Why do men stupefy themselves? Leo Tolstoy on why we drink (2014)

Re:Why do men stupefy themselves? Leo Tolstoy on why we drin... by rainonmoon on Thursday June 29, 2023 @06:30PM (#36527726)

Those aren't problems with intelligence, they're "problems" (insofar as they are problems, debatable) with things like social anxiety, inability or unwillingness to read social cues, superiority complexes (or inferiority complexes) etc. None of these are intrinsic to having an enormous capacity to learn, as multitudes of smart and charismatic people will attest. Part of this is also a matter of self-perception. Hey, lots of not very smart people also like to talk about their topics of interest beyond the appropriate span of patience. Plenty of them worry about that tendency as much as those burdened with Promethean intellect as well; plenty of them don't.

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Re:Why do men stupefy themselves? Leo Tolstoy on why we drin... by johnfn on Thursday June 29, 2023 @06:36PM (#36527789)

You really don't think there's a single problem that might arise when someone were to have a large capacity for learning? I mean, sure, perhaps these problems aren't unique to people with higher intelligence. And perhaps they're correlated with other parameters, like social anxiety, etc. But surely becoming more intelligent can exacerbate these types of problems, no?

I still find the behavior odd. If someone says "I feel awkward around people because I'm short" no one says "haha that's not a real problem, you just have social anxiety". But when someone says "I feel awkward around people because I'm smart" suddenly everyone has an issue.

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Re:Why do men stupefy themselves? Leo Tolstoy on why we drin... by austinjp on Thursday June 29, 2023 @08:38PM (#36528942)

It comes across as obnoxious because it means "I feel uncomfortable around people I consider unintelligent compared to me". The discomfort may be true but it demonstrates an absence of self-reflection.

There are many varieties of intelligence in many domains. If you find yourself in the company of someone you feel is less intelligent than you, try finding what they know about or care about. What have they experienced that you haven't? Or perhaps try finding a shared area of ignorance. Who knows, you might find they consider you dumb or naive in some way.

It is indeed very hard for some people to feel comfortable in social situations that are outside their prior experience or interests. But I'm inclined to agree with grandparent comment that this has little to do with 'intelligence'.

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