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Viliam comments on Stupid Questions August 2015 - Less Wrong Discussion
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I was recently at a bar with some friends, most of which are from the same physics PhD program as me. We had a discussion about how hard it is to spend all your time around unusually intelligent people, and then go out into the real world and have conversations with normal people. It seems to be intelligence-related, because it's usually much easier to have a conversation with, for example, a psychology grad student from Singapore than with a fashion designer who lives in the same city as me.
Is this just because we have no practice talking to people of average-ish intelligence?
Is it because intelligence gaps are inherently difficult in social settings?
Is there some factor other than intelligence that's causing this?
Are we just socially inept?
(Is this more of an open thread question or stupid question?)
I believe a lot of practice would make talking to people with average intelligence easier. Not necessarily more satisfying, though. You will always have to debate with them at their level, while you probably enjoy debating at your level.
Could be. We naturally model other people by imagining what we would do in the same situation. If you use this algorithm to model people with much lower intelligence, you will get many predictions wrong.
Sure. Rationality, culture, past experiences. All of these make modelling each other more difficult.
Possibly; but what exactly do you mean by "inept"? Unable to learn? -- probably not. Haven't learned yet? -- probably yes. The question is whether learning "how to communicate with normal people" is the best use of your time.
Not all talking is debating.