Is Thinking Over-rated?

synthesis

I would suppose the average IQ of folks that frequent places like this is considerably higher than the rest of the herd, so perhaps this might be like questioning body-builders as to the benefits of staying in shape, but the emphasis on intellectual prowess in Western society seems over-the-top and to the exclusion of other attributes that would seemingly provide for a better (more balanced) life (e.g.,sticking to the four corners of a solid life foundation: eating well, sleeping well, exercising regularly, and praying/meditating every day*).

*The sages of yore never mentioned anything about intellectual pursuits.

What say all you really smart people? Has your intelligence helped you to become a better person, a more balanced individual, more content, or has it done just the opposite?

Outlander

but the emphasis on intellectual prowess in Western society seems over-the-top and to the exclusion of other attributes that would seemingly provide for a better (more balanced) life — synthesis

Modern? Like today? Lol. Hard to argue with that OP.

Heracloitus

Dunno, never tried it.

BC

What say all you really smart people? — synthesis

Some people over-value their cognitive resources and under-value their affective or emotional resources. It's through the limbic part of the brain that we "feel good", and are motivated to do much of anything--good, bad, or indifferent. Some people who don't think about how to maintain good emotions end up in the ditch.

Has your intelligence helped you to become a better person, a more balanced individual, more content, or has it done just the opposite? — synthesis

Of course it has. Or, if one is a thoroughly wicked person then one's intelligence helped one become a really bad person.

There is a huge exception, though, to claiming full credit for one's personal success or failure: Genetics, environment, outside interventions, and chance events all contribute to our personal outcomes. Finding one's self in a position where one can fully utilize one's intelligence and experience sometimes involves a certain amount of luck.

Anthony Minickiello

↪synthesis

Intelligence has helped me live in a few major ways. It strengthens my social skills, which
help me to live cooperatively with other people. On the academic side, analytical intelligence helps me rationally think through puzzles, which helps me to pass school and play sports. I would say that intelligence makes me a more capable and balanced person than if I did not have it.

counterpunch

What say all you really smart people? Has your intelligence helped you to become a better person, a more balanced individual, more content, or has it done just the opposite? — synthesis

Than what? Some hypothetical stupid version of myself?

I value intelligence above all. Therein lies the hope and purpose of humankind; to know!

god must be atheist

Good looks, more than good brains, seems to be rewarding more on the middle-income level.

On our level people compete; we need to compete. If you are good looking, you win; you can't argue with what you personally see. Seeing is believing.

Smarts? Bah! If there were a kind person among us, he or she would become King (or Queen).

Smart person? They avoid this place like the plague. An allegedly smart person who holds that reputation, has to wage daily battles with wannabes.

In my life, personally, intellect helped, but lack of good judgment failed me.

If this helps: twice I had a relationship (that I know of) sheerly because the two ladies appreciated my intellect.

Outlander

An allegedly smart person who holds that reputation, has to wage daily battles with wannabes. — god must be atheist

Did a sufficiently advanced smart person not "want to be" smarter some point in their life if not throughout its entirety? Perhaps not. But, it's worth explaining otherwise..

Mww

Sapere aude

tim wood

Has your intelligence helped you to become a better person — synthesis

To my way of thinking - well, not original with me, but I buy it - being/becoming a better person is about what psychologists call self-actualization. Roughly, being the best person that you can be. In principle, self-actualization is everyone's possibility. And the potential of self-actualization so great for each person that no one has to worry about it being exhausted, or their exhausting their own.

Does intelligence help with self-actualization? A knee-jerk reply would be yes, but I submit that appealing as that answer is, there is no evidence that justifies it.

OneTwoMany

Thinking isn't overrated. Content of your thoughts determines whether you're ability to think is overrated or not.

synthesis

I would like to suggest that our best experiences occur when we transcend thinking, that is, when we (essentially) become one with the object of our endeavor.

It is thinking that takes actual experience and makes it into something more/less grandiose. Either way, you miss out and (in the end) suffer the consequences.

OneTwoMany

↪synthesis

I agree. Not many are able to transcend thinking and become one with the object. I'm able to do this when I'm looking at a picture and trying to draw an exact copy. When I feel every line and every shade, it comes out pretty close. I feel this sometimes with people and places too.

god must be atheist

Did a sufficiently advanced smart person not "want to be" smarter some point in their life if not throughout its entirety? Perhaps not. But, it's worth explaining otherwise.. — Outlander

To my understanding there is nothing a person can do to increase their IQ once they reached intellectual maturity. So to increase the intellect of a person (assuming he or she is an adult) is a pie in the sky.

Yes, you can increase a person's knowledge base. But not their analytical ability to manipulate any information.

TheMadFool

↪synthesis

An idea apt for the occasion is catch-22. To discover the truth that thinking is overrated one must think. So, do you believe the conclusion that thinking is overrated and make that part of your philosophy or do you appreciate the thinking that led you to the conclusion that thinking is overrated and draw the second inference that no, thinking isn't overrated. It

synthesis

An idea apt for the occasion is catch-22. To discover the truth that thinking is overrated one must think. So, do you believe the conclusion that thinking is overrated and make that part of your philosophy or do you appreciate the thinking that led you to the conclusion that thinking is overrated and draw the second inference that no, thinking isn't overrated. — TheMadFool

I fear if I add anything, I will just be proving my point.

synthesis

I agree. Not many are able to transcend thinking and become one with the object. — OneTwoMany

I believe that everybody experiences this now and again, but with people so connected to all kinds of outside influences, it is as if they are being controlled remotely.

Is Thinking Over-rated?

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