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My mother, bless her, is not too bright. She is married to an internet guy in Africa (I know, it's Dr. Phil). She gets into ridiculous situations and has no common sense. I love her, and we just find a neutral topic to share together. You can do that, right?
OP how smart are you going to feel when someone in the crowded gathering of yours seeks you out to talk about piloting a jet, tearing an engine apart and putting it back together, fixing a broken air conditioner when it's 98 degrees out, growing organic crops,astronomy, rewiring a house, training a horse to do backflips- even growing pot- geez everyone's smart about something! you might be "book smart" big whoop lot of good that's going to do ya when your car is broken down and you're standing over the engine with a dumb look on your face.
OP how smart are you going to feel when someone in the crowded gathering of yours seeks you out to talk about piloting a jet, tearing an engine apart and putting it back together, fixing a broken air conditioner when it's 98 degrees out, growing organic crops,astronomy, rewiring a house, training a horse to do backflips- even growing pot- geez everyone's smart about something! you might be "book smart" big whoop lot of good that's going to do ya when your car is broken down and you're standing over the engine with a dumb look on your face.
I feel like the OP.
I've flown a prop plane, tore down and rebuilt an engine (several actually), fixed broken hvac systems, never tried growing anything but I know what's involved, almost went to school for astrophysics but couldn't afford tuition and living expenses, I would absolutely love to see a horse do a backflip but I don't reckon that's possible. I don't mess with pot so I have no interest in growing it, smoking it, eating it, or whatever else one does with it but I'd happily discuss the benefits of legalizing it along side every other drug.
That being said, I have no interest in the small talk that makes up most family functions. I don't care about someone's opinion of the weather. I do not care about how your kids are doing in school. I don't care about your random aunt that did something crazy, dumb, or both.
It's not about putting yourself on a pedestal. Stupid people bore me. I bore stupid people. There's a gap.
I want to talk about how and why and ideas. They want to talk about themselves and other people.
I walk away from people who talk about the superfluous. I don't care about it. People walk away from me when I talk about ideas and implementations. They don't care about it.
It's fine. No. It's great. We don't need a planet full of people with the exact same concerns and intellects.
We need the dumb and the smart and the intermediate to make things happen. Different intelligence levels come with different perspectives. It's ok that my family and I have nothing to talk about with each other. We all have our own groups of people with which to discuss what interests us. The good news is, if you're actually intelligent, you can find something to occupy your time. If that doesn't work, you can always move 2400 miles from your nearest family like I did and not have to worry about it.
Side note: you can really tell the unintelligent posters from the intelligent ones in threads like this. It's hilarious and a fun thing to do whilst bored at family functions.
Disclaimer. Not calling anyone unintelligent or intelligent. Not insulting anyone. Just making an observation about no one specific.
I do not consider myself intelligent,but talking about politics,or the economy,makes some people think that those are subjects intellectuals talk about.
It seems these days people only want to talk about celebs,the weather,or tv shows,none of which interests me.
The best thing to do is keep quiet,but even then people may think you are snobby because you are not talking.
Intelligent people meant to be alone!
Don't credited your self so high you will fell down to earth with no time and hurt your butts.
I can make a conversation with any one any where in any category. It does not need to be some thing we like,, I am capable of listening stuff I hate that is mostly politics but still I do listen. As some other posters says there are lot other things we can learn from others.
In my family I wouldn't call it an intelligence gap but an interests gap. I feel like an outsider because I am the only one that is not married with children. They also have different religious and political views than I and those are subjects that I prefer not to touch because it can become volatile. I gravitate toward the other outsiders in my family, my cousin's wife and my oldest uncle because we all have the arts in common (plus feeling like outsiders). I can also talk to my mother about just about everything and I get along with my nephew. I should be grateful because that is more than a lot of people have.
I feel like the OP.
I've flown a prop plane, tore down and rebuilt an engine (several actually), fixed broken hvac systems, never tried growing anything but I know what's involved, almost went to school for astrophysics but couldn't afford tuition and living expenses, I would absolutely love to see a horse do a backflip but I don't reckon that's possible. I don't mess with pot so I have no interest in growing it, smoking it, eating it, or whatever else one does with it but I'd happily discuss the benefits of legalizing it along side every other drug. That being said, I have no interest in the small talk that makes up most family functions. I don't care about someone's opinion of the weather. I do not care about how your kids are doing in school. I don't care about your random aunt that did something crazy, dumb, or both.
It's not about putting yourself on a pedestal. Stupid people bore me. I bore stupid people. There's a gap.
I want to talk about how and why and ideas. They want to talk about themselves and other people.
I walk away from people who talk about the superfluous. I don't care about it. People walk away from me when I talk about ideas and implementations. They don't care about it.
It's fine. No. It's great. We don't need a planet full of people with the exact same concerns and intellects.
We need the dumb and the smart and the intermediate to make things happen. Different intelligence levels come with different perspectives. It's ok that my family and I have nothing to talk about with each other. We all have our own groups of people with which to discuss what interests us. The good news is, if you're actually intelligent, you can find something to occupy your time. If that doesn't work, you can always move 2400 miles from your nearest family like I did and not have to worry about it.
Side note: you can really tell the unintelligent posters from the intelligent ones in threads like this. It's hilarious and a fun thing to do whilst bored at family functions.
Disclaimer. Not calling anyone unintelligent or intelligent. Not insulting anyone. Just making an observation about no one specific.
On-the-money response, +1
That's aaaaall i'm saying, i can tell you actually read through my post and "got" what i was trying to convey
I also do not believe pointing out this simple observation is "putting myself on a pedestal" I mean, by my own admission the handful of friends i do have i regard as being "generally" more intelligent than myself.
It's not that i'm claiming to be some super-genius , i was merely pointing out that after countless interactions and knowing them for so long i have come to the conclusion that i am "generally" more intelligent than my immediate family members. That's all. "Equality" is a leftist myth, the truth is there ARE varying differences between people. This is neither "good" nor "bad", but just reality and "how it is". Only leftist/SJW types "take offense" at this reality-based notion
Regarding your family's "boring" opinion of you, I have a similar thing happen to me, except my family tells me i come across as "too serious" rather than "boring". I get this "you're too serious" comment often.
I feel like the OP.
I've flown a prop plane, tore down and rebuilt an engine (several actually), fixed broken hvac systems, never tried growing anything but I know what's involved, almost went to school for astrophysics but couldn't afford tuition and living expenses, I would absolutely love to see a horse do a backflip but I don't reckon that's possible. I don't mess with pot so I have no interest in growing it, smoking it, eating it, or whatever else one does with it but I'd happily discuss the benefits of legalizing it along side every other drug.
That being said, I have no interest in the small talk that makes up most family functions. I don't care about someone's opinion of the weather. I do not care about how your kids are doing in school. I don't care about your random aunt that did something crazy, dumb, or both.
It's not about putting yourself on a pedestal. Stupid people bore me. I bore stupid people. There's a gap.
I want to talk about how and why and ideas. They want to talk about themselves and other people.
I walk away from people who talk about the superfluous. I don't care about it. People walk away from me when I talk about ideas and implementations. They don't care about it.
It's fine. No. It's great. We don't need a planet full of people with the exact same concerns and intellects.
We need the dumb and the smart and the intermediate to make things happen. Different intelligence levels come with different perspectives. It's ok that my family and I have nothing to talk about with each other. We all have our own groups of people with which to discuss what interests us. The good news is, if you're actually intelligent, you can find something to occupy your time. If that doesn't work, you can always move 2400 miles from your nearest family like I did and not have to worry about it.
Side note: you can really tell the unintelligent posters from the intelligent ones in threads like this. It's hilarious and a fun thing to do whilst bored at family functions.
Disclaimer. Not calling anyone unintelligent or intelligent. Not insulting anyone. Just making an observation about no one specific.
I really think you hit the nail on the head with this sentence here. When people sound like one of those holiday letters, an entire page that they put into a Christmas card about everybody in their family it is too much. I've found its really best to keep it brief even when people ask about my kids. Other wise their eyes gloss over and they are just waiting to speak anyway. The last part especially separates the dumb ones. It's gossip. I don't think smarter people do it and you may as well walk away. I have one relative in particular that has alienated people by saying how ugly or whatever someone is. Just walk away. I made the mistake of trying to explain why its bad to do this and it did nothing but waste my time trying. Every gathering stuff like "So and so is such a plain unattractive girl, but so nice." Blah blah blah.
My kids are pretty awesome but I don't talk about them unless people ask. I know most people don't really care about other people's kids and I don't blame them. Kids suck.
Same goes for myself. No one cares about the things I do or like or want and it's because I suck. lol. I'm not a celebrity. I'm not a president. I'm not super hot. I didn't "throw shade" on so and so. I lead a fairly typical life. No one should be all that interested in it. I'd rather you come up with your own view of me rather than have me try to explain myself to you. BUT, if someone asks me about myself, I'll answer.
And the same goes for other people. Unless you did something notable and I would like some insight into how you came up with the notable thing, I don't really care about your life.
I don't know how true this is, but I've read that small talk and frivolous discussions are a uniquely American thing. To me it seems fake and I hate it.
One more tidbit. A recent study suggests that there's a strong correlation between intelligence and wanting less social interaction.
Based on your posting history here, I doubt there is an intelligence gap.
Owned.
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, i was merely pointing out that after countless interactions and knowing them for so long i have come to the conclusion that i am "generally" more intelligent than my immediate family members. That's all. "Equality" is a leftist myth, the truth is there ARE varying differences between people. This is neither "good" nor "bad", but just reality and "how it is". Only leftist/SJW types "take offense" at this reality-based notion 
