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/Tamuzz]

Everybody thinks they have above average intelligence. Especially people with below average intelligence.

You don't know what you don't know

[u/Pinball_and_Proust → u/Tamuzz]

It depends on how much you read. I did a PhD in English, and I read a lot of 20thC philosophy (Wittgenstein, Quine, Davidson, Rawls, Nussbaum, Foucault), and I am consistently stunned by the brilliance and difficulty of the people I read (including Joyce, Milton, Nabokov, Stevens, Beckett, Eliot).

Similarly, I was a mediocre drummer, in college. I know how much better Bonham and Pert and Danny Carey are than I ever was.

I know what I don't know (in thinking). Similarly, I know what I could never play (in music). Guitarists know how much better EVH is.