just mean that they associate with others of similar lifestyle and don’t particularly like those that have so much more than their possibly struggling families. Or you could be surrounded by socialist revolutionaries. But it doesn’t sound like they’re intimidated by your wealth.</p>
<p>I’m possibly the least intimidating person, I’m always laughing and smiling and I literally laugh at everything and anything.</p>
<p>But apparently, when people first me/see me just walking around by myself, they think I look angry. I’m honestly the least angry person ever. opinionated? yes. angry? never.</p>
<p>It’s very possible that most kids just think I’m unfriendly, but I don’t act unfriendly. However, I have heard how smarter individuals are more introverted than others. Though, I wouldn’t consider myself smarter than most.</p>
<p>It could be perhaps that they don’t want to associate me. The whole conversation was over me fitting in and finding that perfect group of friends, which many seem to have, but I don’t. The disconnect theory is probably most plausible, I just wish it wasn’t.</p>