does intelligence negate happiness?

Just a thought i had after reading responses from the post below....

Does intelligence make true happiness harder or impossible to achieve?

I know myself all my life i have lacked satisfaction and can truely never recall being , for more than a moment, happy....

I ask my fellow ats members, most of whom are quite intelligent , for there thoughts.....

As an aside, i have often noted to myself that the inherently "stupid" for lack of a more politically correct term seem to be very happy people for the most part....

Do you agree? Disagree? please share your thoughts......

Link to post that inspired this question....
www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 6-11-2007 by canuck7500]

I can answer your question with a common reciprocal answer:

Ignorance is Bliss

What was your question again? I was too busy giggling and playing with my toes. Einstein on his bike with that sh## eating grin says it all. I don't believe there is any correlation there.

Not at all. I love the fact that I can comprehend pretty much anything, and have no problem solving any sort of puzzle regardless of the context, and still see the bigger and better things in life. Although,there's something to be said about understanding mankind and it's inherent nature. Especially being a member of the boards you see the worst of the worst first hand, almost in real time every now and again. War, diseases, murders, closed door politics.. It's a lot to take in sometimes, and this takes a toll on all of us to some extent. I leave the boards everyday with at least one topic that seems to wedge itself in my brain, even if I've reached an opinion or conclusion with thought. Overall, I think it varies. though, they say, "Ignorance is bliss." I guess I've missed out because, I knew the dealio since I was little. I'd kill for bliss. Haha.

[edit on 6-11-2007 by DeadFlagBlues]

i talk to people all day.. tech support.. stupid people are less happy, in my opinion.

peopel that cant understand the world around them.. people with no common sense.. with no relation to others..

people that are arrogant and think themselves superior.. or people that just cant get it (unintelligent).. face more challanges in this day and age than people that are more open and what not..

to boil it down.. id say the people with no ability to accept a different reality than some pre-concieved notion, are less happy.. more stressed.

i work for a big consumer electronics company..(Samsung) and we have polocies.. they are set in stone 99% of the time.. they will not change because you think you deserve more.. the people that can understand and accept that are happier than the ones that cant..

some peopel can deal with life's crap and some cant.. if you cant concieve of 10+45 = 55.. but if you run into a wall and it hurts.. so you try your best not to run into a wall anymore.. you must have some intelligence..

once you talk to people that just run into walls all the time.. then demand the wall should not be there... and continue to smash their head on it.. you start to wonder..


-G





[edit on 6-11-2007 by GlahES]

Originally posted by jpm1602
What was your question again? I was too busy giggling and playing with my toes. Einstein on his bike with that sh## eating grin says it all. I don't believe there is any correlation there.

Hahahahaha.

Hilarious, man, and absolutely correct.


Intelligence does weigh you down with thought though.. I couldn't imagine having the intelligence of Einstein and the likes.

yes it does. why you ask. well, because most intelligent people are on the internet posting, rather than being on vacation with family persay. happiness comes from the things you like and should be doing. so yes, smart people often take to a computer or a book and that takes away from the wonders of nature and fun.

Now, i'm not saying it's wrong to be smart. i'm considered genius. but people like Jonh denver or other naturists have found happiness being close to nature and mother earth. and maybe that's what we smart people lack. the ability to let it all go and have fun.

[edit on 6-11-2007 by jedimiller]

reply to post by jedimiller


Unless knowledge and interaction with our intelligent peers is part of our happiness. Since it's been getting cold, and only work 2 or 3 nights a week, I'm on here almost constantly. I can't get enough information. I'm seriously obsessed with input of every source. I'm really, really compulsive about learning, and this is the coolest site I've found on the internet, by far. Definitely makes me happy...

If you're so clever, why ain't you happy?

Here, for what it's worth are my opinions, and the reasons why I hold them.

Children of average and slightly above-average intelligence do pretty much the same, I think. Slower children may be less happy, because they are made aware of their slowness and teased about it, and are often frustrated by their ability to grasp what seems so easy to their schoolmates. Children of above-average intelligence are probably the unhappiest of all. They can see the ramifications and consequences of things far better than their peers, but lack the objectivity and distance that adulthood brings, so events and people around them affect them more intensely, sometimes to the point of trauma. I suspect (though I've no figures for this) that cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder are probably more common among children of unusual intelligence.

Adults are a different story.

Adults of lower-than-average intelligence, unless born to privilege, will be educationally deprived, lack knowledge about the world, lack insight, skills and sophistication. They will not be able to exert much control over their lives. These things are liable to make them unhappy, and more likely to blame others for their unhappiness.

Adults of average intelligence will be, perhaps, averagely unhappy. At any rate, there will be considerable overlap between these two 'average' populations for statistical reasons. I say 'unhappy' because a human being of average intelligence is really an absurdly stupid animal, a vibrating, yattering bundle of ego and resentment and misunderstanding, oozing hatred and fear and prejudice.

Intelligent people come in two varieties. This is because, as clever people grow up, they tend to do so in one of two ways.

One kind place more and more reliance on their intelligence to get them through life. This is more likely to happen if they are exceptionally intelligent or talented in one particular area, such as energy physics, music or chess. They become specialists and will often be highly respected in their field. Consequently, they have every incentive to invest more and more of themselves in that talent, letting other life skills atrophy. The final result of this is a Tesla, a Beethoven or a Bobby Fischer: an unhappy misfit who is entirely reliant on a single ability to get them through life, and cannot function without someone else to tie their shoelaces and wipe their bottoms for them. These are, for the most part, very unhappy people -- and serve them right too, says I.

The other kind of very intelligent person acquires street smarts, or empathy, or psychological insight, or PR skills, or whatever you want to call it. Such folk are versatile: they leaven their specialization with a sprinkling of other interests and abilities, they cast the net of their perception as wide as possible. They know how important it is to learn to live, to get the best out of evry experience. They are alive to human dynamics and human issues: they know how to deal with other people and can often be subtly manipulative. Some, especially the female ones, are clever enough to know how important it is not to seem too clever.

These are the folk who get ahead in the world, who get things done, who make the decisions. They are the happiest people on the planet, because they are the most engaged and the most fulfilled, and most of all because what they say goes. All other things being equal, they live the longest and have the most and the most attractive sexual partners. And so they should; such people are the flower of the human race.

Originally posted by Astyanax
If you're so clever, why ain't you happy?

I suspect (though I've no figures for this) that cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder are probably more common among children of unusual intelligence.

i agree with this statement because i have some cumpulsive tendencies though i have never been diagnosed with OCD (ive only been to the doctor 2 times). i wont feel right if both of my sides aren't equal or if things arn't orginized in a certain pattern.