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Depression and intelligence (pg. 3)
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| woscar |
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| leph555 |
| If I can't get it up anymore, does that mean that my is depressed? |
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| Ania_xox |
I often find myself wondering whether the pursuit of knowledge is an evil one.
Those who read and watch and listen with a sort of snarky self-absorbed cynicism - what are they achieving?
Do we learn simply to isolate ourselves from those who stand outside our scope of knowledge?
There is a staunch difference between reading the newspaper every day to stay "in the know" - and feeling a compelling need to "keep up"
The more you know, the more censure you feel towards those who don't share your knowledge. Whether or not this factors into your opinion of someone, it subconsciously shapes your perception of them.
I try to contextualize this by applying it to my life and my conclusions are completely unclear.
I have only discovered one thing about the pursuit of knowledge of which I feel completely sure - and even still, it makes sense only in the context of my life and can therefore be easily dismissed as mere musings:
I feel passionate about my academic pursuits and I mean that in the most pure and non-pretentious way. The things I learn about communication, language and linguistics make me feel englightened in a way that connects me to the rest of the world. This knowledge is thus coupled with the confidence that I am not alone, that we are fundamentally designed to connect with others.
What about someone who pursues studies in Astronomy? Philosophy? Anthropology?
He goes to bed with ideas of anarchy swirling through his head. He observes people on the subway and judges them according to Darwinian principles. He goes to work every day plagued with ideas of the meaningless of our existence in comparison with how sublime the universe is in its greatest and most supreme degree.
I imagine a sort of desolate loneliness accompanied by extended amounts of such knowledge. |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sunsnail
jeez lira i didn't know you were such a douche |
Why? She wants to go to Harvard failing half the course and is struggling with depression - do you think it'd be better if I kept deluding her? :conf:
I just made the conversation simpler here, I wasn't rude to her or anything...
Edit: Meh, post taken down. But, no, I don't think there's a relationship between depression and intelligence.
That being said, I'm out of here. |
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| nefardec |
| quote: | Originally posted by Domesticated
This well-written and accurate post got me thinking about something I've realised sub-consciously for a long time.
Is it only intelligent, introspective and self-aware people who get depression? Or does anyone know a superficial, jock type who suffers from it?
If it's only the introspective types, why is this? |
i wouldn't automatically label clever or smart people as 'intelligent' or 'self-aware'.
the original meaning of 'intelligence' means ability to understand. people who understand are rarely confused or depressed.
another way of saying this is that knowledge does not equal wisdom. 'book smart/street smart' etc
IMO all 'knowledge' is illusory, egotistical, fleeting, and frivolous except 'self-knowledge', which could be also called 'knowing about life'
i went to ivy league school but i don't consider anything i 'studied' to be actual education. what i learned came between the classes, in the relationships i had with other people, more to do with what i found i didn't like than what i did.
the only true education and teacher is life itself
also the OP (i believe a halcyon quote) was very well written and rings true to me. |
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| Joss Weatherby |
| quote: | Originally posted by nefardec
the original meaning of 'intelligence' means ability to understand. people who understand are rarely confused or depressed. |
Understanding the world can be, for some, a very depressing thing. |
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| nefardec |
| quote: | Originally posted by Joss Weatherby
Understanding the world can be, for some, a very depressing thing. |
no, it can't, by definition.
pain/conflict arises from not accepting circumstances, desires, and expectations. understanding is total acceptance of the present moment. acceptance is neither pleasurable or painful, neither joyful, nor depressing.
you are confusing 'understanding the world' with 'having an opinion on the way world should be' or 'expecting the world to match your ideals'
ultimately 'the world' is a mental construct, at least the part of the world that matters to us on a daily basis - it's the product of our perceptions, fears, hopes, etc. ultimately your day to day interaction with 'the world' is completely dependent on your attitude. so understanding yourself becomes paramount to understanding 'the world'. |
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| smekzg |
It is understandable that people with high IQ feel different ans are not always understood, they also see things that other people don't even notice(for instance - quality mediums, or excessive use of foreign words in their own country, automated idiot "blind" people, etc), but depression can also be hereditary, or it can be caused because of terrible life environment(kids that were bullied, financial problems, low social skills, constant bad luck, etc) and that has nothing to do with intelligence. It can hit anybody, low, average or high IQ, rich, poor, introverted, extroverted.. I know a lot of people that suffer from depression, all of them are characteristically different and have completely different life stories.
Generalization is .
| quote: | Originally posted by GoSpeedGo!
Solution: stop following the news. Seriously. |
It works. True story. |
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| woscar |
| quote: | Originally posted by nefardec
i wouldn't automatically label clever or smart people as 'intelligent' or 'self-aware'.
the original meaning of 'intelligence' means ability to understand. people who understand are rarely confused or depressed.
another way of saying this is that knowledge does not equal wisdom. 'book smart/street smart' etc
IMO all 'knowledge' is illusory, egotistical, fleeting, and frivolous except 'self-knowledge', which could be also called 'knowing about life'
i went to ivy league school but i don't consider anything i 'studied' to be actual education. what i learned came between the classes, in the relationships i had with other people, more to do with what i found i didn't like than what i did.
the only true education and teacher is life itself
also the OP (i believe a halcyon quote) was very well written and rings true to me. |
Here we go again...
j/k
:p
You seem to be living under you own meaning of what education actually is and that is fine. However, it is quite spurious to say that academic education =/= real education simply because you value the type of education that appeals to your spiritual self more than the one that appeals to your intellectual self. Both types complement one another. ;) |
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| Joss Weatherby |
| quote: | Originally posted by nefardec
no, it can't, by definition.
pain/conflict arises from not accepting circumstances, desires, and expectations. understanding is total acceptance of the present moment. acceptance is neither pleasurable or painful, neither joyful, nor depressing.
you are confusing 'understanding the world' with 'having an opinion on the way world should be' or 'expecting the world to match your ideals'
ultimately 'the world' is a mental construct, at least the part of the world that matters to us on a daily basis - it's the product of our perceptions, fears, hopes, etc. ultimately your day to day interaction with 'the world' is completely dependent on your attitude. so understanding yourself becomes paramount to understanding 'the world'. |
That's a very Utopian view of intelligence. |
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| nefardec |
| quote: | Originally posted by woscar
Here we go again...
j/k
:p
You seem to be living under you own meaning of what education actually is and that is fine. However, it is quite spurious to say that academic education =/= real education simply because you value the type of education that appeals to your spiritual self more than the one that appeals to your intellectual self. Both types complement one another. ;) |
The only valuable part of my educational experience was the fact that I was surrounded by interesting people who I could relate to on a deeper level.
And, as I said, I learned what I didn't want to do with my life.
It was never the 'knowledge', which is just 'trivia' that was valuable, it was the 'wisdom' that my professors and peers and employers have shared with me, and that I have gained through the situation.
academic education IS valuable, but only because it is another type of life experience. |
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| enydo |
| I actually completely agree with what nef is saying. I don't go to an Ivy League school, but mines ranked pretty well. |
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