<p>What?
When one of my cousins gives birth, overpopulation is not the first thing I think about. Smart people can wonder and be curious as much as “dumb” people, especially given our willingness to admit what we don’t know.</p>
<p>It really depends on if we’re talking about people who are really far below average or average. If I have any doubt that I’m happier than most people around me, I just eavesdrop on them. The average person gets so upset over such petty things…</p>
<p>I think you can only become unhappy if you become more intelligent AND become cynical. As long as a person retains some sense of the simple pleasures without mocking the rest of the world than all is alright.</p>
<p>I don’t think of over-population either, but I don’t get tearful at the “miracle of life.” It doesn’t take much biology to realize there isn’t much miracle to it (maybe some).</p>
<p>^ I have plenty of intelligent friends who aren’t depressed. The ones I see looking depressed are those who do not socialize with anyone. Not socializing = unhappiness. Now does intelligence = social problems?</p>
<p>^^ “All the depressed people I know are intelligent.” But not all quadrilaterals are squares.</p>
<p>Intelligence could equal social problems if you are extremely (EXTREMELY) intelligent… assuming we are not talking about emotional intelligence (which it doesn’t seem like from most of this thread). Because you might find it very difficult to fit in and relate to other people, as you simply think in a way that is drastically different.</p>
<p>I also think that the point that MeSsIaH. brought up was good, too. Smart people have a greater tendency to haave unrealistic/idealistic expectations of themselves, and when they have to abandon them, that can cause depression. (Like in Revolutionary Road. And life in general)</p>
<p>Anyway, proletariat’s comment “Wow. You would actually want to be less intelligent so that you don’t need to think?” is a bit of an exaggeration. Not wanting to be an extreme outlier is not the same as not wanting to think.</p>
<p>Now, this is a more interesting question, in my eyes. I’m no psychologist, but here goes. Firstly, I’d make a distinction between those who are bright and those who are gifted. Bright vs. gifted learners distinguish themselves in elementary and middle school, but in high school the gaps are often closed. Although bright and gifted students often overlap in terms of actual intelligence, there is a difference. The threshold for “gifted” is much higher, and there really is no ceiling. Bright students are smart to very smart with a great work ethic and a desire to learn. Gifted students can be any kind of student (good or bad!) but have a natural intelligence level that’s generally higher. This is a good place to start reading about bright vs. gifted students:</p>
<p>Anyway, I would say that in those who are truly gifted, less traditionally-social personalities are prevalent. For example, many gifted people are INTJs (sorry, I’m more familiar with Jung Typology than other personality indicators). I am an introvert, but I’m intensely social. However, because I prefer a very specific type a social interaction, I’m less likely to socialize than others. That’s just a single anecdote, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were true of many gifted individuals. (And yes, arrogance is a factor in this thread, but I don’t think anyone here isn’t bright or gifted - er, for the most part).</p>
<p>"Now does intelligence = social problems? "</p>
<p>nah, just less people that you’d rather be hanging out with
I’d say its based on the environment (ie. location, how good your school is,etc…) to base
intelligence = social problems on</p>
<p>^^ I understand that, but I didn’t say that all the intelligent people I know are depressed. The majority are not. But the fact is, I personally do not know any dumb people who are depressed. I was just commenting on that, not trying to prove anything.</p>
<p>I work with individuals who are classified “mentally ■■■■■■■■” or “developmentally disabled”. some of them are the most contented, happiest, least stressed people I have ever met. There are days when I envy my clients.</p>
<p>I don’t think much of the 300,000+ births a day either, but for a single cell to develop into such an incredibly complex “system” is pretty amazing to me.</p>
<p>Of course human reproductive biology doesn’t mean much to us now that it’s been understood for a good long time, but it’s still a creation process much more advanced than the process of making whatever we’ve invented.</p>
<p>Intelligent introverts could be prone to depression because they analyze themselves and their mental states very intensely, which has been shown to contribute to depression because it can lead to “searching for problems.” This also plays right into the tendency for intelligent people to hold themselves to high standards. I know this from experience but the idea of rumination contributing to depression is something that’s actually been studied.</p>
<p>And I know a lot of very intelligent and happy people. A lot of the thoughts people were bringing up as examples of things that make intelligent people sad are actually examples of cynicism more than anything else. Being cynical is a choice, not a natural product of intelligence.</p>
<p>Well, people have been saying that intelligent people are sad because they tend to think about thinks that make them sad, while of course CCers have this romanticized image of “average” people being blissfully ignorant.</p>
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<p>No? You never step back and think “Wow, isn’t it weird how things got this way? What if…”? Of course there’s no “miracle” - it all can be explained scientifically, even for those who believe in religion (besides the whole “soul” thing for certain religions like mine). But it’s still pretty mind-blowing to think about.</p>
<p>Maybe that’s it. We call something a miracle when we don’t understand the cause behind it. I think it’s extremely interesting and intriguing how humans and other beings have evolved, as well as how fetuses become living, working people. But I wouldn’t consider it a miracle. Although, I can see how that could be a happier life. Isn’t it a miracle how a sperm and an egg became a human? And then that’s it. Is asexuality not, then, more miraculous?</p>