Are we smarter than common people?

[goldenholds]

I have been thinking recently that I did have a hard time relating to people around me. I am not gifted with intelligence, of that I'm sure. I just think differently than many people, and therefore it is hard to relate. If you can not relate to people around you than its likely to cause you difficulty with social interaction. The people I do find it easier to relate to often say that they think differently as well.

I have also fallen in the trap of thinking that some people were a bit slow, but I have been proven wrong enough times to know that is simply not true. I have always been good with numbers, but lacked skills with language, and was very poor with social skills. I thought that as I could crunch a math problem better than someone it meant I was smarter, but I've come to realize that it takes a lot more brain power to exert good language and social skills. It also takes a lot of brain power to excel in the arts, but the arts is very subjective and it is difficult to quantify the brain power required. I have seen people who are clearly brilliant, but because they are not solving a problem with a clear answer, they are not as easily recognized as brilliant.

 

[TheIllusiveMan]

I think mostly everyone are just ****ing stupid dumbasses. I hate society.

 

[Flowers-Of-Bloom]

Klaus, I know what you are talking about. And while it seems as if many of the people around me (particularly in educational environments) are so distracted and simple, looking down on them would do nothing to improve oneself.
I do associate mental illness with creativity and (sometimes) intellect. Most of the interesting people I have known have had some sort mental illness, whether it be depression, bipolar, anxiety disorders, even some with imaginary friends - it's as much of a gift as it is a curse - but that of course, is not to say that people with healthy minds can't be bright and creative as well.
As for SA in particular, it's possible that those with SA are just less inclined to make idiots of themselves.

 

[zlench]

Are we that much better than everyone else?

 

[chained]

I know exactly what u mean, but we don't need to necessarily be more intelligent.. there are two kinds of people: people who don't worry to much about life, shallow, just go through life, appreciate eating and a good show.. there are people like us: that want more, that think deeper.. Now I don;t know if we are more intelligent.. there are a lot of people who are perfectly healthy and very intelligent, so i guess it differs from person to person. but what i know is that we can make much more out of our lives than any of them can, being more intelligent or not, because we see the value in it, we have the insight..we might be more emotionally intelligent tho, that I might be sure of...
I've been doing a lot of obsessing with this issue.. cuz I want to be above average intelligent, at least have some compensation for this disease.. now u;ve made me wanna do some research

 

[redski]

I think the social phobia just gives us more time to think about things...

I would think that this is the easy explanation.

I know it to be sound given my own experience. Sort of like, one
observers the world and tries not to make the same mistakes others have made from observations,
whereas others live in the world and make their mistakes.
Like we are the passive observers and they are the active performers.
Hehe

 

[Timeboto]

It is not the society but the individual--- change the individiual first then u can change then society--- without humans there will not be a anything like that...'

But can we do that when others force us to make a society on their rules.... then the question is who are and what are we?

Economic and money has a and still is the force that create new ways and new paths into the future... where I am... I have no idea.... I folllow myself, but then what is that? I dont know, then how could u know Where and who I am... words are nothing!!! TV, internet, newpapers are just a tool... but who am I to say that?

If u are smart enough to search and make urself with a alot of information that make u more educated but not smarter.... humans are humans ... it all depends--- where they grow up and what see and read and look for life-....

- begin with the lowest... every human being trying to survive-.----- by that there is no rules---after that next step--- I wonder...which step are we on now???

Im emty and lost but maybe you are not, dont ignore it !!!!

 

[goldenholds]

I saw a study once that involved children eating candy. They were each given a few jelly beans and told that they could eat them any time they wanted. But they were also told that if they waited to eat them they would be promised much more candy later on. Then they were left alone. Some kids just gobbled up the jelly beans immediately and looked perfectly happy, they didn't seem to know or care that they lost out on a lot more candy. Some of them waited a little while and then ate them, looking like they realized they might do better but they gave it their best shot. Then there was one kid who just settled down completely still and looked like he had absolutely no intention of ever eating a jelly bean. That last kid is me. Except I'm 37 and my jelly beans would still be uneaten. No one ever promised me anything, but for some reason I just figured there has to more. They linked the degree of waiting to intelligence in the children, the longer the wait the more intelligent the child was. Ha, that should make me a genius. And yet I am not bright enough to figure out how to get a stupid date.

 

[Phil_i]

It seems to be that there are people who are more intensely connected to the world around them and their own thoughts and people that just seemingly flow through life without ever thinking that much (on a minute to minute basis). Everyone has deep thoughts sometimes, but for some people they are more constant. When I say thinking here I mean like the internal dialogue a lot of us have. However, there are plenty of people that don't have social phobia who have this connection so its not a simple division...

 

[coffeeaddict]

Oh god........

 

[Mikefly]

I see the big majority of people here is the "I don't want to follow, I don't want to lead" kind. And that shows intellectual maturity.
We know we can handle things without other people.

I've always seen almost all my classmates as dumb, stupid, shallow, ignorant...

I was a kid worried with things other kids would never even know it exist.
So I used to be lonely and mocked. And off course, I started to be very shy and quiet at school. But before school I was a happy talkative kid.
I can see this at old films from my family.

How can we hang out with people we simply cannot relate to?

How could I act like those idiots?
I've never had anything in common with them...

We simply can't relate with this people, and since we are alone and the "normal" thing is to act like those "normal" kids and relate to them, we start to feel bad for not fitting in, and the disorder starts to appear...

What your opinion guys?

I feel exactly the same way i feel like im smarter than the majority of people and i have a "trait" or "sense" that those idiots you talk about don't have. I know exactly what you mean.

 

[Mikefly]

Cool story bro.

wtf??????????????????

 

[DanFC]

I used to think that I was smart. But a worm with something more than photosensitive eyes is still a worm.

 

[Nack]

If we're so smart; why do we have such crappy life? eh? Explain.

 

[206Raider]

I wouldn't say smarter, but a lot of SAers are very conscious of the world around them. We tend to overthink about things like this.

 

[Luke1993]

I have no common sense. So I don't think I am smarter, I used to be fairly clever but not anymore.

 

[ShyCanuck]

I see the big majority of people here is the "I don't want to follow, I don't want to lead" kind. And that shows intellectual maturity.

It doesn't, really. It shows maturity, but many unsophisticated people follow this rule as well. There isn't anything intellectual about it.

We know we can handle things without other people.

There is not one person in the entire world that can "handle things" without other people. Your house, your car, your street, your food, etc. was not grown or constructed entirely by you. It required hundreds of people for these things to exist for you with such ease. Without them, I guarantee your life would be much worse then it is now.

I was a kid worried with things other kids would never even know it exist.
So I used to be lonely and mocked. And off course, I started to be very shy and quiet at school. But before school I was a happy talkative kid.
I can see this at old films from my family.

This isn't necessarily true. I've known several people in my life who were very social and popular, yet have been well versed in "intellectual" topics. You just don't see them talking about these topics very often. One concept that people with SA probably have problems grasping is "small talk", which an average person would be able to implement with great competence.

From the way you describe things, I'd say you most likely have Schizoid Personality Disorder alongside your Social Anxiety Disorder. I feel exactly the same way about other people, but the "holier-then-thou", "intellectual" attitude is due to the Schizoid rather then this being a definite truth. A "pure" Schizoid will simply have no interest in interacting with other people, while a Schizoid with co-morbid Social Anxiety will both be uninterested and fearful of interaction.

This is from personal experience, as I am diagnosed with both of these conditions.

EDIT: I will note, however, that many people in history regarded as "geniuses" also had a variety of sometimes serious mental illness. There are two living Nobel prize winners, both in mathematics, with significant mental impairment. One is a Schizophrenic who refuses to take medication or therapy, the other has severe Autism. It should also be noted that intelligence is nearly impossible to gauge with modern techniques; some could say that an intellectually gifted individual with Social Anxiety is also "socially handicapped".

 

[redski]

...Some kids just gobbled up the jelly beans immediately and looked perfectly happy, they didn't seem to know or care that they lost out on a lot more candy...

Maybe these kids had the right idea. Sort of like cease the moment because
there are no promises. Smart little buggers.

 

[goldenholds]

Maybe these kids had the right idea. Sort of like cease the moment because
there are no promises. Smart little buggers.

Not only that, but they have already eaten so many jelly beans over the years that I have no chance of catching up. That and I have no idea anymore how to even eat the d@mn things. And I am now terrified of jelly beans and run away with even a hint of anything small and colorful. Who's the smart one now? Not me.

 

[OPERA]

ignorant, dumb, stupid, shallow blablabla. did you ever think that being human is hard... for everyone?