Is it possible for an intelligent person to be happy?
yeah, but it takes either command of a battalion upwards or a effective position in government.
pretty much requires a real impact on the external world around you.
cue a thousand posts of 'hurrrrr drrrrup u jus need fink diffrunt m9 :^)' and or babby nihilists compensating for their impotence.
Only if they are a narcissist.
>>27825820
When you know what they say: anything is possible. I would say no though, it's only possible for them to minimize their misery.
dude you have to understand something
happiness in life is about how well you adjust to reality. you really don't have it that bad if I may assume so, but that doesn't mean your problems don't matter.
what in your life is causing you grief? examine why? is it a real or percieved problem? mental or emotional? where in your life are you unconscious? you're missing something, be it your own inconsistency, your own hypocrisy, or your own lack of action.
be conscious in your approach to life. don't sleepwalk and open up to reality. find your way to reconcile it, with yourself in a wholesome way. my 2 cents
it sounds cynical but i don't think so
none of the content people i know seem to think about the greater scale of things.
Who's this cunt?
Origninal
>>27825820
Yes, not that you'll ever have to worry about that, OP.
Sure, it's possible. This notion that smart people can't be happy is some weird high school-level narcissism. "I'm so world-weary and jaded, I'm better than all you happy, ignorant sheeple".
Sick of the "intelligent=depressed" meme.
Stop looking for circumstantial reasons to believe you're not an idiot-just accept that you're stupid, like most of humanity. You'll feel better.
>>27825891
Plenty of geniuses out there who have never wanted anything to do with politics and are happy as a pig in shit. Doesn't really make a big difference in the grand scheme of the universe, or even the Earth what any of us make of our lives.
>>27825820
Another tortured genius
>>27825820
Happiness is a choice
you choose to be happy
>>27825820
I use to ask myself questions such as
>If I'm so smart, why am I broke?
Wouldn't a smart person figure out a way to save money and invest it in making more.
>If I'm as desirable as this girl says I am
Why is she with another guy?
>Can only dumb people be happy, there are so many bad things about the world.
Wouldn't a smart person find and strive towards things that make them happier? Or try to fix the things they think is wrong.
>>27826087
This. I used to be that kid who just had to answer every question the teacher asked. I just had to post stupid, cringey, pseudo philosophical bullshit in my Facebook feed. I just had to talk like an annoying pedant all the time even to little kids because if I didn't, no one would know how smart I was; what an accomplished intellectual I was. Then I went to college and dropped that shit as soon as I realized how incredibly unremarkable I really am. It hurt at first, finding out I wasn't special. With time I found being an idiot liberating. Now I'm a part time drunk and finishing up a meme degree and no one expects me to be the smart guy anymore. /blogpost
>>27826109
>and are happy as a pig in shit.
A genius knows well enough that happiness is both fleeting and demanding. I doubt they are happy as much as content, and contentedness and complacency are united.
Its not about politics, its about the effect in the exterior world, the only one that matters.
>Doesn't really make a big difference in the grand scheme of the universe
There is no grand scheme beyond whatever design you can make.
>or even the Earth
Empirically false. This is just what people tell themselves to make their wasted lives appear palatable. Your life is the grandest scheme you will ever be a part of, unless you're a Hegelian or something, in which case you'd agree anyway.
World history is made up of changes with intent to do so, people tell themselves their actions have no bearing on events, while contradicting this nonsense thought every day in the pettiest ways.
What you are saying is pretty much what I have been thinking against for years. This specious, internalist nonsense that says 'just think differently', 'don't care and it won't matter', etc.
>>27825820
Of course. But you can be pretty much guaranteed a self aware person will always be depressed
>>27825820
Yes. Once you realize that everything's meaningless shit gets easier.
>>27826378
>happiness
>demanding
How even?
>>27825820
There is no such thing as true happiness. There is no way for it to be possible other than a smile on ones face and a feeling of success. To have happiness in its purest form, one must not be sentient.
Yes. I'm extremely happy most of the time which is then moderate happiness.
I don't take life seriously, have more fun than I do actual work. Life is inherently meaningless and therefore pointless to stress over. That being said, if there is circumstantial difficulties, then you have all my sympathies.
I have no friends and never had a girlfriend. I just play video games and absorb information: educational and funny nonsense.
>>27826433
If you think happiness doesn't take hard, hard work to maintain, then you either have never been happy, or are confusing satisfaction with happiness.
I find this is more and more common, people associating strong emotions with their weaker counterparts.
>>27825820
No.
As this one Eastern European philosophy guy that people here sometimes bring up, he's also on BigThink on Youtube, so elegantly put it:
>Wchy be chappy chwhen you can be interesting!?
So go explore Antarctica or something. Happiness will never come, it's too vaguely defined to be achievable.
>>27826542
happiness
noun
noun: happiness; plural noun: happinesses
the state of being happy.
happy
adjective
adjective: happy; comparative adjective: happier; superlative adjective: happiest; suffix: -happy
1.
feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.
contentment
noun
noun: contentment
a state of happiness and satisfaction.
>and satisfaction
Either way, its not like you can maintain happiness, you can't exactly feel an emotion nonstop for an extended period of time
Although you can generally make yourself feel whatever emotion you want to, whether or not its warranted, which doesn't take much work at all
The idea that intelligence and happiness are mutually exclusive is something made up by people who think they are smart but aren't smart enough to make good decisions in life and follow through on things so they never accomplish jack shit. Then they want to blame their problems on the rest of the world but it's really their own laziness and narcissism that's made them that way.
Want to be happy? Make yourself happy. Any intelligent person can make that shit happen.
Excuses are pussies.
>>27826695
I am trying to define a word beyond what you will see in the dictionary, happiness is a concept with more to it than 'a feeling of pleasure or contentment'.
If happiness is contentment and contentment is happiness and satisfaction, how do you determine what anything actually is? You don't, that's not what the dictionary is for.
> you can't exactly feel an emotion nonstop for an extended period of time
You can if you expend the energy necessary to do things which provoke it, hence why I said that HAPPINESS TAKES HARD WORK TO ACHIEVE YOU DOPPELNEGER.
>Although you can generally make yourself feel whatever emotion you want to, whether or not its warranted,
No, you can't. You're all loaded up on shitty webcomics and last psychiatrist articles if you actually believe this.
You can't just snap your fingers and stop being angry, as much as people would like to imagine their self-control was boundless and hard as iron.
>>27826922
>You can if you expend the energy necessary to do things which provoke it
Yes anon, I'm going to make myself happy while I'm sleeping
>No, you can't. You're all loaded up on shitty webcomics and last psychiatrist articles if you actually believe this.
Sorry, I didn't realize that emotions are entirely random and that nothing can have any bearing on them?
using "intelligent" sounds pretentious and will piss people off. Its the wrong word there. It'd not really intelligent people more just self-aware people. There are a lot of people who are intelligent, successful and seem overall as happy as it is possible to be. I think some people are just overly aware of things, and those are the people who can't be happy. You have to be able to kind of selectively put blinders on your own perspective in order to be a happy and sane person. If you are constantly seeing straight through into the real motivations of things you realize how cheap everything is and get jaded and troubled. That's not really the same as intelligence though.
>>27827034
>Yes anon, I'm going to make myself happy while I'm sleeping
Don't be facetious.
>Sorry, I didn't realize that emotions are entirely random and that nothing can have any bearing on them?
External stimuli provoke emotions, and we consciously react.
>>27826347
i knew a kid like you, he's doing particle physics now. maybe you just fell for the normie meme.
>>27827183
>External stimuli provoke emotions, and we consciously react.
And we can control what stimuli we're exposed to and, to an extend, how we interpret it
oh and also you ever remember something and feel an emotion? Because that's not external.
>>27827247
>oh and also you ever remember something and feel an emotion? Because that's not external.
is it amateur hour here? why do tripfags even try acting smart?
here's a little tippy tip for you; memories are formed by experience, and the vivacity of a memory is associated with the strength of the emotional stimulation which occurred at the time
>>27827337
a) Remembering it isn't external though
b) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_memory
>>27826731
You might actually be onto something here. Someone extremely analytic tends to find problems in everything and that can make them less than happy, whereas the person with a wider view, not so hung up on what "should" be, can enjoy something even because of its flaws.
>>27825820
Yes, it is possible. Just not easy to do.
>>27827247
>And we can control what stimuli we're exposed to and, to an extend, how we interpret it
Not unless we can unfailingly control the outside world, and no, we can't choose how we interpret it, that suggests we can abstract 'us' from our brain's processing of a piece of information as it occurs to us, rather than retrospectively.
We can reflectively change or deepen an understanding or interpretation of something, but the initial impression is very much sense perception.
> remember something
No, its the impression that something external left on you, which is a testament to the depths of human consciousness. Next?]
The amount of egotists I have to do this exact same bit to is just absurd, and they all say the same thing. 'Nuh-uh, I'm in control! I am the god of my own universe! >:^)'
Yes.
I do think an intelligent person is more likely than a dumb one to see the world for what it is and let's say get depressed/sad/whatever about it, but at the same time that intelligence can be used to overcome such state.
An intelligent person will be more likely to go through an existential crisis perhaps, but at the same time he'll have good tools to overcome it.
Of course you have to try and overcome it, not wallow in it.
>>27826731
because clearly we're unhappy because we want to be
>>27827414
Disagree.
Less intellegent people tend to make bad choices so end up really disgruntled and disappointed with life. Ever worked as a janitor?
>>27827410
>Not unless we can unfailingly control the outside world
>he doesn't understand the concept of not going to the same place repeatedly
also >>27827349
Intelligence actually correlates WITH happiness and AGAINST mental illness
Stop this "depressed intellectual" meme
>>27827450
>he doesn't understand the concept of not going to the same place repeatedly
and yet you keep coming to /r9k/ even though nobody likes you :^)
next ?
>>27827511
I didn't say you have to do it, I just said it'll change the stimuli you're exposed to :^)
>>27827450
Your only hope of controlling the world is if your in a one-player video game, and that is questionable.
Yes. Happiness is just a chemical reaction in the brain, so you indoctrinate yourself to force that experience. :^)
>>27827450
>he doesn't understand the concept of not going to the same place repeatedly
>he doesn't understand that unexpected things can happen to you even in your safe space
You're just being obtuse by this point.
>>27827349
a) The initial stimuli is, its a reaction to external events.
b.) So a twisted recollection of an old event, or a false memory encouraged by a therapist, who exists in, remember, the external world?
>>27827536
,
>I just said it'll change the stimuli you're exposed to :^)
Not certainly nor reliably. As I said, things can 'go wrong' even in your safe space. So far you've been unable to pose a single serious objection, so why haven't you accepted that you are wrong yet, only petty pride explains it.
>>27827441
I'm not sure about that. Society tends to drive the herd in a direction that, at least for the basic human needs, is fulfilling to a basic degree.
Get a HS degree, go to college/learn a trade, etc... there's roughly a formula for most people(i.e people of normal intelligence) that works for them.
The unhappiness of intelligent people I'm talking about I think it's a sort of spiritual unhappiness that can get to you even following the recipe for a normal society approved life.
Perhaps dumb people(below average) due to their bad decisions can get a more, let's say, practical unhappiness I guess.
I've never been a janitor but I do remember janitors in middle school and high school, one of them was a very retarded looking person and they seemed fairly happy with their state of things.
>>27827454
You're delusional if you think so-called "intellectuals" are exempt from mental illness
I was 11 when I first broke down and realized that none of this shit means anything. And the life is pointless and meaningless. I thought that meant I'd have to be unhappy the rest of my life. This is not the case at all, if you recognize that you're unhappy it's easy to fix your unhappiness.
The key is to be busy whenever you can be. When you're doing something you don't have to think about the deep questions that get you sad. Taking up a few hobbies can change your life forever.
>>27827554
Remind me where I said anything about controlling the world?
>>27827613
Regardless of unexpected things, if you go to the store instead of a restaurant, at least *some* of the stimuli will be different
>So a twisted recollection of an old event, or a false memory encouraged by a therapist, who exists in, remember, the external world?
You do realize thats not to only way false memories can occur, right?
Also look at dreams, yes they are influenced by the external world but you can have a nightmare and feel fear, for instance, without having experienced the scenario.
>>27825939
Best post in the thread desu senpai
>>27827654
I definitely don't see society the same as you, considering the wealth gap and what is going on in foreign countries.
We'd also have to look at how intelligence is being defined or discovered since it is often based on tests of logic, not social IQ, and I would put in that social IQ may be a better measure of practical intelligence (knowing the value of smoothing relations with please and thank you).
I think the spiritual unhappiness or ennui you are trying to define is because someone is too picky to appreciate the things around them.
>>27827806
Your post
>>27827450
was really dripping with sarcasm
>Not unless we can unfailingly control the outside world
>he doesn't understand the concept of not going to the same place repeatedly
or did you mean that in a good way?
>>27827806
>Regardless of unexpected things, if you go to the store instead of a restaurant, at least *some* of the stimuli will be different
So what, you are just splitting hairs so you don't have to admit I'm right. The point being made is that you can't control what happens, that's been sufficiently proven.
Lets move on.
>You do realize thats not to only way false memories can occur, right?
This smug intonation. I bet you were waiting for the opportunity, does it make you feel clever?
Those are the most common sources of false memory, even then all the content for a false memory has to come from the external world, which you can't argue with.
Nightmares and dreams are, like everything else, reactive, and are formed by external influences.
You can't dream about a world of tubes and spheres without a working familiarity with those forms.
Also:
>Remind me where I said anything about controlling the world?
>>27827247
>we can control what stimuli we are exposed to
>>27828019
Can we start a robot dreams thread? That would be fun.
>>27828019
>So what, you are just splitting hairs so you don't have to admit I'm right. The point being made is that you can't control what happens, that's been sufficiently proven.
>Lets move on.
Sure. whatever.
>Nightmares and dreams are, like everything else, reactive, and are formed by external influences.
I literally mentioned that in my post, my point is that the way those are arranged in the dream is what evokes the emotion. The events where you discovered those things dont have to
As for the exposure thing, you have some control of where you go, don't you?
It might not be absolute, but you still have at least some power in it (except in certain captivity situations).
>>27827945
I'm talking about the first world, and the wealth gap still leaves a highly developed lower-middle class, at least in Europe since I don't know how bad it can get in the US, that does indeed for the most follow that formula for a "normal" life.
Intelligence in terms of pattern recognition and general higher cognition about things is what I'm talking about.
You could say that indeed this kind of intelligence is more likely to make you poke things you shouldn't poke, which might lead to you to devalue things around you due to a system of values that you eventually come to refute.
Because "things around them" might be good or not depending on what value system you adopt, and if you perhaps refute materialism like many do, then indeed you might find yourself lost like a lot of godless/spiritless westerners in this day and age.
>>27828152
From Europe?
Do you think those Syrian refugees are happy?
>>27828099
>It might not be absolute, but you still have at least some power in it
I would have no reason to go one place or another, were I not reacting to previous experiences gained by interaction with the external world.
So in any case, the point is proven.
Reaction is very broad, it is by no means restrictive, all I am doing is situating human actions within a wider context of past experience and social existence.
>>27828191
I repeat, I'm talking about westerners and you keep shifting the discourse to third worlders. They are certainly materially unhappy, but this isn't what I'm talking about at all.
All intelligent people commit suicide. There are no exceptions. Give me the idea of normie intelligence, and they will be blown out. If they are so smart why do they not make money? Because they are not dumb enough to understand the social game in order to get a job and make money, they simply talk of their ideas and then commit suicide when they become smart enough, they can grasp simple normie things like astrophysics. I know I can.
>>27828238
>I would have no reason to go one place or another, were I not reacting to previous experiences gained by interaction with the external world.
That doesn't change the fact that you can do it.
>>27828247
But the Europeans and Americans aren't happy with them either. Especially those who feel their jobs might be threatened because they don't have a cushy CEO position that went to the top tier IQ test scores
>>27828313
>That doesn't change the fact that you can do it.
Which ha no bearing on this conversation since it is entirely reactive, as I said.
This is the exact reason I said you seemed loaded up on webcomics.
A webcomic artist would have a big long dialogue, like we're having now, and close it with 'but u still can choose', for his profound and decisive ending.
The choice is reactive. You are not saying anything important.
>>27828305
>All intelligent people commit suicide. There are no exceptions.
Umberto Eco?
>>27828398
Reactivity doesn't have anything to do with this.
We aren't talking about the decision-making process, we're talking about evoking emotions
Then you went off on some shit about how you have no control over the stimuli you're exposed to or something
If you were intelligent enough to actually question this you'd also be intelligent enough to realize it's such a stupid construct to make for yourself
>its another teenager thinks he's just too smart for everyone thread
>>27825820
Yeah they just have to stop getting absorbed in stupid shit and enjoy life for what it is:
Fleeting, unpredictable, and of beautifully arbitrary meaning
>>27826380
>But you can be pretty much guaranteed a self aware person will always be depressed
What does it mean to be self-aware? How do I know if I am or not?
>>27828451
>Reactivity doesn't have anything to do with this.
If you feel something as a result of external stimuli, its reactive.
>We aren't talking about the decision-making process, we're talking about evoking emotions
And I am saying that emotions are not evoked self-referentially, i.e they are reactive.
>Then you went off on some shit about how you have no control over the stimuli you're exposed to or something
I said that emotions are hard to consciously control, because they are not consciously evoked. We do not control the outside world fully, we cannot fully control the stimuli to which we are exposed.
Therefore, we cannot control the emotions we feel.
There are cases where you can deliberately arrange things to provoke emotion in yourself and others, such as playing a sad song, but is a process of action and reaction, its interactive, and reliant on a knowledge of the external world - from hearing this song before, you know it makes you sad.
I have been asking whether you accept these ideas, and are willing to move past them and onto other things.
>>27828538
I think he means self-conscious. You know if you are when you begin to reflect on why you think the way you do, why you act as you do, things like that.
I don't think people can judge themselves fairly one way or another. Nor, really, can anyone else, which is nice when you think about it. Antinomian.
Any mildly smart person knows they can force their bodies to be happy. We already have the tech.
Now, if you're talking about successful...
No. That's the key insight from Professor Maslow.
>>27828305
Umm??? Say wha??
>>27825820
Absolutely. In fact, it's impossible for actually intelligent people to not be happy.
>But I'm intelligent and unhappy.
You're not as smart as you think you are.
Yes, because actually intelligent people know that moping over shit that they have zero influence on is ultimately pointless.
Maybe if it's a mistake you made, a bit of reflection is good on how not to repeat it. Or maybe you need to spend some time figuring out how to adapt to some disrupting change in your life. That's fine, that's called problem solving. If there's no problem for you to solve, brooding is irrational and unnecessary.
But the whole "man, this world is so fucked up, only a sheep could find happiness here" is the kind of stupid bullshit that only narcissistic teenagers who think they're geniuses think up. Because you'd really have to be some vain idiot to think "I'm so important, it's my duty to worry about the things I can't change because I'm so insignificant".
>>27825820
there is a bell curve relationship between intelligence and happiness
when people reach a certain point of intelligence, they learn to separate joys in their personal life from disturbing observations about the wider world
similar to someone going through life
a child is too blissfully unaware of problems in the wider world and are happy in their own personal bubble
a teenager realizes that their bubble is a lie and goes through a fit of depression and actively revolts against the comforting "lies" their parents told them about
an adult is so constantly worried about fixing issues, obtaining goals and conquering life that they live in a state of stress and worry
then an elderly person once again gains the wisdom to once again enjoy life, spend an afternoon playing with their grandchildren or enjoying a nice day outside
>>27825896
This works. Be a narcissist, it's great.
>>27830459
I recommend this as well.
I like every thought I have and every joke I make.
>>27826525
prett7 much this
>>27825820
happiness is linked more to age and socioeconomic standing than intelligence. older, richer (financially and in terms of family and life/travel experience) white people tend to be happier than basically anyone else.
if you're smart and unhappy, you're most likely also young and poor.
lol at people thinking that if one is self aware then they can not be happy
happiness is often a choice, choosing what perspective you would like to use when looking at your situation
you can be unhappy doing chores in the yard or you can be happy being out in the sun and great weather
you can be stuck in traffic or you can be cruising along listening to the radio
you can get stuck helping a customer/client at work with unnecessary bullshit, or you can take joy that you were able to help someone solve a problem
the biggest problems that cause people to be unhappy is their own attitude or their own laziness that prevents them from reaching their goals that they believe they deserve to meet entirely through innate value (i deserve the be a physicist! but i spend all day jerking it to anime instead of studying. boo hoo why arent i a physicist yet?)
The question here is whether or not there is anything in the world or enoug of it to justify being happy. I don't see any but that's just me. It's all arbitrary and it's just a matter of perspective.
Pic related is in response to Hemingway's quote about happiness being the rarest thing in intelligent people
>>27831247
My question to you /r9k/ is how does one be happy? What do you live for? I don't like the idea of simple hedonism and Absurdism doesn't satisfy me either. Then again like an earlier anon said it's pointless to worry about, but I always find myself coming back to it. However, absurdism does address it I suppose
>>27825939
Those most intelligent are too conscious of their reality. Consciousness is not something you can turn on and off.
Some people are in the circle, and can only see the center. Unaware
Some people are on the edge of the circle, and can see the center, but are also aware of those closer to the center. Aware and knowing of the unaware
Some people exist outside of the circle and cannot see the center, they can only see what surrounds it. Conscious of both those who are aware and unaware.
>>27831325
Anon, I use the exact same circle analogy all the time.
Once you exit the circle and enter observer mode you can't go back, you can't unsee, you can't pretend
>inb4 someone inside the circle will make le fedora man joke
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief. -- Ecclesiates
>even the Bible says it's not possible
>>27830907
>happiness is often a choice
But...there is no free will.
>>27831600
That doesn't mean we don't make choices on a phenomenological level. Free will doesn't make sense, but denying we don't experience it or an illusion of it is retarded
OP here. What the fuck? I'm a little surprised that my thread was invaded by a bunch of enlightened redditors. I felt if I asked something as fucking stupid as "can people feel happiness" it would be laughed at, maybe warrant some shitposts and that would be the end of it. But instead I come back to a circlejerk. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, honestly. This board is full of assholes, after all.
>>27832122
>That doesn't mean we don't make choices on a phenomenological level. Free will doesn't make sense, but denying we don't experience it or an illusion of it is retarded
I agree.
Why is it so difficult to find people in real life who accept this? Whenever I question free will, I get blank eyes at the best, hostility at the worst.
Yes of course, a truly intelligent person also has the wisdom to achieve happiness.
There are many different types of intellectuals, but all need to find their own wisdom.
>>27832455
Maybe they think of it only as an experience rather than a causal concept?
>>27832392
This is our thread now.
>>27832492
Is happiness a prerequisite for intelligence though? What about Schopenhauer or Cioran?
We've been told all our lives we were smart as a way for others to not directly address our faults.
"Oh, he's like that because he's so smart."
"He's a little weird, but he's smart."
It was the "polite" way to call you stupid from the normie perspective without doing so. Because you perceived yourself as smart, you perceive anyone unlike yourself as dumb because of how different they are from you.The truth is we are actually the stupid ones. No one ever told us to our faces though.
>>27833033
This actually explains a lot, especially if you're a bit of a sperg
>>27833033
How can I find out if I'm actually smart then?
When I listen to smart people talk their thoughts don't sound that different from mine. Sometimes I read a book from a smart guy and find thoughts that I've had before, in my own head.
Also it's no secret that stupid people will think you're the stupid one. I've had a woman in the neighborhood laugh at me because she had never heard of salmonella and thought I was making weird shit up.
>>27825820
Dear robot, this is an original comment.
Love, some anon.
>>27833033
This has always been my fear; that I'm actually of below average intelligence.
Though I wouldn't be that surprised. I've always known that people have overestimated my intelligence just because I'm quiet.
To an extrovert anyone who is quiet and reasonably well kept must surely be a genius. Especially if they like to read.
>>27833147
That's the million dollar question.
I think "smart" is subjective to each individual. If you pool up these subjective definitions and find the average level of competence, anything above that line would be considered "smart" by society.
If you can beat the average, you are no longer in the 51% but in the 49%. The line feels pretty thin. However, the line from 1~49% is much smaller than the gap between 49% and anyone in the 80th percentile. Those people are likely either well-known or experts in their field with those above them being subject-matter experts who have devoted themselves to a single topic.
You also have to consider people who function like artisans. You might have one person who can design a bunch of really cool shit, but are unable to impose their will on the world to create it. On the other hand, you have artisans who make one item at a time, at their own pace. The first guy might design 12 different lamps for instance, but in that time the Artisan has made a lamp that no other individual can replicate and is utterly unique in the world because he actualized his will in reality.
There are people who would praise the designer for having the intellect to be capable of designing things, but then there are people who could argue the artisan is "smarter" because he can actualize his ideals even if he's can only make one lamp to the designer's 12.
Personally, I believe there exists people who are intelligent and people who are clever. People who are intelligent are very bookish, methodical, and rely on facts to solve problems. The clever person knows that he can google the problem and look for solutions others have already created.
The overabundance and ease of access of information is making it really difficult to answer.
>tfw you have a better grasp of so many topics compared to everyone else in real life
>tfw it's so boring talking to your dumb normie friends now that you've outgrown them
I never believed the smart shit until I started noticing how stupid everyone else is, like when I talk about politics with my friends and send them articles, and they reply back with "It's too long. Just summarize it for me".
>>27825820
Of course it is. You just are neither.
>>27833226
I was absolutely terrified the first time I saw this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYmn3Gwn3oI
I'm constantly praised for being "smart", but I don't really consider myself smart. If anything, I consider myself clever for being able to recognize patterns in events and how to connect the dots between concepts. I think that ability is something that people often incorrectly interpret as intelligence.
I think it's a result of spending a majority of my youth alone though. I didn't have anyone else to ask for help or information so I had to rely on my own analytical ability and the internet. It's hard to quantify how intelligent you are without being biased because you have no frame of reference to compare yourself to in a 1:1. It's like building something higher and higher without knowing how tall everyone else's tower is or if they are even building towers.
People seem to admire information retention and pattern recognition the most I feel.The funny thing is people assume I must constantly read or I am I very scholarly person in my freetime, but I honestly just lurk malaysian go-carting forums, smoke weed, and play street fighter in my free time. I feel like most people who hold me in some kind of reverence would be utterly disgusted with my lifestyle if they knew how I actually was in private.
It makes it incredibly difficult to fit in with average everyday people because while they get to "be themselves", I have to put on a caricature of myself that I believe is what is acceptable in society. If I actually was myself in public, I would speak to no one unless absolutely necessary and keep to myself. As soon as you reveal you feel this way to anyone though, they call you crazy for being an outlier on their scale of normality.
I've learned literally everything I know from the internet, video games, and being able to add one plus one instead of having familial connections or social relationships and interactions.
Can someone intelligent be happy? Ah, the strange questions humans ask each other. I find it beautiful that people like you can actually ask these questions.
It's so brave.
Intelligence is wasted in this world. Intelligence needs power. Without that power, intelligent beings become depressed.
Then, as I know all too well, power can't be innocent. It's an oval of insanity.
I once overheard a friend of mine say that the most intelligent people in this world are the most humble.
I felt myself smirk in the shadows as they expressed that opinion.
I sent them a text from my anonymous number, as I have two phones, and told them tat they were wrong.
I told them to think of me.
I know that I am intelligent. I've spend hours watching people just to understand them. Sitting at tables in random places and just watching the world move past me.
When I'm in a class I listen to my teachers speak. It's funny that their speech meant nothing to me: I was always reading their body language.
I can't form an attachment to people, as I can't comprehend their 'stupidity'. I know I'm not 'happy', but here's a question:
What is happiness to someone who doesn't need it?
>>27833582
b8 most likely, but I'm in the mood to discuss.
I haven't felt Happiness strongly since I was a child. To me, it's become a passing emotion like anger or worry. I can't fathom constantly being in a state of happiness anymore.
If anything I'd say I'm in a state of constant "okayness" for lack of a better term. Maybe contentedness? Anyway, there are some days where I feel down, but there are no days where I feel like I could break into a smile at any moment. I might have a fleeting moment of joy, but it's rarely anything more than chuckling at a post or image. Meanwhile, there are people who could be having a shitty day and they see a picture of a cute kitten and all of a sudden everything is fixed. I'm jealous of these people.
Happiness as a constant is something I cannot fathom.
>>27833033
Being "weird" is a fault?
>>27825820
Intelligent people come up with a plan to address what it is that isn't making them happy.
They know when it is intelligent to do unintelligent tasks like work stupid jobs or do seemingly endless mundane tasks that fit into the grand plan to lead to the dream.
They know and recognize when their emotions are getting the better of them and they have the coping skills to break away from the feelings like anxiety and procrastination that hold them back from their dreams.
Only dumb people like me wallow around in self pity unable to get their shit together to live a fulfilling and happy life.
I would like to think that I am more intelligent than the average person, but it is precisely dumb people like me who overestimate how smart they are.
>>27833755
Not the guy you replied to.
We're similar in all the ways you just described. However, that anon raises a good point; what is happiness to someone who doesn't need it?
I am objectively smart; aced virtually every test I've taken without trying, can correctly judge people's personality after hearing them say one sentence, and so on. If it wasn't for dyspraxia fucking up my hand co-ordination, I have artistic talents too; a complete package. Even my uni tutors (one has a PhD) agreed. But there are very few moments when I'm happy with anything, and like you, those are fleeting for me. Just brief instances of ignorance.
Do people like us need to be happy though? I think happiness itself is seen as far more important than it actually is. Any expert in their field can find problems that need solving, and are not satisfied until they have done so. If intelligent people are the experts in the field of life, surely it follows that we cannot be satisfied until we have solved the problems of the world?
Happiness, I believe, comes from a hard battle fought and won. For normies, this battle is everyday life; to be fair to them, modern living is a logistical nightmare, with timing and material stock to constantly keep track of. But for us, the experts, these aren't issues which require much thought; like Einstein doing a child's maths test. But these logistical issues are, for the most part, all there is to life.
Gonna have to continue this in a second post, I''m thinking it through as I'm typing.
>>27834720
Of course, things like getting a degree and specialising in a field are difficult no matter how smart you are, and many intelligent people who have a focused interest in these things lose themselves in their work and achieve satisfaction in the process. But for us, our field of interest is life itself; the philosophy and ethics and mechanisms of the world around us. We can't just pick a subject and study it, because we're interested in it all, and at this point, things like money and food and jobs and education cease to be opportunities to us; they become an endless row of obstacles which make any goals we may create for ourselves impossible to attain. We simply think on too big a scale for such an individual-centred society to support us, and supporting ourselves means little more than scraping by a living, since we have little interest in fancy and expensive things.
However, our expertise in the matter of life gives us a solution; we do not need to be happy. Life is effortless for us, its not a battle; and if happiness is a product of winning a battle, it follows that we do not require happiness to live like others do.
But we do want to be happy. Of course we do. So how do we put all of this together?
We solve the problems of the world. We fight for something greater than ourselves. Maybe you help someone in need, maybe you make a change on a larger scale; whatever it is, it won't be easy. For us, the fight for happiness is a long one, because the battles are much larger, and society is not designed to help you get to them. That's the real issue; fighting comes naturally to everyone, but the challenge of getting to the battle at all is one we must overcome.
So the solution is this; we live, effortlessly as we do, and we wait for an opportunity to arise. We wait to find a person in need, or a problem which we can solve. You can increase your odds of course; if you can work yourself up to a position which puts you closer to these problems...
>>27825891
>babby nihlists
Enjoy the rat race pleb. I'll enjoy my early retirement, relaxed work schedule, and pleasant lifestyle.
>>27834836
But whichever path you choose, patience will inevitably be required.
And that's what we do, that's who we are. I'd wager that most of 4chan, or at least the ones who aren't normies, are in this exact same position, consciously or not; surviving effortlessly, following interests and hobbies we know to be pointless, just waiting for a problem which actually challenges us to come about. We are simultaneously seeking purpose and happiness in this way.
tl;dr: learn patience, pursue interests, survive effortlessly, and wait for the opportunity to do something which actually matters.
Also fill 3 posts with your thought process to come to a 1-line conclusion. Not sure if this qualifies as shitposting or a valuable contribution any more. I'm inclined to say both.
I like to think I'm fairly intelligent (am a member of Mensa and high-distinction honours student without studying or really trying much), and I'm not usually a happy person, but I am when I'm high. Which is most of the time these days.
So yes, but only with kush (or your drug of choice).
>>27830459
>>27830522
I'd rather be unhappy than biaised to like myself.
>>27835000
I'm >>27834916
Completely agree; I've heavily used weed, alcohol, and caffeine (don't underestimate its effects if you take it right), and they make it far easier to accept the situation I'm currently in.
Just a protip from someone who spent 10 months high; take breaks, once a week maybe, to sober up and evaluate your reality. The side-effect of being docile is that problems are more difficult to identify, so just take enough time out to make sure nothing like that slips past you and screws you over. Once it does you can easily deal with it of course, but it's better to solve problems before they hatch and become nuisances.
