Are Intelligent People More Lonely?

It sounds like a hugely arrogant and self-serving suggestion to imply that cleverness might lead you to loneliness. But if you define cleverness in a selective (and modest) way, there may truly be an aspect whereby it can lead to a certain isolation.

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Produced in collaboration with:

Luca Bowles

[holyinquisition]

"Intelligent people tend to have less friends than the average person, the smarter you are, the more selective you become"-Nikola Tesla

[flyflicc]

"Insomnia is the revenge of what we tried so hard not to notice in the daylight"

[enigmatheinfj]

“Loneliness does not come from having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible.”
- Carl Gustav Jung

I'm not intelligent.
I can be dumb sometimes.
But I also know that I'm curious & a deep thinker.
Sadly, most people don't want to talk about the things that I think & want to talk about.
That's why I often feel lonely.

[projectevergreen]

What it says “Are intelligent people more lonely ?”

What people see: “Are lonely people more intelligent ?”

[divineoracle]

Alone not lonely. Voltaire said, "the earth swarms with people who are not worth talking too."

[bluegalerev]

“The more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude.” -Aldous Huxley

[matthewcoombs]

I have been to dinner parties where everybody has armour on. Not sure if I explain this. Nobody opens up. It is all about their career, their kids, what holiday they have booked, what car they have just brought. Nobody says I feel crap and I had a shitty week, what about you? Nobody admits their common humanity. I reckon I can have these honest conversations with about 3 people I have known in my life. I can be completley honest and naked with them. Sadly one of them died last year and i miss them terribly. Luckily one of them is my mother. The other is very much alive and listens- a true friends. The rest are passengers. Too many people only want to know us when we are in good shape. As the old blues song goes "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out".

[Slam_]

It’s a strange phenomenon.

I knew a guy who had a freakish social intelligence. He was a genius at the art of socialising. He could walk into a bar or party and 2 minutes later, everyone would be his friend.
Turns out he was the loneliest person in the world. He was so good at winning people but could never keep them.

[at.]

This reminds me of a scene in The Simpsons where Lisa says:
"As intelligence goes up, happiness goes down. See, I made a graph. I make lots of graphs."

[tonybenlozz]

the more people i meet, the more i like my dog.



And i don't even have a dog.

[micksurman]

I wouldn’t call myself lonely, I simply enjoy my own company more than I enjoy the company of others

[joynermaidana]

King Solomon: "For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief." - Ecclesiastes 1:18

[Atman]

They are not lonely. They are happy to be alone most of the time. Being alone gives you the time to introspect your self and analyze your thoughts.
Being an introvert is a fun of its own kind.

Edit: 2/2/2022:
I think I have written more about introversion here. Or how being alone doesn't mean we are lonely too. Being an introvert I love to spend my time alone.But That does not mean that I don't meet people or something like that. I have my people, my friends (ofcourse a few friends) with whom I spend my time. And I am the most talkative person there. As it take time for me to open up to others. So most of the people think that I don't talk much (which is also true somewhere).
Some people think that I am shy which is also not true. Because it's just taht I don't feel the need to that particular thing.
And anyone can be lonely and depressed.
But I think it hurts more to an introvert because it is difficult for an introvert to share their feelings to others.

[FreyaGem]

"Works of art are humanity's secret diary." I love that statement! I've never heard it articulated why, as a highly self-aware and highly sensitive person, I feel plagued by loneliness. And it often gets worse after visiting with others who, as this video noted, find me too intense and "real". Thank goodness for art and creative talents.

[shubhampradhan]

Enjoying your solitude is one of the greatest thing you can achieve in this overcrowded world.

[Righteousist]

Yup. Intelligent people think before they do or say anything. They don't say or do pointless things. So they're not very good conversationalists unless its with other intelligent people. But there aren't many intelligent people so they are mostly alone.

[dmed]

Just because you're lonely, doesn't mean you're smart.

[KodakKid]

Socialising is such an empty experience so often that the lonely should really never feel like they’re missing out on anything.

[thelonewanderer]

“All I’ve loved I’ve loved alone”
- Edgar Allen Poe

[tgeo]

my emotional intelligence is both my greatest source of personal pride and my source of torment.