Why do highly intelligent, educated people with every conceivable

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   gmwilliamsposted 9 years ago

   
   advantage fail miserably in terms of life and survival skills?  In addition to that, why are they have hard luck in terms of jobs, oftentimes living on the socioeconomic periphery, never realizing their educational, intellectual, or socioeconomic potential?  Others view them as abysmal failures who are too lazy and unwilling to make something of themselves given the opportunities they had.

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      Live to Learnposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      On whose scale do they fail? On theirs? Success or failure is something only the individual can judge for themselves. I, personally, am outside of the box my parents perceived as success. Am I a failure? Not in my own mind and I can't be responsible for what is in the minds of others.

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      Dr Billy Kiddposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Most intelligent people have more options and opportunities compared to people with average intelligence. Go to a Mensa conference for geniuses. People will tell you about their fulfilling lives.
      Intelligent people who are miserable were raised in dysfunctional families. They could not break away from their childhood mental disorders.

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         gmwilliamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Not necessarily.  They may have a negative outlook and mindset.  They may feel that society is against them or they may feel that they are too smart for the likes of the hoi polloi in their midst.  Many highly intelligent people feel woefully out of place among people whom they deem to be of inferior intellect as the latter are not as smart as they are.
         

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      BuddiNsenseposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      "Intelligence" is of two types, so is success. So what you call intelligent, IQ is not what is needed for success, it is EQ - emotional intelligence.
      And as is pointed out success depends on how you define it.

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      Credence2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      It is also true that some of the world's most sublime people are those with IQ at the Superior or better scale.

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      psycheskinnerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Intelligence is at its core the ability to succeed. 
      
      So if people are not succeeding, on what basis are they intelligent?

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         janesixposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I disagree. Intelligence has very little to do with success. If anything.

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            psycheskinnerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Than I am interested as to how you define it. 
            
            If it is simply the ability to score well on an IQ test and make witty party conversation, it is unimportant.  The very idea of intelligence was invented to try and describe why some people success in society and others fail. 
            
            As per Merriam Webster the primary definition of intelligence is  "the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations"
            
            If, on the other hand, intelligence is unrelated to success, than lack of success in intelligent people is not at all surprising or worthy of discussion....

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               Sed-meposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               I had no idea witty party conversation was a sign of success. And all along I thought I was a meaningless toad.

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   qeylerposted 9 years ago

   Depends on your definitions.  Many people are 'book smart', because the measure of 'book learning' is memorisation.  WE all know people who can get 99% on an exam, but don't know to close a window when the guy next door is burning trash.
   
   Many people with high I.Q.s would starve to death in a field because they wouldn't recognise edible plants.
   
   We need to reassess what is intelligence.

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   janesixposted 9 years ago

   Because they are human,and have human faults.

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   Kathryn L Hillposted 9 years ago

   It is because they are lazy; pure and simple. They do not choose to take charge of their future by creating it. They choose to sit back and think they are special; they have special needs that were never fulfilled and its someone else's fault: their parents, teachers and schools.
   Its not.
   Its their own fault.
   Once they realize their world is in their hands and under their control, they will change. They need tough love.
   They have probably been coddled all of their lives.
   How do I know all this?
   
   Well, lets see...

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      gmwilliamsposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      +10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

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   Kathryn L Hillposted 9 years ago

   ...so success in life is proof of intelligence?

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      BuddiNsenseposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      ....of ONE type intelligence...

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      psycheskinnerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      That is what the concept of intelligence was invented to describe.
      
      What else would intelligence be?
      
      Even the modern idea of different "types" just acknowledge that people have different subtypes of goals and some are better at succeeding in particular areas (e.g. material goals versus emotional goals).
      
      But all types of intelligence are still assessed by the ability to achieve goals successfully.

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      qeylerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Success in life is proof of intelligence.  Sure.  You can function, you can survive, you can be happy; that's intelligence.  You may have more degrees than a thermometer but are a failure.  No one likes you, your career flounders,  you're miserable. 
      
      You could leave high school with not a single 'O' level (or CXC) yet, you have a million dollars worth of personality and have jobs handed to you and do very well.   
      
      We have to stop book=intelligence

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   Kathryn L Hillposted 9 years ago

   So what is Donald Trump: intelligent  and/or successful?
   I would say he is financially successful, but otherwise … lately, he has been proving himself to be ...

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      BuddiNsenseposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Only he can decide.............depending on how he define it for him.
      According to my standard he probably is not successful. I say probably because I do not know anything about his personal life. I consider having a loving family and friends and a satisfactory job and is being satisfied in it, as success.

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         Kathryn L Hillposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I agree. We were discussing this idea by Psycheskinner:
         "... all types of intelligence are still assessed by the ability to achieve goals successfully."

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            BuddiNsenseposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Well, that is Psycheskinner's idea of intelligence. Success is not the same as intelligence. In a way , IQ is the ability to each a goal successfully, but that is not success, but success defined in a specific way.

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      qeylerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Donald Trump has declared bankruptcy quite a few times. He has an I.Q. slightly higher than Forrest Gump.   He is not intelligent.  If he was, he would not be running for President and have gotten Hispanics and Women, the two largest voting blocks against him so quickly.

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   ahorsebackposted 9 years ago

   Okay so anyone that knows me knows , I am not "highly educated " , -   I believe that  really nice  , well rounded , wise ,  socially , mature people  have nothing to do with "highly educated " !  That description alone means so little .     You can spend an entire life in a higher learning atmosphere  and still be inept at functioning in real life . How many Ivory Tower educated people cannot change a flat tire ?  How many masters degree's does it take to become mature ?  Show me five degree's from different learning places and I will think - wow what an expensive ego   , I would far rather have learned and earned from the school of hard knocks any day !

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      BuddiNsenseposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      That is your idea of success, the Voltaire's old woman.

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