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Why Smart People Tend to Be Loners
There are direct ways that intelligence can spur on isolation
Not everyone that’s bookish and intellectually curious is a loner, and not everyone whose interests veer towards less abstract and information-dense subjects is an extrovert, but there’s a prevalent stereotype about the brainy introvert, and that stereotype seems to have some truth behind it. Many smart people tend towards being more isolated than others.
I believe there are predictable reasons for this, and the point of this post is to explore those reasons.
Intelligence Changes Perspective
The first reason follows a pretty straightforward hypothesis: Intelligence changes a person’s perspective, which can make it hard for a person to fit in.
If we run a thought experiment where everyone in a group has equal measures of curiosity and cognitive acumen, then it is likely that if presented with the same culture and general circumstances that they would generally come to the same conclusions on a myriad of things.
Now, if we enter into this group an individual who is more curious and more adept at memorizing and thinking, we might find that they develop different opinions. A person who views almost everything differently than the rest of…
