I feel like I'm surrounded by morons.

LegacyUser

Before I begin, I know that this is going to sound extremely arrogant, and I apologise in advance.

I spend a lot of my life, namely 10 hours a day doing research and learning about thousands of topics. When I get interested in something I will spend literally months studying it and learning as much as I can about it. I have an IQ of 143 and I find I can figure things out very quickly, I can almost instantly see the overall picture of something. I can look at both sides of an argument and see merits in both. I also find it difficult to forget things. I can tell people the exact date I met them even if it was 10 years ago, I remember the lyrics to songs I heard year ago. Its almost like my brain has an inability to filter out irrelevant information.

My problem is that I'm starting to find it increasing difficult to talk to people. Every time I have a conversation with someone I find that I can almost predict what they are going to say, like I'm re-watching a movie I saw a few years ago. I can instantly pick up on when someone is deceiving me, even if its something small like a white lie. Because of this I feel like I'm living in a surreality.

My question is how can I get in touch with the human race again if I don't get any sort of satisfaction with conversations I have with people.

PirateShampoo

Honestly...

I think you should take the stick out of ur ass and lossen up. You'r not better than the next guy and just because you have a IQ of 143 doesnt mean you know it all.

You'r gonna end up alienating your self from everybody because who wants to hang around with somebody who thinks they are supirour to them.

How to solve it? I havent a clue, get wasted or bang ur head off a wall or something to lose a few IQ points.

or Join a chess club/mensa

TheInquisitor

Have a drink, followed by ten more. Kill some brain cells

genericguy

I think you'd drown if I put a mirror at the bottom of a swimming pool.

SueWho

First of all, lucky lucky you! But I can see the problems your intelligence and intellectual drive are causing. Maybe you need to consider joining some sort of academic social circles where conversations would be more stimulating for you (and probably waaaaaaaaaay too much for any average sod to cope with or enjoy). Sometimes you just have to admit when you don't fit in with people, even if they are your family or old friends from early days in school etc. I'm not saying to ditch anyone outright, but try to find some like minded people to hang out with sometimes so that you don't rely on family and current friends for all of the intellectual stimulation you need.

Also, it's a shame in this country that there's such an overwhelming tendency to tear down rather than celebrate academics and intelligent people in day to day life- I can only guess that when you like to talk about what you know, most people are not interested because they feel threatened and jealous. We are a nation of begrudgers when it comes to people who are successful and clever. (sorry, side rant!)

SueWho

The responses of other posters here just sum up the attitude of this country.

Why should he/ she drink him/herself stupid to come down to the average level of everyone else??? That's one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard.

Ian O'Doherty spoke on The Last Word a few months ago about how we celebrate the success of people like Jade Goody who have no talent and call it "endearing" when she thinks there's chicken in chick peas and yet we mock people who have actually achieved something difficult (he was referring to the reaction to a woman who pretty much single-handedly won University Challenge for her team in the UK).

NewUsername

NewUsername wrote: »

Before I begin, I know that this is going to sound extremely arrogant, and I apologise in advance.

I spend a lot of my life, namely 10 hours a day doing research and learning about thousands of topics. When I get interested in something I will spend literally months studying it and learning as much as I can about it. I have an IQ of 143 and I find I can figure things out very quickly, I can almost instantly see the overall picture of something. I can look at both sides of an argument and see merits in both. I also find it difficult to forget things. I can tell people the exact date I met them even if it was 10 years ago, I remember the lyrics to songs I heard year ago. Its almost like my brain has an inability to filter out irrelevant information.

My problem is that I'm starting to find it increasing difficult to talk to people. Every time I have a conversation with someone I find that I can almost predict what they are going to say, like I'm re-watching a movie I saw a few years ago. I can instantly pick up on when someone is deceiving me, even if its something small like a white lie. Because of this I feel like I'm living in a surreality.

My question is how can I get in touch with the human race again if I don't get any sort of satisfaction with conversations I have with people.

Perhaps you should speak to a counsellor on having social issues and an unusual memory.

Your IQ has nothing to do with it btw >.>

Smyth

First things first. You'll never get close to the 'layman' with that attitude. This is your intention, yes? Can I ask why? It seems pointless.

If you find yourself surrounded by people who aren't stimulating you mentally, why are you there in the first place and why do you want to stay there?

Where abouts do you usually go out?

Don't become disillusioned too quickly. I've found some of the smartest people I know in some of the most unlikely places...disillusioned themselves. You're not alone in the way you think. There are smart people out there...and there's always someone smarter.

You claim to have this amazing social intuition. Use it. Manipulate it. You obviously know what they want to hear, pander to it if you want.

Also, as other posters above have mentioned, join academically focused clubs. You'll find like minds there.

japasca

Any chance you want to apply for a job running one of our many failed banks? They need you!

Nevyn

genericguy banned for a week.

Memnoch

I'm guessing you are in your early twenties and male.

What you are experiencing is not superior intelligence, simply immature arrogance. You aren't smarter or better than most people out there. Some day you might realise this, and then you will think, 'God, how silly was I.' It's good to have confidence in yourself, you need to learn to maintain this confidence without tearing others down.

If you were truly able to perceive 'both,' sides of the argument, you'd realise how flawed the case you were making was.

Eventually you're going to realise, the more you know, the more you realise how little you know. Yes, there is the odd genuine genius out there, I don't think you are one.

As to your 'problem.' Try to focus on what you have in common with others. Movies, books, even academia, as has been suggested above, rather than what differentiates you. Trust me, there is always someone better, smarter, faster out there.

Faith

SueWho wrote: »

First of all, lucky lucky you! But I can see the problems your intelligence and intellectual drive are causing. Maybe you need to consider joining some sort of academic social circles where conversations would be more stimulating for you (and probably waaaaaaaaaay too much for any average sod to cope with or enjoy). Sometimes you just have to admit when you don't fit in with people, even if they are your family or old friends from early days in school etc. I'm not saying to ditch anyone outright, but try to find some like minded people to hang out with sometimes so that you don't rely on family and current friends for all of the intellectual stimulation you need.

Also, it's a shame in this country that there's such an overwhelming tendency to tear down rather than celebrate academics and intelligent people in day to day life- I can only guess that when you like to talk about what you know, most people are not interested because they feel threatened and jealous. We are a nation of begrudgers when it comes to people who are successful and clever. (sorry, side rant!)

I agree with all of this. Being intelligent is no longer regarded as the great thing it used to be. People often want to tear you down now, to bring you down to their perceived level. They don't like to feel inadequate when faced with someone smarter than them. The first 3 replies on this thread demonstrate that point - rather than tell you to embrace your intelligence, they belittle you and offer suggestions for dumbing yourself down. It will be a constant battle for you, especially as television is doing its absolute best to drag down the general IQ of the nation. My intelligent, well-educated flatmate loves watching absolute crap like bottom-of-the-barrel reality TV shows, such as Jordan & Peter Andre's "reality" show.

Like SueWho said, seek out academic circles to socialise in. Debate societies might be a good place to start. Consider a career in academia if you're not in one already. You'll perhaps just have to accept that normal social interactions will never satisfy you, and just aim to gather a select group of friends with whom conversations stimulate and challenge you.

/edit: If the OP actually isn't as intelligent as others are suggesting above, then they'll quickly realise it after interacting with genuinely intelligent people, and can then focus on resolving their ego issues instead.

Nevyn

You need to learn to put those filters in place or get your head around that all information is useful if you have the right context for it.

Honestly what may seem to you now as the trivialities and banalities of other people's lives is actually a lot of information about them and other people.

You don't understand how people work or socail dynamics, I suggest doing some research, people are fascinating, sometimes glorious, other times horrifying but mostly fascinating.

As for reading deception, we all do it, it's part of the lube of social interaction we can not go around being 100% brutally honest with each other and if and when you do and can tell, you have to learn to note it and let it slide.

There is a new tv series out atm called 'lie to me' you should take the time to watch it.

Yes it can be hard to find intresting people to talk about the things you find intresting and to a level which you find fun
but you know what we have the internet now and it's a lot easier then being holed up in your room with books by yourself.

Babooshka

I suggest a book. Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ may help you a bit. There will always be dumber, more clever, funnier, wittier, extemely more stupid creatures around than you as an individual. When you find you can't connect it's because your emotions, brain function, physical and spiritual side are out of kilter, and you need some balance.

Oh, and maybe some Laurel and Hardy for good measure to remind you it's not all about what you can read or learn, that's not the sum total of a life experienced, eh?! The book's not schmaltzy, it's quite intellectual so it might keep your interest for a bit too.

little bess

Hi, I think it's great that you have such intelligence, unfortunately you seem to be lacking so called "emotional" intelligence.

Sometimes this comes with very high IQ. My father in-law was an Oxford scholar,he's an extremely intelligent man but has issues dealing with people on a social basis. Hey, but that's just the way he is and we love him anyway.

If you're finding your life is being impaired maybe you should talk to a counsellor about these issues. Failing that I would say join some sort of debating club, mensa ? And get off the bloomin computer or get your head out of the books for awhile and get out there meeting people, they may not be as intelligent as you but that shouldn't matter.
People are nice but intellectual snobbery isn't.

jon1981

are you in a sports club? if not...join one, that will give you a reality check!

Smyth

jon1981 wrote: »

are you in a sports club? if not...join one, that will give you a reality check!

A reality check? Did you read the OP's post? I don't think joining the GAA, playing a game on Sunday and having a packet of Tayto will help anything. His head needs stimulation, not his muscles.

jon1981

Smyth wrote: »

A reality check? Did you read the OP's post? I don't think joining the GAA, playing a game on Sunday and having a packet of Tayto will help anything. His head needs stimulation, not his muscles.

yeah but there is more to life than just using your head, you need intelligence to play sport too (reading the game, working out tactics)...but he might see that he can apply himself there and see that not all people are morons!

Monkey61

Right, as Bluewolf pointed out, this isn't really about your intelligence it is more to do with social skills. While 143 is a good IQ, it is not so ridiculously high that you should have problems dealing with people and the minutiae of life - unless you are hanging around with some incredibly stupid people. The ten hours a day research thing, while linked to your memory and intelligence is more to do with your personality than anything else. The majority of people with IQs similar to or higher than yours (myself and some of my friends included) would carry on completely normally on a social level and would not find it to be such a problem as you do.

I am clever and thus I hang around with a lot of other people who are incredibly intelligent as well. Not entirely by well thought out choice, these are just the people I have automatically gravitated towards and clicked with over the years. If I was hanging around with lots of people of a very much lower intelligence I would probably be banging my head off a brick wall with boredom.

I would also suggest counselling of some kind - the predicting what people are going to say and always knowing when people are lying are again nothing to do with having a high IQ and really seem like a huge barrier to any kind of satisfactory social interaction. If your poor social skills are making you that miserable then you owe it to yourself to get it sorted out!

You know what? A lot of intelligent people sometimes talk about banal things or watch silly reality shows. I know when I meet someone for the first time, I don't start talking about French philosophy or Colombian politics although I've studied both in college and in my spare time. I don't feel the need to show off what I know. Some of the cleverest people I know watch those reality shows on E! and read Closer magazine. It doesn't make them shallow or stupid. Some people like a break from work or academia and those things provide some light entertainment. There's nothing worse than having a conversation with someone who is only capable of talking about 'serious' topics, the type who looks down on you if you have a TV and admit to watching it. What use is being intelligent if you can't relate to anyone? It's not 'dumbing yourself down', it's realising there is a time and a place for different topics. You need to have a balance.

little bess

I would have to agree that it's a social skills issue, and if you're feeling detached from reality I would maybe talk to your GP about that, he or she would be able to point you in the right direction for help.

Kipperhell

The truth of the situation is you probably won't relate to people who have a blinkered view of life. You might be lacking "social intelligence" but you could also have a higher social knowledge and compassion than others. Being able to see both points of an argument can be good but if you never chose a side people can find that hard to take or you could be seen as continually arguing

Other interests such as music don't really have comparative qualities of political and social issues so may be a good out let to be able to relate to people on. I generally don't think people are wrong to say you should widen your interests. It sounds like a book club might be a good choice for you.

It is pretty hard to take when people around you read a headline and then call the person a Muppet in the story without considering the editorial slant and factual inaccuracies that you know to be there. Even not having an interest in sport radically alters social options and if you have other less popular interests it can be even worse as all you get left with is current events. I think it would be nice to be able to have a meet with more people I could actually discuss issues with, generally I have different friends to talk about different stuff with and go along to the occasional event I have no interest in. It actual broadens the mind which should be interest to you.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

KittyeeTrix

Smyth wrote: »

A reality check? Did you read the OP's post? I don't think joining the GAA, playing a game on Sunday and having a packet of Tayto will help anything. His head needs stimulation, not his muscles.

I think the problem is that his head has been a little overstimulated and he is not able to connect with the majority of less stimulated heads around him.
OP, you probably are surrounded by "morons" for want of a better word but, unfortunately, for you these "morons" make up the majority of the world........
You'll have to either try to come down to their level or spend the rest of your life locked into conversation with the minority of "superiors"

Nothing like a packet of tayto on a saturday or sunday watching the premiership, really blows all the academic sh*t away after a week in college. Try it!!!!!!!!!!:)

RossFixxxed

Right:

Putting in your IQ (and where did you get that figure, no good psychologist will give you a figure like that off the bat, anything over 140 is into very hard to measure teritory) makes you look like a complete egomaniac. It absolutely reeks of self righteousness. Frankly I wonder if you got this result off an Internet test somewhere.

Secondly, it's not THAT high that everyone else 'is a moron'.

Thirdly, your inability to interact with other people is not too smart is it? You seriously underestimate the smarts of other people. It's well recorded that often the high IQ types do worse in success terms than the smart husslers, the ones with real people skills.

You might want to expand your horizons and learn to interract with people, they have a lot to offer.

r


Edit: spotting liars. Firstly a lot of people are blatant, we all spot that. In general though it's 50/50 at best. Some of the top psychologists/psychiatrists/kinestologists (sp?) etc will agree it's not nearly as easy as you would think. Their results from huge studies were slightly above flipping a coin.

You are not the genius you think you are, neither are people the idiots you think they are. You just have a limited scope of interests and if people aren't in your little sphere you don't have an interest. The failing is yours, and yours alone.

ScumLord

Not all people are going to have the same interests as you. That doesn't make them stupid. There's huge variety in people, you just don't seem to put any value in people that don't have the same interests as you. Maybe it's just a matter of finding people with the same interests as yourself or maybe you just need to broaden your interests.

I'm not accusing you of doing anything wrong your just being naive in your assumption that you know other people inside and out. Most people will be working off a script so to speak when they meet new people.

Hagar

NewUsername wrote: »

Before I begin, I know that this is going to sound extremely arrogant, and I apologise in advance.

I spend a lot of my life, namely 10 hours a day doing research and learning about thousands of topics. When I get interested in something I will spend literally months studying it and learning as much as I can about it. I have an IQ of 143 and I find I can figure things out very quickly, I can almost instantly see the overall picture of something. I can look at both sides of an argument and see merits in both. I also find it difficult to forget things. I can tell people the exact date I met them even if it was 10 years ago, I remember the lyrics to songs I heard year ago. Its almost like my brain has an inability to filter out irrelevant information.

My problem is that I'm starting to find it increasing difficult to talk to people. Every time I have a conversation with someone I find that I can almost predict what they are going to say, like I'm re-watching a movie I saw a few years ago. I can instantly pick up on when someone is deceiving me, even if its something small like a white lie. Because of this I feel like I'm living in a surreality.

My question is how can I get in touch with the human race again if I don't get any sort of satisfaction with conversations I have with people.

I know exactly where you are coming from. We are very alike in many ways with the exception of the IQ bit. If I had to work 10 hours a day with people who all had an IQ of 143 then I would feel like I was working with morons. Having a big IQ is handy but not something to measure your worth by.

Learn to accept that everybody is different, everybody has a value, everybody has a unique viewpoint and opinion. Accept people for what they are. Like them for who they are. Just because you can see through attempts to deceive you doesn't make you godlike. Adults do it with kids all the time. Do we shun the kids? No. We just let them have their little moment and get on with it.

Your inability to talk to people because you think you know what they will say is a bit off. People surprise me everyday. People you least expect sometimes have the most interesting thing to share. Just listen to people, the more you listen the more they will talk.

Unless you find a way to accept the part of other people's lives that they share with you and in turn share some of your life with them, you will become increasing lonely and isolated. Catch yourself on before it's too late.

Learn to listen, learn to accept, and if you really can remember all those lyrics, learn to sing.

LegacyUser

I was measured with an IQ in the 140s when I was a child. While I could grasp concepts faster than those around me, I could see that I was lacking in many social skills such as empathy. I was out of touch with my own feelings as much as those of other people and found I was depressing myself and upsetting others unintentionally. A recognition of your shortcomings could cure your arrogance.

I used my intelligence to lead a very lazy life. I could present very well at interview with a slew of qualifications and then hang out in some big company doing nothing for years on a high salary. Obviously this is ultimately self-defeating. Eventually I joined a company where everyone was smart and I had to really compete every day.

I could see that I was doing a lot of very stupid things for someone who was supposed to be smart. I found drugs and alcohol helped me connect with other people. After about 10 years of caning it, my memory is now shot to bits - so I'm considerably thicker than I was. I'm also happier.

IQ scores improve with practice; you can achieve very high scores with relatively low intelligence. If you did this, then you have nothing to worry about, you are as thick as the next guy - you just have a good memory.

As regards predictable conversations, there is plenty of research in AI to show that most interactions between people are predictable and scripted and depend on factors such as the goals of the participants. What is your aim in a conversation?

RossFixxxed

Hagar wrote: »

I know exactly where you are coming from. We are very alike in many ways with the exception of the IQ bit. If I had to work 10 hours a day with people who all had an IQ of 143 then I would feel like I was working with morons. Having a big IQ is handy but not something to measure your worth by.

Learn to accept that everybody is different, everybody has a value, everybody has a unique viewpoint and opinion. Accept people for what they are. Like them for who they are. Just because you can see through attempts to deceive you doesn't make you godlike. Adults do it with kids all the time. Do we shun the kids? No. We just let them have their little moment and get on with it.

Your inability to talk to people because you think you know what they will say is a bit off. People surprise me everyday. People you least expect sometimes have the most interesting thing to share. Just listen to people, the more you listen the more they will talk.

Unless you find a way to accept the part of other people's lives that they share with you and in turn share some of your life with them, you will become increasing lonely and isolated. Catch yourself on before it's too late.

Learn to listen, learn to accept, and if you really can remember all those lyrics, learn to sing.

Very, very well said. It's the surprises, the interesting, random things about people that make them such a pleasure to meet. I love chatting to new people or learning about some passion they have.

And again bragging about your IQ, especially when there are people out there with 'a beehive in their head, and every bee has a brain like yours' is just so so sad. Do you have no other defining characteristics at all?

R

Monkey61

RossFixxxed wrote: »

And again bragging about your IQ, especially when there are people out there with 'a beehive in their head, and every bee has a brain like yours' is just so so sad. Do you have no other defining characteristics at all?

R

That's unfair. Why does mentioning one's IQ always have to considered bragging? Are people that insecure about their own intelligence that they have to tear down others who might have a higher IQ than they do. This isn't a specific dig at you Ross, as other people are doing it as well, but your comment highlighted it.

If somebody was having trouble because of their height and mentioned that they were 6'5" would everybody immediately jump on the "Oh my god, look at your man bragging about his height. Thinks he's better than us does he?" - not likely. Mentioning an IQ in this context, like mentioning your height, is simply stating an illustrative fact.

John Mason

i know how you feel, but i KNOW i am surround by morons

unfortunately, it is a fact of life that 99% of the people you will deal with an a daily basis will be idiots.

maybe as suggested by someone else you involve yourself with people with the same IQ, as your self or is heading off somewhere remote to do research an option ?

you just need to learn to filter out the noise the other people make.

you have my sympathies though - sorry i cant give you better advice

i