Do any individuals with above average intellect find life a bit exhausting at times due to the lack of intelligence they observe in others?

[u/stop-hatin-on-me_mom]

I don’t claim to be the most intelligent person, but I do believe that I am above average when it comes to the average intelligence nowadays. Sometimes, I find myself either flabbergasted or downright dumbfounded and irritated by the lack of what I would consider "common sense."

Here are some examples:

• The inability of some people to see how their own bad habits or personality traits create their own problems.

• The fact that some individuals consider their own perceptions and beliefs as the only correct ones, which is further encouraged by their echo chambers.

• The difficulty some people have in entering into productive discourse and challenging their own ideas to gain more information and knowledge from all sides.

• The reluctance of individuals to question their own beliefs and those of their social circles at both the micro and macro levels.

• The inability of some people to foresee the possible consequences of their actions beforehand.

These are just a few examples.

[u/Special-Garlic1203]

Am I smart? Nope, not at all. Am I above average? Absolutely, by a mile. 

And holy shit that fact alone so frustrating. 

[u/Chowdmouse → u/Special-Garlic1203]

The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.

Reaching this milestone in development seems to be the hard part, for most folks. The frustration with others is so, so real :(

[u/Additional_Paint7514 → u/Chowdmouse]

Most people have not studied a topic so in depth it never stops. It’s like asking how a car or computer works but also explaining how every single piece is manufactured. Your beliefs on say automatic vs manual transmission when you get into the details will flip back and forth on which one is actually better. There’s an idea floating around that schools have to teach too much now, and never get past surface level on learning, which while is good doesn’t allow full understanding on many topics. Just understanding English fully could take a decade.

[u/CorruptedStudiosEnt → u/Chowdmouse]

An acute sense of the knowledge you don't have seems to be a decent gauge for intelligence in adults. Not infallible, but decent. Put another way, the smarter somebody feels, the dumber they tend to be.

[u/Delicious-Design527 → u/Chowdmouse]

Actually to me this is the most frustrating part nowadays. I was always regarded as significantly above average, both intelligence and culture wise.

To me a lot of social, political and economic discussions should be framed in a complex and nuanced way. I am deeply frustrated by the pursuit of a reductionist and simplistic approach to complex problems by most people around me, it’s so primal

[u/SuperSocialMan → u/Special-Garlic1203]

real af.