Do you ever wish you were smarter?
I do.
It is not that I think that I am a complete idiot, but I know that I have struggled to apply what I know. And as I see it, if we aren't able to apply to our lives what we want to apply, we are lacking something. It might not be intellectual intelligence of course, it could be something else, but something it is.
Whatever it is,
I don't have enough of it.
Sometimes as a thought experiment, I try to imagine what it would be like to be very intelligent. But of course the irony is, it is unimaginable to imagine how to think like someone else. We can "feel" that we are doing it justice, but I imagine that all I can do is try to replicate the results I assume a smart person will get, and the feelings from the result. But, the feeling of actually thinking, escapes me.
Thinking hurts.
I mean that literally, not figuratively. You know when you have a headache but you still have thought work to do, and it just hurts to continue. It feels a bit like that to think these days, where I have to force my brain to spin, and often, it is like pushing a car up a hill, and the handbrake is partially engaged. I wonder though if the "pain" was always there, and now my brain just doesn't block it. Though, I think that if that was the case, evolution did a pretty lousy job of our development.
Though, it didn't really do a great job either, did it?
Not terrible, but we come laden with so many issues and ways to break physically, mentally and emotionally. We are fragile in many ways, and our brains make us more so, as while the imagination is powerful for innovation, it is also responsible for holding us back a lot also, as we perceive fears that might not be there. And, we confuse dangers, applying the same emotional response to walking on the edge of a cliff, to that of being embarrassed in front of others. And yeah, I don't really care if you think you are above these "base" emotions, because what I have found is that the people who believe themselves above them, are the ones that tend to be the most controlled by them.
Maybe if they reflected on their state more, they might start dealing with themselves.
I guess I am okay being an idiot though, because it isout of my control. What can I do about it? I know people who spend time collecting knowledge to make themselves smarter, but like me, they never seem to be smart enough to apply what they have learned, at least not for long, if at all. They know things, but it becomes trivia, therefore not applicable to life, other than to prove that books have been read, and information retained. They are good at pub quizzes though, where random bits of useless, disconnected, and unapplicable information has value.
Of course, it is not that all that information is useless, because we do get enjoyment out of knowing things too, but at some point, shouldn't the majority of what we spend our time learning be able to get applied to make our lives better, or life better for others perhaps? If collecting information for no reason other than to have it, it is like collecting sports cars, or beanie babies so that they can sit on the shelf, unused. There is no real difference, other than collecting information is generally cheaper.
But information these days is just at our fingertips wherever we go. What isn't at our fingertips is the ability to apply what we know at the right time when it would be valuable to be able to. Sometimes we might even realize this in hindsight, where we look back at a failure and acknowledge "I could have done" - but the moment has passed. If what we know isn't in our backbone when we need it, do we really know it?
It is also why I am pretty wary about taking any advice from people online, because "what they know" might just be some theoretical ramblings of a crazy person with no experience in the matter at all. It is easy to tell people what to do or what needs to be done at the academic level, even if it is speaking to a global situation. However, it is much harder to apply even the smallest changes in ourselves or our environment at the local level. Try it.
For the next month, put your shoes on using the opposite foot than you normally use.
This is simple and "should" take no extra energy, since you have to put both shoes on anyway.
Let's see how many times you remember in the next month.
If there was a tablet that could make you 50% smarter, would you take it?
What side-effects could you handle and still think it was worth it?
If only I was smart enough to invent that tablet.
Take it, get even smarter, and create one without side-effects.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
I feel like I have spread myself too thin and that is why I am not as smart as I could be. I have colleagues who are able to specialize on a specific skill set and they can dance circles around me on the topic. I kind of wish I would have been able to do that earlier in my career.
‘True intelligence is not measured only by accumulated knowledge, but by our ability to apply that knowledge in meaningful and compassionate ways in our daily lives’. Living intelligently involves making decisions that reflect our best qualities, solving problems with empathy and creativity, and adapting to change with resilience and understanding. How we treat others, meet our challenges and seize our opportunities really defines intelligence in its truest form.
At the end of the day, it is not just what we know, but how we use that knowledge to enrich our lives and the lives of those around us that really matters. A hug full of blessings, my dear friend @bozz.
Hmmm. This is a very great reply to wake up to read today. I found this really helpful too.
Great words! Thanks for sharing them!
I think many of these people are in for some trouble also in the near future. One tool that can do what they do, and they are gone.
Yeah, that is a good point. I think some of these pieces are already starting to fall into place. Though public education tends to move a bit slower than the rest of industry, so they might be good until it's time for them to retire.
One of the hardest parts of role-playing in a tabletop game is portraying a character with more intelligence, wisdom, or charisma than the player has. You're not the only one to experience this conundrum of trying to imagine something literally beyond your capability, and it doesn't always involve magical monsters!
I remember reading something about how a writer writes a genius character. They can't go forward, as they aren't smart enough - so they start at the end of the situation and work their way back. In hindsight, the clues that the genius saw, are obvious.
Me, every time I have to do anything related to finance or logistics (so basically daily), because I'm the worst person for my role in the family but that's how things are.
And because it can be hard to imagine how other people think, it's really hard to explain to people that don't have that problem, and then half the time they think I'm being dramatic coz they can't imagine it therefore it must be fake/not that bad.
And I feel like being smarter makes you feel dumber when you are made even more aware of just how much you don't know you don't know XD
I'm not smart by any stretch of the imagination but that's how I feel whenever I'm learning anything
You know it! I am the same - any time there are numbers :)
I think this is part of getting smarter - knowing that there is far more to know. Ignorance is bliss - as they say.
On the one hand yes totally get that. On the other hand that sounds terrible x_x
It seems to me that there is a confusion of terms, in case I am not being sarcastic. To be ‘knowledgeable’ means to possess information and data on various subjects, it is the accumulation of facts and details learned through education, reading, or experience. It is like having a vast archive of information in one's mind. On the other hand, being ‘intelligent’ implies the ability to apply that knowledge effectively, solve problems, think critically and adapt to new situations. Intelligence is not just about what you know, but how you use what you know to navigate and understand the world effectively.
There is a film called ‘Limitless’ 2011. Edward ‘Eddie’ Morra (Bradley Cooper) is an aspiring writer suffering from chronic writer's block, but his life takes an unexpected turn when his ex-brother-in-law Vernon Gant (Johnny Whitworth) introduces him to NZT, an experimental, revolutionary drug in the form of small pills, which allows some people to tap their full cognitive potential.
Would you serve as a guinea pig…?
This is not the case. Someone can be incredibly intelligent, and do nothing with it. Similarly, someone can have a huge amount of knowledge, and do nothing with it. Intelligence doesn't speak to application - only application speaks to it. Perhaps if the intelligent that do nothing knew the right thing, they might start to apply their intelligence ;)
Absolutely.
However much knowledge one has is not important u til they put them in practice. That's why wise people around he world are not always succesfull in life.
The smartest don't seem to be the most successful very often.
I don't want to be smarter, I want to be wiser. More good decisions in life are better than steep specialization in one or several areas.
Perhaps if you are smart enough, wisdom is guaranteed. :D
Even cracking my head up to figure out dinner gives me migraine, being smart is a good thing but it also come with alot pf competitions but no matter how smart a person his he can never figure out a soulution on his own because two heads are far better than one
I think stupidity has the highest amount of competition in it - there are so many vying for the title.
Lolzz hmm you got that right
!PIZZA
$PIZZA slices delivered:
@danzocal(7/10) tipped @tarazkp
My biggest problem is a complete lack of focus and executive disfunction.
I've got a friend with great focus who completely lacks any creativity.
Everyone is lacking somewhere.
If I was smart I would find a way of selling my art...But I am not smart so I just gifted another piece. This time for a local pizza place.
Nothing like a few magic mushrooms or some ketamine therapy to reset some of those synapses and give the brain a nice reboot. Try to do this a few times every season.