this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2023
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In recent weeks I have met a pretty and sweet girl with what I consider her only biggest problem: her IQ. She is slow, does not remember things and has no concentration at all, has no arguments, systematically repeats the usual twenty words. (A bit like the character of Forrest Gump, for those who do not know what low iq means). I feel like I like it to go deeper, but I wonder if it's not a mistake. Do you have similar experiences?

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 10 months ago (1 children)

To be honest, it sounds like she deserves better than you.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Ha, I was going to say she sounds too smart for him!

[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago (2 children)

A lesson that took me a long time to learn, and at terrible personal cost, is that being smart doesn't matter very much. I was good at academic stuff as a kid, so tons of adults told me that was the most important thing ever, and I've come to realize that was wrong of them.

Let's say, as a fictional example, that I'm top 1% of the population in terms of some abstract measure of intelligence (IQ is an awful one, but let's not get caught up on that). If no one values time spent with people on a lower rung, not only can I not spend time with the people below me on the curve, but people higher won't spend time with me. That gives me such a tiny fraction of the population I can interact with, it's absurd! Meanwhile, people smarter than me are still common enough that I'd encounter several a day -- I'm hardly exceptional enough to be terribly important. What a lonely life that would be!

So three further lessons I've learned, and I think these are important, go something like this:

  1. Intellectual challenges are not scarce. They are a dime a dozen, I can invent them myself inside my head, or pick any number of other problems online. Sometimes I can get paid to solve them, whatever. So I don't need more people to give me those. What's really valuable are the people that challenge you to grow, to become more. It doesn't take intelligence to look you in the eyes when you're being a smartass, and ask you "Do you want to be right, or helpful?".
  2. Better to look for (and learn from) people who are kind and wise than who are smart. The opposite of a great truth is another great truth, the opposite of wisdom and kindness are substantially less desirable.
  3. The harshest lessons in life are always when you trust the wrong person. Harsher still, is when this person was yourself. So it's wise to enter all relationships carefully -- with respect, I don't think the fact you are thinking about this beforehand is wrong, but your focus might be misplaced. I'm just a stranger on the Internet though.
[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

Better to look for (and learn from) people who are kind and wise than who are smart. The opposite of a great truth is another great truth, the opposite of wisdom and kindness are substantially less desirable.

I used to think being an asshole was justified if could back it up with the reasoning required to demonstrate you were actually better at reasoning than others.

Then I grew up and had to deal with those folks (and was exposed to Ben Shapiro). Good reasoning is useful in certain circumstances. Much, much better to invest in emotional intelligence and developing the ability to care about other people than not.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Your point 2 should be universal wisdom.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

If only that there were such a thing :D

[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago

If you really have to ask such things on the Internet, I really wonder who should ask about whom here.

Better leave her be. If you feel that vastly intelectually superior, that relationship would be purely based on mere looks and your physical attraction. What are you? 12? No offence meant.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What's your question exactly?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago

One of my few friends has an intelligent quotient that is just above the lower limit for regularity. You can kind of see it, not in a forest gump way but a kind of absent-minded way, having a good memory but not much else. That doesn't change much though; with his compassion, exceptional specialties, and surprising cunning, you would only notice if you put him outside his comfort zone. He's also trustworthy as a result of his shortcomings, if you want to include a benefit in there.

"If intelligence is the size of a glass, knowledge is how much liquid you fill in it, and wisdom is what liquid you choose, what do you care about more? Choose wisely." ~ Him, just now

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Are we talking casual sex or long term relationship? If it’s long term, I think you answered your own question. If it’s a fling, you may feel like you’re taking advantage of her. But I’m just a simple caveman, your box full of lights frightens me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yes the feeling to taking advantage is something, not casual sex or long term, i'm talking about the beginning.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I’ve been on some wild dates. My car broke down and I had a shotgun drawn when asking for help. On a first date with another girl, we drove to the top of a mountain to look at the city. There were about 5 guys drinking there and they made sexual comments about my date. She asked if I was gonna defend her? I told her I wasn’t going to the hospital when I had just met her. She wasn’t the one.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Thanks for sharing, not exactly the kind of lack of intellect I was talking about, but I understand what you mean. The girl I'm talking about wouldn't be able to understand that some drunk boys are offending us, maybe she would smile thinking that everything is going well.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

I think I was trying to convey that relationships are an investment. And if you aren’t getting reciprocal intellectual or emotional support, it’s not likely to work out long term. But you’ll need to do what’s best for you.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago

If the conversations aren’t satisfying there’s no substitute for that

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Reddit moment

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

What do you mean by “no arguments”?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

She obviously came to debate club unprepared. Major red flag, bro.

/s

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Means that when talking together there is a lack of sharing and as an answer you receive only monosyllables as: Yes, no or OK.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Maybe she doesn’t want to talk to you? Or she’s just quiet, has social anxiety, etc. a million explanations. Not sure why you’re assuming intelligence of someone who you don’t know that well.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm not assuming, she showed up saying she had an intellectual decifict, a certified disability. I am a volunteer and I can recognize people with a disability, it is not the fantasy or stereotype any, this person lives in a reality of disability. Is that clear? is it possible that it is not clear and should be an impression? We talk everyday, the disabled exist, are certified and recognize. I like her, she's sweet and pretty, not quiet, not anxiety, as a friend she's perfect, her intellectual disability is not relevant, but in an intimate relationship I think there are other considerations, so the question.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

There are so many red flags here. And yes, I know ID exists, I used to work with the population. You don’t sound like you respect this person though.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Do you give her a chance to talk?

I don't get intellectual stimulation from my SO usually, to whom I'm married. Originally, I thought she was kinda dumb. Turns out, the stuff I find fascinating she finds intensely boring. And the stuff she finds fascinating I find absolutely disgusting. Like I'm getting an MBA and she's getting a masters in midwifery.

For you, giving her a chance to talk about the things she finds interesting might help you discover where her strengths are, where she feels comfortable.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think we are at different levels of understanding, as many other users cannot see what is the intellectual disability is. I've known this person for almost eight weeks,we talk everyday, she's not stupid, she doesn't do anything stupid, but she has an intellectual disability.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

One word answers for any amount of time doesn't itself suggest an intellectual disability though.

What else does she do? What is she interested in?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

I always feel like whenever somebody is making the specific point that they are so much smarter compared to somebody else they are just boasting their own trumpet.

Maybe you are smarter, Maybe you are not. Who cares? Are you developed on an emotional level to a point where you can deal with both so called smart and so called dumb people?

If you stop thinking about how smart people around you are and start working with them you'll learn to get around through life.

If you like the girl, go for it. If you think she is not smart enough, let her go. But always respect people, because that is what they will remember about you.

And I personally learned that everyone you meet has the potential to surprise you because they think just a little different. Enjoy the variety, enjoy the challenge of communicating what you mean on different levels.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

It's kinda unrelated to your question but actually IQ have no much link with intelligence.

To come back to your question idk. I can't give relationship advices, but it's always interesting to learn to know peoples deeper especially if she really is that different of peoples you know.

Maybe you can give it a shot or try to befriend her instead. Again I'm misplaced to give relationship advices, just see these as ideas, maybe bad maybe good.