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Miss Double ShotTwo Octobers ago, I was stuck in a New York airport hoping to get home in time for our school's big Halloween party. My flight had been delayed for hours and I was generally fed up . . . the guy next to me was delayed, too, and when we both let out long, loud sighs at the same time, we started talking.
Paul was my age, but unlike me, he had done his undergrad at Princeton and would start grad school at Harvard the following year to study math. Oh yeah, and he was translating ancient epic poems into English from an assortment of eastern European languages, too.
Gulp.
I felt like a little bit of an idiot for saying that I was from a small city, had gone to college at a state school and had no plans to go to grad school unless someone dragged me there or threw a lot of money my way . . . but he ended up being polite, interested in our conversation and really accommodating.
I always feel dumb when I talk to people who are obviously smart
because I tend to either say really inane things or just show my
self-proclaimed intellectual inferiority . . . but I think I held my
own okay. He let me use his computer, we added each other as friends on Facebook and had exchanged numbers, promising to call each other and, to my surprise, we've kept in touch pretty well over the past couple of years!
Do you get nervous when you talk to a guy or girl with obvious talent or brainpower? How do you combat that nervousness?
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Comments (56)
No. When I encounter such individuals, I'm fascinated and intellectually stimulated.
not really. there are so many super-smart people in college you kind of get use to it
i actually love it. it's such a turn-on to be around someone with great talent and/or intelligence. i think i'd prefer to have my S.O be smarter than me, just so that i'm always on my toes and learning things from them.
i say, use it as inspiration and milk it for all its worth.
I never minded talking to people with more knowledge or intelligence than me because it is a good opportunity to learn some interesting stuff. I do however hate talking to people who are dumb and I hate it even more so if they are dumb but think they are very intelligent. I don't like talking to those people because they often cannot grasp that there are things that they don't know or they think that if they don't understand something that means that it is impossible.
By an equal amount of brain power....
I have yet to meet someone who is smarter than me in the same areas I am. Everybody has there own strengths in brainpower; some are more math inclined, some literary, some science. So if someone comes up to me and rattles off 50 of the best authors in history I'm not intimidated, cause I can build a bridge. 
Um, I think that's a tought one, but actually I'm fine because I know that I could have been one of those 'smart people' in England that had a shot at Oxbridge... when I was still taking my gcse's (16 years old) but I threw it all away for what I really want to do when I took my a-levels (18 years old) and I'm ok with that.
As well as that, a lot of my friends do go to Cambridge or Oxford so I think that puts me at ease with other people, and you have to remember that smart people are still people.
To be honest I feel awkward around seriously talented people... like when I meet actors that I eventually want to be like, or if I ever met a really famous artist... Because I guess I see it that brains, to a certain extent you can work for... I have one friend that got amazing a-levels really easily, and then another that got the same grades, but had to work really hard for them. But for the most part, raw talent can't be taught.
It depends on what they're talking about. I know I'm smart too, but only on certain subjects. History for example? Not my area. I can get rather nervous if a guy starts talking history. But everybody has their different areas of expertise. My last boyfriend was an environmental scientist, and when he would talk about stuff I felt like was always like "ddddaaaahhhh" but then I realized that when I talked about film stuff, he felt the same way and he thought it was so cool that I could actually make films. He was like "I have no idea how to even go about something like that."
Must have been a damned good conversation for a flight delay! ^_^
@la_faerie_joyeuse@xanga - You're not the only one. :] I enjoy a good conversation with people I can learn things from.
I think I ask a lot of questions... personal stuff-- cuz u can't really judge someone's intellect on that.. and it'll just flow the conversation to different things. And I try to soak up some of their brain powers. haha. If I don't understand something, I ask them to explain. I take it as an opportunity to learn... since i'm not in school anymore... :]
p.s. i hate working life.. i can't wait to go to school.. IF they'll accept me :]
Yeah...you're dumb, lol.
No kidding, kidding =P
I just talk about the things I know, and if a smart person is trying to engage me in a difficult subject like politics, I'll just change the topic to something I know, ie. ice-cream.
yes i get nervous lol and it never helps when u have a lil crush on the indivdual at the same time!
I don't think it matters as long as you're an open person (and are somewhat educated)... and as long as you stay away from topics where they might be quasi-experts in, like quantum physics or the upcoming presidential debate. It's been quite a while since I've met or hung out with an "intellectual" though... I've forgotten what they're like :P.
I get nervous and intimidated even though I know I'm not a dummie. So I laugh and chit chat and I try to get over myself, and if I don't know something I don't fake nod and let my eyes glaze over, I'll ask the person to tell me more about it and then I'll give my views on whatever the hell he was rambling on about.
I like talking to people smarter than me, but only if they're older :]
Otherwise, I feel dumb.
@Meunonomo@xanga - My sentiments precisely.
I try not to be intimidated by people who are smarter than me. I mean, we're all idiots one way or another, no?
to me it's just another person. i work in a hospital and have to interact with doctors all the time because it's a team setting. once you get over being shy and intimidated you can confidently approach anyone, even a rocket scientist. the real question is, ok you're super smart but can YOU carry a conversation with another human being?
plenty of phD's that honestly can not tell another human being what it is that they do.
No, I just figure I can always learn something and why not through a good conversation?
I adore grey matter!! Then again, I am a brainiac and have been told it's intimidating to talk to a woman with so much intelligence. Or it could've been a line.
yes...it's hard to combat. but you can just fight it back by finding a topic that they don't know much about (and you do) or something that you both know enough information about.
I drag them down to my level of stupidity and beat them with experience.
Ehh. Only when they want to have a conversation about it. Can't have a conversation about something you have no idea about! And all the questions I may have seem to have obvious answers, so I may not ask.
I prefer not to discuss facts where I can be wrong and they can be right, and talk about subjective things where we both can be right about ourselves, or we can both just guess and possibly be wrong about everything. o_o
No, but I have yet to encounter such a scenario. If I could marry someone smarter than me then that would be great. I wouldn't have to worry about her doing stupid stuff or wasting money, and she might make more money than me which would improve our standards of living and give the kids a better future. I have no axe to grind, and I'm not intimidated by women that are taller, smarter, wealthier, better looking, etc. If I could have that then I would have it made.