People who get nervous around geeks and nerds.

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This was always a big thing in my school. There were a few students, a handful, who had acquired vast amounts of information on various subjects and a few straight A students who made the honor roll every year. They made other students uneasy, sometimes garnishing their wrath or dismay. Most the time they stuck close to others who were like them.

Now bear with me because this does somewhat relate to philosophy. Could the real reason others were sorta intimidated by these people on a subconscious level, thus, manifesting in this meek and at other times brazen hostility, both silent and spoken, action and apathy, is the recognition, on some level, knowledge is the real power. It is the secret to getting through life and perhaps conquering it?

I know you made a whole thread about this and I was going to post but then it went off in an odd tangent.

Although "knowledge is power" is an aphorism, there is another sort of power that comes even more into play here. It's the power of self control, the ability to delay gratification in the service of a more distant goal. There was a famous study done in 1970 called the Marshmallow Study. In this study, preschoolers were put alone in a room with no distractions (i.e. toys or other kids) and just a marshmallow (or similar treat they desired) on a plate. They were told that if they could resist temptation for 15 minutes and not eat it, they would get another one. About a third of the kids could do this. There was a followup study to see how the preschoolers were doing as adolescents. The third who could resist were doing the best.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_m ... experiment

It isn't entirely (or even primarily) the knowledge that gets those kids their high grades and makes the other kids uneasy (the unease leading sometimes to anger). It's the ability to hunker down and study study study even if more fun distractions are available. This makes the other kids both somewhat contemptuous ("those nerds don't know what fun is, they just study all day") and uneasy because of the singlemindedness it shows. That level of singlemindedness can be a little unnerving to those who don't have it.

Back in my school days I straddled the line between the studious nerds and the more fun loving kids who got lower grades. This made me roughly a B student with an ocasional foray into A's when I really enjoyed a subject and into C's when I was just bored with studying and wanted to do something else (I would have failed the marshmallow test). So I got to overhear what the party animals were saying about the nerds (of whom I sometimes was one). A common line was that it was just "unnatural" to study all the time. They were deeply suspicious of kids who didn't let loose and party sometimes.

If there was a similar sentiment at your school, that would be where the negative feelings were coming from, not the knowledge itself. The knowledge was just an outside indicator of this unswerving drive and self control that seemed a little spooky to those without it.

Knowledge has little to do with success in life but Wisdom wins the day, in my opinion, and that only comes through experience THROUGH the hard knocks of life FOR THE WIN, FTW.

But never the less, in school, there is the rule to make good grades and people who make the grades easy, can definitely bring scorn from others who have to work so hard to even get passing grades.

However, the more different folks are from the perceived norm, NO MATTER WHAT THAT DIFFERENCE MAY BE, the more they are going to get bullied both verbally, physically, and passive aggressively.

Different brings scorn, both when it is perceived as advantageous and disadvantage.

It takes resilience to be different and survive.

And that's where wisdom can come in later for success, if a person can keep from becoming a bully himself or herself per either an intellectual bully or a social bully.

To treat ANYONE UNFAIRLY is never wisdom. What comes around does go around.

And oh how I love my old 'enemies' from school, WHO in no uncertain terms told me I did not deserve to live, as I was very different from the norm.

I'm still different from the norm, and when I see them all haggard and potbellied in the buffet line at restaurants I say a little prayer of thank you for keeping me so 'young, strong, and 'beautiful', he-HE, at age 54.

I'm lifting 810 LBS at my local military gym, with my legs, dance walking a style of martial arts/ballet for 2700 miles now in a period of 15 months, OUT DANCING 20 SOMETHING YEAR OLDS for 4 hours full bore at RAVE DANCE HALLS, and they are sitting on mall benches all saggy eyed and bored of life.

AND UGH, SADLY ENOUGH even some of the 20 something year olds. :(

My enemies WERE and ARE my greatest blessing for the greatest success in life that is simply health and well being and yes being financially independent is icing on the cake.

They told me I was too weak to exist, and now I am stronger than they could ever imagine themselves to be.

I listened to their 'constructive criticism' and IT PAID OFF BIG TIME.

THEY WERE NEVER TRULY PAYING ATTENTION TO THEIR OWN CRITICISM APPARENTLY FOR the FULL term of life as it shows all over their body and mind as such IN REAL LIFE NOW.

So yeah come on adversity, TAKE THAT!

I'M WELL VERSED ON IT TO DEFEAT IT NOW, thanks in large part to all the bullies of my life.

But sadly enough some folks just put their head down and give up OR FIGHT BACK BY ONLY BECOMING A BULLY THEMSELVES FOR THE LOSS, FTL, INSTEAD OF WHAT COULD BE FOR THE WIN, FTW.

HELL NO, THERE WAS NONE OF THAT FOR ME, AND HELL NO I WAS A FRAGILE CHILD AND NOTHING LIKE I AM TODAY.

AND HERE'S A LITTLE SONG THAT DESCRIBES HOW THAT FEELS TO ME, every time I see my bully friends around town, with a wink of course, just for fun. ;)




OH, AND I FORGOT to mention I also married, objectively AND AESTHETICALLY speaking, one of the most beautiful girls WHO EXISTS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD without makeup, all natural, as she still is now, at age 44. She does not have to wear makeup to be gorgeous OR GET JACKED UP WITH SILICONE OR ANY OF THAT OTHER STUFF.

AND BY REQUEST I CAN provide photos to prove that as well. :)

I stayed a nice guy no matter what, and hell yes that also paid off in the arena of love BIG TIME AS WELL. :)

And my old bully 'friends' just look at me when my wife and I come into the buffet line WITH A STARK LOOK OF WTF and words OF DAMN you and your wife NEVER GET OLDER how do y'all DO THAT.

AND THEN SOMETIMES THEY SAY I wanna do WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

AND then I look directly at them eye to eye (with my $700 Maui Jim shades on) WITH A SHINING FTW SMILE AND SAY we take care of our human being, and that is all.

YES, MY WIFE WAS BULLIED TOO, FOR BEING POOR PER DISADVANTAGE, AND FOR BEING BEAUTIFUL IN HER CASE PER ADVANTAGE, AND SHE OVERCAME it as well THROUGH LOVE INSTEAD OF HATE.

We appreciate every second of our lives and it shows as that is the way life CAN work, FTW, for those who STRIVE TO MEET ALL CHALLENGES OF LIFE IN A POSITIVE MANNER AND not to FALL, FTL, THROUGH NEGATIVE WAYS OF LIFE.

It's not just a matter of studying. Some kids didn't study. They just had all the answers and weren't necessarily popular although you would think others would be saying, wow so cool that you aced that or that you can talk about such complex material or you only have to listen in class and ace a test without taking notes or studying.

Take jocks for instance. People are not hostile toward them. They offer praise instead or at the most, indifference. You would think the non athletic would have the same attitude toward jocks the non studious have toward geeks but it doesn't happen. It's just the smartness that brings out the jealousy and rudeness and why would people be that way unless it was some subtle display of power they are picking up on subconsciously and it manifests in their resentment and disrespectful attitude toward geeks?

They suffer from brain envy.

@ANA

Well, to be perfectly honest I've been bullied more for my intelligence on this site, than anywhere else; in failed attempts, anyway, and there are reams of evidence of that still documented on this website.

And no, it's not because it's low intelligence either. It just goes way over the head of some folks.

So yes, in a way you are correct, but no, the jocks in the world are not jealous of that as they are secure in themselves, for the most part.

Some folks just like to toy with folks too, to pass the time, and yes, there are quite a few jocks that are leaning toward the psychopath checklist as well. :)

But science does now show in studies that folks on the spectrum with symptoms of ADHD who have been bullied in life by others are more likely to bully others in someway, either intellectual or otherwise, depending on what their MO of bullying is, per greater than the general population.

People who bully are most often victims themselves and this applies to all parts of the general population.

The reason the statistics bear it out for the spectrum is simply cause folks are bullied more, and that is the standard math of bullying as what comes around does tend to go around, except for folks who RISE ABOVE IT.

Well, no doubt that happens as people can easily feel inferior when one does better if they are not secure in themselves.

I've never felt that way per STANDARD intelligence, so it matters not to me, but yes, I can understand how other folks may be bothered by it.

It's just human nature, and nothing serious, unless folks are harmed.

BUT truly often folks with very high standard intelligence are functionally disabled in emotional intelligence and this is what they are more often bullied about or even per the non-verbal language of disdain. But no, that part is certainly NOT jealousy.

What gets me is why aren't people impressed with mental gymnastics as much as they are physical? I am more impressed with how people think than what they are capable of doing physically, like running down a field with a football. I just don't understand why people wouldn't be just as impressed with both but so many of them, especially here in the US, are disdainful of mental athletes and if such a person is in anyway smug or arrogant, that can send some over the edge yet they will accept the same attitudes from physical athletes.

Well, it's much more complicated than that as science now shows that physical intelligence is responsible for emotional and sensory integration by way of the cerebellum.

Yes, science now shows that physical driven emotional intelligence is real REQUIRED INTELLIGENCE for success in life, and even survival in the long run.

All human reason by core is emoted by emotion and sensory integration is a requirement to navigate the world in synch per balance.

People who do not move and increase their physical intelligence all through life, can become functionally disabled both in emotional and sensory integration.

Yes, science is finally understanding what Eastern Philosophies have understood for thousands of years in arts of movement/physical intelligence like Yoga AND TAI as healing arts as emotional dis-regulation is a core issue that underlies stress.

And simply put, stress kills, and science now shows conclusively that it does and how it happens damaging all major body systems per stress hormones of a body AND MIND that no longer controls emotional regulation through balanced movement.

Interestingly, some of the newest therapies for Autism are in movement and increasing physical intelligence, as this environmental factor may be a major contributing factor to functionally disabling factors of physical and emotional intelligence and sensory integration.

Use it or lose it does apply and the sports folks are increasing their full intelligence as science now shows that even after a one hour exercise session standard IQ points can go up around 10 percent as exercise increases human focus of mind.

Emotions integrate memory as well, and a deficit in emotional intelligence means dysfunction in executive functioning too, at least in part.

Truly I've 'healed' all the major parts of my physical and emotional intelligence deficits simply through the art of physical intelligence per dance, martial arts and a life spent living in a TAI CHI way of overall movement.

After all it is what our ancestors naturally did as foragers, so Mother Nature true rewards us for what has worked for hundreds of thousand of years.

And to fool Mother Nature FALSE by not following human nature is to pay a consequence, as science does now show in the evidence that does now exist.

WILL PEOPLE LISTEN TO THIS SCIENCE AND MAKE A CHANGE.

NOT likely as people who are not proficient in physical and emotional intelligence AND SENSORY INTEGRATION overall cannot handle change.

So it's kind of a catch 22, and 'we' CAN EXPECT rates of Autism Spectrum Disorders to continue to increase as the mechanical cognition part of the brain is used to the exclusion of the social and empathy part of cognition driven by physical intelligence and the cerebellum in the brain, per sitting behind machines statically and in effect and affect becoming the machines instead of MORE FULLY HUMAN, AS WE ARE EVOLVED TO BE.

They fear intelligence because they feel inferior so have the need to bully geeks and nerds in school but with the rise of the internet the tables have turned for we rule the internet and bully back via trolling!

I am not a huge fan of emotional intelligence or EQ, as some refer to it. I feel it gets in the way of learning and it can make one prey to being manipulated by someone with high EQ as these are readers who can pick up on every little subtlety making them adept at playing on people's feelings. I don't like it. It gets in the way of learning what really matters. So if you are hurt by something someone says, someone with high EQ picks up on the hurt instantaneously and can use it in attempts to control you by talking about what triggers your Achille's Tendon. I would prefer them not being able to discern it.

I am all for good manners. When people display good manners and behavior, hurt feelings are at a minimum anyway. It's only when people are trying to dominate through emotional battering that feelings become hurt, resentment builds and learning comes to a halt.

WELL.. the fact is science now shows THAT PHYSICAL DRIVEN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE is AT the core of all learning and human reasoning.. and not to take advantage of it.. in a PRO-SOCIAL WAY.. is not to take advantage of what can be the fullest human potential in FULL HUMAN INTELLIGENCE THAT CAN BE...:)

TO NEGLECT it truly is to live with half a metaphorical brain...

IT'S A MYTH at LEAST that EQ iS A bad thing...

Psychopathy/Sociopathy and Malignant narcissism is not EQ.. it is imbalance and PERSONALITY DISORDER often leading to human suffering... both for those that have THESE PERSONALITY DISORDERS and those who are the unfortunate recipient of CON-SOCIAL WAYS OF EMPATHY AND EMOTION.. PER NEGATIVITY AND WHAT SOME FOLKS DESCRIBE AS THE BAD OR EVIL IN LIFE..:)

^^^

Sorry Ana, I failed to provide a detailed definition of what Emotional Intelligence is.

For starters on the actual test that is available on line, when I was a shut-in and terrified of socializing with people I scored around a 55 on the EQ test, and for all practical intents and purposes I was a verified SLOW person with Emotional Intelligence.

AS OF a year ago, I score a 95 so I now, per that empirical measure, EXCEL IN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, AND TRULY I no longer feel like I am operating on half a brain for metaphor.

My problem then was EXTREME affective empathy per emotional contagion that I experienced around a group of stressed out folks, like Wal-Mart, AND IT was if I was FEELING ALL THEIR EMOTIONAL PAIN at one time.

So my issue was TOO MUCH AFFECTIVE EMPATHY and I have struggled with this over the course of my lifetime as a person who was born, basically as A REAL LIFE EMPATH.

WHAT ALSO CAN HAPPEN, for the ‘empaths’ of the world, is eventually their brain gets burned out BY THE EXTREME NATURE OF THEIR AFFECTIVE EMPATHY and they can no long feel any affective empathy at all.

And YES, I'VE ALSO experienced this and both scenarios are the cause of human suffering and deficits in the ability to reciprocally socially communicate, aka Autism in some cases, per the spectrum, still, as is.

Now the problem with Bullies, Malignant Narcissists and those of the Socio-path personality disorder flavor, is they are lacking AFFECTIVE EMPATHY AND DO not feel THE PROSOCIAL EMOTIONS OF regret and or shame when they harm their fellow human beings on purpose, just to see them squirm with psychological or physical pain.

So in AFFECT THESE FOLKS ARE ALSO SLOW ON EQ, AS EVEN IF they have normal or high cognitive empathy in understanding how other folks tick, they still only have 'half a brain' of the Emotional Intelligence required for peaceful social interaction with their fellow humans beings, resulting in the type of social cooperation that we as BALANCED HUMAN BEINGS are evolved for as a whole, for any chance at long term SURVIVAL AS WE STAND NOW IN NUMBERS OF OVER 7 BILLION HUMANS WHO ARE CURRENTLY also dominating the earth.

And there is another emotional intelligence that is not measured by current Internet tests, as far as I know, and that is the EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE OF CONNECTION WITH the rest of Mother Nature that is the common sense that if we do not live in balance with Mother Nature and our evolved human nature, we are truly F-ING up.

And yes, truly again, this is a great cause of human suffering, both for the recipients of folks who are harmed by folks who either lack cognitive empathy and or affective empathy per emotional intelligence as well as the folks who have an imbalance in either types of empathy and do suffer in psychological distress from only having half a heart, per either FEELING OR EXPRESSING APPROPRIATE EMPATHY FOR others.

Love (THE UNCONDITIONAL HUMAN TYPE FOR ALL OTHERS) is the prize, and the GREATEST HUMAN POWER, and as far as human beings go, it is the driving SOURCE OF ALL OUR SOCIAL COOPERATION SUCCESS, YES, IN all the byproducts of culture we see around us.

Without SOCIAL COOPERATION, THESE HUMAN ARTIFACTS OF CULTURE WOULD NOT EXIST.

AND THAT'S JUST ANOTHER PHRASE FOR EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE PER SOCIAL COOPERATION.

SO YES, EQ IS PRICELESS AND NECESSARY FOR HUMAN SURVIVAL, AT COPIOUS BALANCED AMOUNTS.

I hope this helps.

Empathy is one of my favorite research subjects and I actually helped to define it, as is, as a Wiki editor, PER WIKI DEFINITION, as one of my other historical past times, for STANDARD IQ FUN. :)