Why do intelligent people, or people with high IQs, often try to downplay the importance of their intelligence? - Quora
Dear fellow nerd(s) :) For me, the problem is a sense of not fitting in. It started young with my parents verbal abuse, and those feelings have persisted through my life. At 68, it's not as bad as it used to be, thanks to a lot of therapy.
What puzzles me are adults who still engage in adolescent behavior of being cliquish, and putting others down who don't fit in.
For example in the mid-1990s, I joined an arts forum here in Baltimore. I soon found myself embroiled in political debate, because I didn't hesitate to point out the flaws in derogatory comments about the U.S., that were frequently posted.
I didn't say things like they were wrong, I'd just say something like, "You say this, but here's a historical reference that say this instead." I'd hoped to initiate an unbiased discussion, but instead, there were volumes of denigration. I was a moron, a racist, a women-hater, and so on. Of course I'm no such thing. I'm a professional jazz pianist and interact with black people all the time. My business partner of 35 years is a strong, intelligent woman. My favorite presidential candidate is Condoleeza Rice, if she'd only run. The point is, objective evidence was just ignored.
In those 10 years, I came out on top of every argument. It's rather easy. Just let the antagonist do the talking, and sooner or later, they make a contradictory statement. Then hit them with both barrels. That usually silences them.
What was interested though was when I was "outed" as being a member of Mensa. As the original Quora question suggests, I never talk about it, I just let my actions speak for themselves. I never am sanctimonious, and get along with people as they are. The world is more interesting that way.
Frankly, I think the 1/2 dozen or so people I had to deal deal with were jealous, and sore losers. It's not that they weren't intelligent, the problem was that their arguments were based on assumption, and as such, are easy to defeat.
Orwell touched on this is his essay, "Politics vs. Literature," in describing the totalitarian society of the Houyhnhnms, in his analysis of "Gulliver's Travels,"We already know all there is to know, so why should dissident opinion be tolerated?"
Nowadays, we see this attitude in the myriad of agenda driven sites on Facebook, and from what I see, intelligence has nothing to do with it. This is something I also noticed in my 30-year association with Mensa.
So for me at least, the problem concerns both intelligence and integrity, another thing Orwell wrote about.
Thank you for your time and interest.
Why do intelligent people, or people with high IQs, often try to downplay the importance of their intelligence?
What puzzles me are adults who still engage in adolescent behavior of being cliquish, and putting others down who don't fit in.
For example in the mid-1990s, I joined an arts forum here in Baltimore. I soon found myself embroiled in political debate, because I didn't hesitate to point out the flaws in derogatory comments about the U.S., that were frequently posted.
I didn't say things like they were wrong, I'd just say something like, "You say this, but here's a historical reference that say this instead." I'd hoped to initiate an unbiased discussion, but instead, there were volumes of denigration. I was a moron, a racist, a women-hater, and so on. Of course I'm no such thing. I'm a professional jazz pianist and interact with black people all the time. My business partner of 35 years is a strong, intelligent woman. My favorite presidential candidate is Condoleeza Rice, if she'd only run. The point is, objective evidence was just ignored.
In those 10 years, I came out on top of every argument. It's rather easy. Just let the antagonist do the talking, and sooner or later, they make a contradictory statement. Then hit them with both barrels. That usually silences them.
What was interested though was when I was "outed" as being a member of Mensa. As the original Quora question suggests, I never talk about it, I just let my actions speak for themselves. I never am sanctimonious, and get along with people as they are. The world is more interesting that way.
Frankly, I think the 1/2 dozen or so people I had to deal deal with were jealous, and sore losers. It's not that they weren't intelligent, the problem was that their arguments were based on assumption, and as such, are easy to defeat.
Orwell touched on this is his essay, "Politics vs. Literature," in describing the totalitarian society of the Houyhnhnms, in his analysis of "Gulliver's Travels,"We already know all there is to know, so why should dissident opinion be tolerated?"
Nowadays, we see this attitude in the myriad of agenda driven sites on Facebook, and from what I see, intelligence has nothing to do with it. This is something I also noticed in my 30-year association with Mensa.
So for me at least, the problem concerns both intelligence and integrity, another thing Orwell wrote about.
Thank you for your time and interest.
Why do intelligent people, or people with high IQs, often try to downplay the importance of their intelligence?