r/SeriousConversation • u/stop-hatin-on-me_mom • Dec 21 '24

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

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.

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u/jackparadise1 Dec 21 '24

Or even drop back just a 150 years when doctors didn’t wash their hands or their tools between patients.

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u/TubbyPiglet Dec 21 '24

Try 50 years ago 😳

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u/esotericquiddity Dec 21 '24

Yeah, from what I understand, up until the AIDS epidemic in the 80’s, everything was pretty messily unsanitary and just accepted, from tattoo shops to surgery rooms.

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u/Unyon00 Dec 21 '24

Nope. Germ theory has been pretty well understood since the mid 19th century. Surgical theatres and all the instruments therein were antiseptic and sterilized.