Why are people so dumb?

[Libecht]

I just had an argument with my mom this morning (I'm an 18 y.o. aspie). I'm really really tired of this stupid world. I'm not saying that I'm the most clever man, but my IQ is without a doubt higher than 99.5% of people. Sometimes (actually uasually) I feel that talking to ordinary people is like talking to a five-year-old. I do not mean to despise them, it's just...really frustrating to me. One quote of Sherlock, the BBC TV series, best explains how I feel---"I'm living in a world of goldfish".
NOTE:By "dumb" I mean the ability to "figure out complicated things, solve problems in the most effective way, etc".
I do know IQ isn't everything, please don't get me wrong.
I don't mean to offend anyone, just wanted to be totally honest.

Second, people are soooo irrational. They are often controlled by emotions and make wrong decisions. Usually I manage to stay calm and rational. Is it really that hard to use their brain???


I can keep complaining about "normal" people for days. I really can't stand them anymore. Please help. Aaaaaaah

 

[Ylva]

The only ones who've been insulted here were goldfish. They actually have quite good memories.

I think the only way to deal with your problem is to read Seneca.

 

[Nadador]

Welcome to AC, Libecht. That was quite an entrance, I must say.

As you've said you had an argument with your mum not long before posting, it's obvious enough that you've come to us feeling quite frustrated [and so may just be venting], but I'm not entirely certain what it is you would like our 'help' with. If it's for dealing with the neurotypical majority, I'd say you might want to consider that making sweeping generalisations is unproductive, and will only add to your frustration.

You've asserted in you post that you're intelligent...that being the case, you would do well to apply your intellect to developing discernment, particularly in your appraisals of others. Not every NT is an idiot, just as not every Aspie or High-functioning autistic is a genius. Until you are willing to assess individuals individually, you're never going to find yourself feeling any better about the social world in which you are, let's face it, unavoidably located. In my nearly sixty years of experience, I've observed that when you think everyone else is the problem, you'd do well to think again. It may be you who could use an adjustment, and I say this with good will.

We all get aggravated with the people around us. Luckily, it passes.

 

[Sass]

I can't explain this any better than Nadador already has. You're doing the same thing to NTs, by wilfully assuming they're all thick, as they do to us by assuming we're all broken.

 

[Datura]

I used to feel simmilar frustratiions, especially in my junior high years. I came to the realization that I was not so perfect myself, and that you have to meet people where they are at. Often times the people you meet will not have compareable cognitive skills or experiences to you, and this is something we must learn to accept.

In my work with individuals with demntia and developmental disorders I only became more cognizant of the fact that we are all limited by our neurology, in one way or an other. What comes with ease for you may be literally impossible for somebody else, and vice versa.

This is not to discout your frustrations (frankly; I know next to nothing about your situation) but perhaps to assuage them through sharing some wisdom.

 

[Wireless]

Being arrogant is easy. You'll find arrogant people everywhere they go, regardless of their actual abilities.
However, being clever and being able to value and respect people (if they deserve it) regardless of their level of intelligence, is something to aspire to.
I'm not trying to disregard your frustration.

 

[Wireless]

I forgot to ask...maybe you would feel less frustrated if you could meet others with similar abilities to yours?
Are you going to uni at all?

 

[Progster]

It's true that people often make wrong decisions based on their emotions (spoken like a true Vulcan ) but that doesn't mean that they are lacking in intelligence, it just means that they are operating a different system to us. After all, there is such a thing as emotional intelligence, or intuition.

Everyone, even the most hardcore aspies, make emotionally driven decisions at some point, and everyone makes wrong decisions at some point of their lives. That's part of being human.

People aren't really dumb, they just do dumb things sometimes.

Edit: It seems illogical that an intelligent person would do a dumb thing, but it happens all the time. This is due to their emotional style of thinking.

 

[AsheSkyler]

I just keep my interactions at the appropriate level for whom I'm dealing with. Besides, I find it relaxing to be around simple people. There's rarely an ulterior motive and if there is then it's blatantly obvious. Some of them tend to be little treasure troves of trivia and facts too that you can't find easily, especially involving a trade or hobby.

The recurring problem I find is a lack of common sense and poor social skills. Especially with other women, of all people! This one woman's son has a bad shoulder, and she just went up and smacked him on the shoulder, and then dared get mad at him when he recoiled and snapped at her. Good grief, how dense and selfish can somebody be?? I will never understand how autistics got labelled as the social flops, not after the people I've met.

 

[zurb]

Welcome to AC.
I can't help but wonder if the issue isn't about intellect and logical thinking but communication styles and what is considered important (eg, social vs facts) by the different parties.
As teenagers, most aspies see others – particularly those their own age – as being petty. The others however consider the aspie unsocial. Both sides consider the other immature. (related to this, if you browse around the site you might find references to different kinds of intellect.)
If you want to understand the NT way of thinking better, you may want to read "A field Guide to Earthlings" by Ian Ford.
You may also be interested in Luke Jackson's "Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome". Written by an aspie teen for aspie teens.

 

[Lena_C]

I think I can relate to your feeling, Libecht.
As a 23 y.o., I admit that my experience of life is nothing more than other people here(but nothing less than, though)
I can't stand for people being too emotional that will lead them to make a wrong decision.
Also I can't talk with my parents due to I know we're on the totally different channel.
I won't believe there is any "clever" NT in this world until I meet one. (Only fact is important.)
So I think people here should try to understand that somebody think "NT is idiot", not because of we're arrogant or self-absorbed, but because we haven't met one in our life. (No Offence here)

 

[AHugNKiss]

I see an irony in your post - a decision to come here based on pure logic or emotion?

A high IQ is a great thing - but it's not the ONLY thing. Does intellect completely trump kindness, or a sense of duty? If so, how would society as a whole function? Wouldn't a completely logical society have weeded out the disabled and different? This is something that maybe you'll come to realise with more experience in the world (and I don't say that to mean you're immature). I've been told I should be a doctor (human biology, particularly reproduction/pregnancy was one of my 'special interests' for a few years and I quite often diagnose family members before their GP's get there with tests/consultant referrals... but I have zero interest in being a doctor - I don't 'care' enough about people, in general, probably a defence mechanism against how anxious I am around strangers and how exhausting it is being switched 'on' as a 'social person' rather than being just me... If you were suddenly struck down by serious physical illness, nearly everyone who would treat and care for you won't have a stunning IQ - But they will mean EVERYTHING to whether you recover and continue adding value to the whole diverse rainbow of *society*. Sure, the people with massive IQ's may have discovered the treatment options but they won't be the ones meting it out )

You kinda sound like me at your age (and my older son who is almost 18 right now - it's frustrating as all hell parenting him even though I understand him, so I can't help but feel sorry for your Mum ). As illogical as they seem to a calm, higher thinking, brain, emotions are a part of all of us and essential to the survival of us all.

Certainly, you'd do well to spend some time with people you consider to be your equal (or greater!) even if it's 'only' online - it will probably make dealing with frustrating people easier

 

[Ylva]

Wouldn't a completely logical society have weeded out the disabled and different?

No…

Ableism is emotion-based, like racism or any kind of prejudice. The logical thing to do is give everyone a decent livelihood and, if someone can't find on on their own, a purpose. Tribalism is the illogical choice.

 

[AHugNKiss]

No…

Ableism is emotion-based, like racism or any kind of prejudice. The logical thing to do is give everyone a decent livelihood and, if someone can't find on on their own, a purpose. Tribalism is the illogical choice.

So, it's your belief, knowing humans as you do, that a highly intelligent logical society would have a (large) percentage who would dedicate themselves to caring? I mean caring as a profession.

 

[AHugNKiss]

To clarify - I'm not in ANY way suggesting a high intelligence/logical thinking leads one to ableism. I'm suggesting that we all need each other - we all have value... including the 'dumb' NTs

 

[Ylva]

So, it's your belief, knowing humans as you do, that a highly intelligent logical society would have a (large) percentage who would dedicate themselves to caring? I mean caring as a profession.

My belief, knowing logic as I do, is that such a society would have so advanced medical technology that just about no illness or disability would be untreatable, and no difference would be unaccommodateable.

 

[Wireless]

I'm sure people can be both caring and logical.
If there were such a society then woudn't there have been need for medicine in it's early days, before it developed the technology to treat every illness and disability?
I hope my post doesn't sound antagonistic in any way. I'm just interested in the idea of this society.

 

[AHugNKiss]

My belief, knowing logic as I do, is that such a society would have so advanced medical technology that just about no illness or disability would be untreatable, and no difference would be unaccommodateable.

Ah. So, presumably, treated 'at source' - in utero? At birth/as it presents... in a way that cures? And, so, disability effectively doesn't exist? We already have genetic screening/embryo screening for severe health problems. Does logic determine these 'potential' people not exist in the first place, or that they are cured?

You see where this logical thought leads, surely? NOT in a ableist way! In a logical way, I feel that disability and difference wouldn't exist. Which is what I mean by weeding out - not via persecution.

Yes, Wireless, I'm also intrigued by the idea of such a society Also, not in an antagonistic way. We can really only hypothesise through the lens of our own experience I guess. Kinda fun.

 

[Ylva]

I'm not convinced that eugenics is to be considered a "cure", but whether to terminate a pregnancy is the woman's decision.

 

[AHugNKiss]

Do you think would autonomous decisions exist in a purely logical society? And if they do - why would it be only the woman's decision when the embryo is half, genetically, the father's too? If this highly intelligent society has already 'mastered' illness to the point where it can all be treated away then surely it would have advanced the messy and unreliable process of human pregnancy - why not take IVF to the next level and do away with nature all together?

(Again, not to be antagonistic - I think the permeations of what a logical society would do are probably more complicated than casual thought gives rise to)