There. I said it. I think this thought has been lingering in my mind since quite a while. It is a very sad thought. A vague, lonely thought. I always knew I was slightly smarter than the average guy. But I never thought it would come to this. It only helps then, that I know very few people.
Here's what frustrates me. Whenever I go searching for intelligent people, I inevitably am faced with the band of philosophers and scientists of our time. I get the self-help gurus here too. These are like one collection of people of a very closely knit in an interlinked thought-castle. These are people of a similar, mostly American, liberal, communal inclination.
These are not intelligent people. These are just a different brand of fanatics, posing as intelligent people.
Then there are the self-help folks. They try to tell people how to improve their lives. They tell success stories and biographies, and give lots of advice. But, as we can all really see, their advice has failed to alter the life of even a single person. I am yet to meet anyone who can truthfully claim that their self-help effort has benefited in any real way. Hasn't anyone seen that their stuff isn't working? But they perpetuate their madness.
These are definitely not intelligent people, either.
The thing is, intelligent people, are truly silent most of the time. They are compelled to spend their time, attention and energy on looking at new things, learning new things, experiencing new things.
They don't give much importance to the endeavor of self aggrandizement. That is because they know that self aggrandizement, will fail to give them any true satisfaction, appreciation or attention.
That's the sad thing about intelligent people. You probably haven't befriended them. You have ignored them and let them be to their own, quiet, satisfied life. To their rather lonely life.
The loneliness of an intelligent man is two fold. The first of the actual physical loneliness. The second loneliness is at a deeper level. For me, even if I have someone talking to me for hours, I know they shall never appreciate the depth of what I mentioned. They, I am pretty sure, will not understand way I am actually saying, what I am saying.
By intelligence, what I mean, is the ability to see reality: unmorphed, unenamored. Intelligence is to see what exists, to understand it's context of existence and to see the limits of it's existence. Simply put, Intelligence is the ability to see reality in it's purist form. That's all there is to it. It does not guarantee success, it does not give any competitive advantage to the one possessing it. It simply see's the truth, without any ulterior motive.
That is what I have come to understand what human intelligence is.
But I digress. I am, unfortunately, the most intelligent person I personally know. I wish people were more intelligent than me. I wish I had just one such friend(or girlfriend) who could show me what is real beyond what I already know, what I can already see. Being with most of the people around me is weird.
The thing that most strikes me about people is the certainty they hold with their opinions and knowledge. They are always sure of everything. The general sentence structure, while conversing is assertive. On the other hand, I am never too sure of my conjectures. I always have a lot of doubt. Perhaps, probably, maybe, most likely, and other such expressions are used by me copiously throughout the day, both while conversing and writing. But I don't see most people doing that. They simply make assertive statements. I find it a bit irksome at times.
I really have been searching for just one intelligent companion. Just one to start with. Maybe there is a secret corner in the world where all the honest, intelligent people of the world gather. But I need one intelligent person to begin with, for now.
Every once a while someone strikes me as intelligent I try to befriend him. But soon enough, the shallowness begins to set in, and my looking out, as before, continues.
