Do you think that being very smart is a good thing ?

It's a neutral thing to me. One of the happiest people I ever met in my life was a not so bright tech nerd who was short, fat, and bald yet he was extremely satisfied with life.

And that's what life is about. Finding some measure of happiness while you're here.

Intelligence will certainly help you find it but there's people out there who have a great deal of facts, and yet for all their subtleties never gain the greater part of wisdom.

I think being properly smart is a wide combination of infinite skills. Academics being a popular one. But you could be incredibly artistic (visually smart) or very good at making friends (socially smart).
To me it doesn't matter if you were smart in every category possible, if you're close-minded I'm going to call you a retard.

My grandma once told me, from her volumes of infinite southern wisdom "The most intelligent people have the most intense problems or addictions".

She said that this is because that they see the world so clearly, that it is almost painful for them. The smarter you are, the clearer the world is, and it becomes difficult to cope. My grandma was essentially a child prodigy, and she died as a lifelong alcoholic that contributed more to society than most "smart people" could even dream to.

So I would say that it depends. Intelligence is great, but if you do not have a fully developed mind, then it will only turn into arrogance and inability to understand the world and others around you. Your world becomes clear, but only YOUR world and you begin thinking that your world is the only world.

If you do not have the skills to cope with it (which come mainly from the way that your parents taught you to handle your problems), then you, very much like the child prodigies of my family (I am not one of them) will end up spending your life dodging bullets of addiction and attitude problems. Some of us dodge them well, some of us can take a few bullets and some of us get hit directly in the head.

And if you're mentally challenged, then the intelligence will either go unrecognized because you do not have the proper tools to share it, or your intelligence will be dumped into subjects that will prove of no use for you.

TL;DR intelligence is only as good, useful and benevolent as the hands of the person holding it, and whilst intelligence and curiosity in and of themselves are pure concepts, the person is flawed as per human nature.

Intelligence is like a sword. In the hands of someone that is careless and unskilled, it will only end up wounding themselves and others, but in the hands of someone that is suitable to handle it, it will sharpen and be used for good purposes; it won't go to waste.

I wouldn't know since I'm an idiot. Some smart people are pompous assholes who like to think they are better than everyone else. Like when they take silly things so literally and then point out the obvious and think it makes them look like a genius. Then there's the ones who are so nice and like to share their knowledge in a non asshole way and wont judge you of you need elaboration on a topic that they find so easy to understand. There's the crazies who are smart and slick enough to make you believe every lie they say right before they kill you and wear your skin to a fundraiser. Being smart is a good thing when your a good person. Bad people=bad brains

Intelligent people are definitely more prone to depression than mouth breathers and troglodytes, but I think it would be far more preferable to be depressed and capable of thinking about it objectively etc. than being depressed and too ignorant and stupid to comprehend it, which you often see in posts on here

the options are to bad

who gives a shit about being smart. my whole life i was told i was "gifted" but i still sure feel like a dumbass. being smart doesn't even mean anything. intelligence is a limit people impose on themselves and each other to keep them from trying to reach their full potential. I just see a lot of questions like these and I don't understand why you even care.

A few of my other personalities are cosmologists and astronomers and biologists all those other types of scientists, but I'm a dumbass.

I consider myself highly intelligent and have been told on numerous occasions that I am. I skipped a grade, am attending a highly selective high school that is amongst the best in the United States and am in all A.P. classes but my social life is, well meh. I have anxiety coupled with depression and am so mature that I can't relate to anyone near my age. I have an 'old soul.' High intelligence can lead to social and emotional problems, so yes a very smart person is at a heightened risk of emotional/social problems which is bad.

I see where you are coming from. People judge those they can not understand.

Yes but Im sure these people get very lonely.

Yes, it is always good. Smart people in general are more likely to have less children (therefore contributing less to human overpopulation) and be vegetarian (overall good). Honestly, I think being stupid is far worse than any setbacks you think being smart may have.

I'd rather be smart than not.

I'm sure it brings a lot of problems, but I'd rather able to see the world clearly - no matter what I see - than be blind.

Also, Neuro's is a brilliant and thought-provoking comment.

It depends on the person, and how well they deal with social pressures, etc.

I would need to see your sources to know that you're not full of shit. Intelligence and creativity are often related with schizotypal personality types, which is considered a precursor to schizophrenia, but many people who are schizotypal never develop full fledged schizophrenia.

And to that I would like to add... nothing ventured, nothing gained. Many of the world's greatest minds were slightly unhinged. I would feel honored to join their ranks.

Back in my university days, most of my professors were very smart yet they are all normal. Doctors are also very smart. They might get annoyed with the foolishness or stupidity surrounding them, but that doesn't necessarily means that they have issues.

I'm pretty smart myself, and have no mental problems. The good thing is that I recognize that I am not the smartest, or the best at anything! I may be very good at a wide variety of things, but that best at nothing.

Also, there are several people even in our own IIN community that are much more intelligent than myself. You could be the smartest person in the world, if you retain no modesty, you are headed for trouble!

From what I see of the people I know, intelligence usually brings problems. Not always, but definitely in more than half the cases. I don't think the brain was designed to cope with knowing too many things (and, in particular, being able to link those things together). Ignorance is bliss.

I don't know, that's what I voted. I'm not that smart, actually. I think the problems start when you're approaching the extremes. Too smart and you might end up having issues. it was historically noted that many great people of science and music were very..hmm eccentric, sometimes downright crazy.
And being increadibly dumb is not fun either.

Ive been told I am quite smart and people think i have some form of a mental illness. But I wouldnt change myself for the world~

I'm dumb and I have schizophrenia. I wish I had brains!