The Surprising Downsides Of Being Clever

I've known a lot of people with very high IQ that mostly lacked a common sense, down to earth, approach to life. Just the fact someone has an unusually high degree of intelligence never guarantees a functional life.

The article rings true. But most people reading it are seeing a different picture. High IQ has always been thought of as a negative by normals. It's derided and poked fun at. Just like great wealth. In movies, the genius is usually the villain, and the guy with the "good heart" is the hero.

"Geniuses aren't as happy as we are" is the normal reaction..."They have no common sense"...."Money doesn't buy happiness."

Is happiness the goal? It never was for me.

I've always been interested in the correlation between intelligence and wisdom. I know brilliant people who are not wise. And I know people of average intelligence that are wise. But they do tend to go together. (in my experience)


Of course, a genius that is also wise.....most of us wouldn't know what they were talking about, I would think.

Just observations.

They needed a study for that? Most of the conclusions seem like common sense to me.

Yep- take me for example. My IQ is in low Earth orbit- so much that I feel above all and feel everyone else as pathetic little ants that need to be squashed and put out of their misery.

I always liked the saying:

“Wisdom is the daughter of experience”

― Leonardo da Vinci

Intelligence or smart at what? I have a repeat customer who is a top notch lawyer. Yet, he can't
figure out that if you just jiggle the toilet handle to move it up to the off position, the toilet will stop
running. He also can't figure out the remote control for the Air Conditioning unit. It was very easy
for me to figure out, but not intuitive for him.

7 (Seven) Kinds of Smart: Identifying and...

7 Intelligences: What Does it Mean to be Smart? - Jim Cathcart, CSP, CPAE - Cathcart Institute

Intelligent/skilled kids - probably more than others - need guidance and support, people skills, ethics... so they can become well functioning adults and maybe fully apply that intelligence. (Or whatever skill they have.) I recall times while growing up when I chose "fitting in" or "being liked" over being good at a sport or math or science. I did not communicate these events with my parents and so probably missed important guidance.

On the other hand, because of how my Dad was/family dynamics, I did not become an auto mechanic (I was doing really well in high school courses), or a helicopter pilot. My top five in the state tennis playing sister
suddenly stopped playing tennis after some conversation with Dad. (He wanted her to be a social butterfly instead of a tomboy.) Michael Jordan would not have excelled at basketball if not for the support and guidance
of his family (I think a particular grandfather more than anybody).

Drive is certainly a factor in functioning. Ditto for desire. Ability to apply knowledge is another crucial factor.

I know someone who was nationally ranked in the top ten in a sport. She quit because she does not have the drive or desire to continue competing and training. (First example off the top of my head. I'm sure we all of someone similar in a more intellectual field.)

How people interpret personalities is something else to consider. Bill Clinton has been criticized for being indecisive when he was just pondering options and information.

The founder of one of the Moog companies (synthesizers or auto products, I can't recall which Moog - probably the auto parts company) would probably be hard for a lot of people to relate to. He almost exclusively thinks in pictures. He communicated with his employees almost exclusively by drawing or creating physical models.
He communicated his desired organizational structure by creating a 3D model. I'm sure he hired bright people to
interpret him and implement.

Thank goodness I'm not a genius. I'm too smart for that.