Intelligence is the product of an individual’s grasping capability. But do highly intelligent people lack common sense? Why and why not? Let’s find out.
“Have you ever seen a person with a high IQ committing silly mistakes?”
“Were you amazed by his silliness?”
A similar thing happened to me when I was having a brief discussion with one of the smartest people in my family. The man is my uncle, who has a high IQ of about 132 and is the coolest person I have ever met.
He is sassy and has a great sense of humor. What’s funny is that he likes to troll others whenever he is happy. Due to his intelligence and practicality, I have always thought of him as a guide to navigate my way in the real world.
However, with all his analytical and cognitive skills, he still ends up doing silly things that no one can expect. Especially in terms of utilizing resources, he doesn’t even have a fair reputation.
So, “What’s the deal about it?”
Well, I guess it’s a human tendency to commit mistakes and later regret them. But, to my surprise, most people did relate to my experiences and witnessed the same things I noticed in my uncle.
It definitely raises a question in our minds. “Do highly intelligent people lack common sense?”
That is what we are going to find out in the forthcoming sections.
Why common sense is vital for intelligence?
If you think common sense is not vital for intelligence, then you are certainly wrong. Most people believe that common sense is just a simple thought process of making sense of things in practicality.
It is also one of the reasons why people most tend to disregard it as just thinking that supports facts and evidence and nothing more. However, we seldom explore the significance of common sense in intelligence.
The truth is when a person uses both common sense and intelligence, he isn’t silly. In fact, he becomes wiser. But, when he abuses common sense and only uses intelligence, he is most likely to come off as silly or senseless.
But, this isn’t enough to classify common sense as vital for intelligence.
So, “Why is it vital for intelligence?”
Here are 3 prime reasons why is it so.
1. Common sense keeps us grounded:
Being grounded and reminding oneself of practical implications is a sign of intelligence too. The conventional sense of intelligence has a lot to say about it. But, we have misunderstood intelligence in recent times.
Nowadays, most people regard intelligence as purely subjective that requires deep and critical thinking of situations. Though, that is not always the case. Common sense helps us to be down to earth and balances our idealistic minds.
Hence, the reason why common sense is vital for intelligence is that it helps us to be grounded.
2. Common sense makes us rational:
It is important to be rational and level-headed when we talk about intelligence. Rationality requires a person to be both mentally and emotionally sound.
Likewise, common sense also requires the person to be level-headed with his judgments, whether logically or emotionally. In other words, it aims for a better and efficient way to benefit humanity.
Therefore, another reason why common sense is vital for intelligence is that it makes us rational and sound.
3. Common sense adds cleverness to intelligence:
Cleverness isn’t a part of intelligence. It has a different outlook on life as well as applications. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t beneficial to us. In fact, more than anything cleverness, in some cases, is better than intelligence.
Common sense and cleverness do share something in common, i.e., practicality. In other words, common sense can help us develop our cleverness that would benefit our intelligent brains in the long run.
Hence, the last and final reason why common sense is vital for intelligence is that it adds cleverness to intelligence.
So, here we have discussed how common sense gives a direction to intelligence.
But, “Do highly intelligent people lack common sense?”
Let’s find out in the next section.
Do highly intelligent people lack common sense?
After discussing the importance of common sense and its role in influencing our intelligence, it is time to understand how intelligence can also be correlated with a lack of common sense.
No wonder we admire intelligence for its raw potential and high grasping power. Famous personalities such as Albert Einstein, William Shakespeare, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Isaac Newton have proved the potential of intelligence with their brilliant theories and artistic masterpieces.
The lack of common sense comes from many different factors that make a person very ignorant of practical situations. Moreover, when faced with simple solutions, he can also become very impatient.
So, here are 5 must-know reasons why some highly intelligent people lack common sense.
1. They prefer to see only one side of the problem:
Most problems have a fixed solution that doesn’t require much effort. However, problems that have multiple solutions requires a person to be perceptive.
Common sense helps in fulfilling the needs or resources to solve any kind of problem. But if some intelligent people try to look at only one side of the problem and seldom utilize their common sense to apply resources and look at it from the other side.
They prefer to see one side of a problem and do not wait to use the resources and see it from multiple sides.
2. They refuse to understand things with practicality:
One of the reasons why most people refuse to understand the practical implications of an idea. Some intelligent ones have trouble understanding things with common sense.
For instance, they might be too perfectionistic and do not want to lower down their expectations for the sake of practicality. This tendency of refusing to comply with common sense doesn’t help them understand the root of the problem and ultimately makes them sound irrational.
Hence, if they refuse to understand the practical implications that come with common sense, then they might lag in their intelligence.
3. They depend on critical thinking more than factual logic:
It is important to balance critical thinking with facts and data. If one is seldom used, the other won’t allow them to understand the situation. In other words, they would appear more close-minded than they actually are.
The preference for the deep thought process comes with so many psychological problems such as stress, depression, and anxiety. Also, with critical thinking, factual logic is often rejected by them.
One should never depend more on critical thinking than factual logic. The two must be balanced to ensure better openness to experiences and possibilities along with proper resources.
4. They are too stubborn to accept the benefits of common sense:
Common sense comes with many benefits. For instance, when you are under a serious problem where it is impossible to deal with without proper awareness, common sense comes in handy with its typical grasp on practical solutions with efficiency.
However, being stubborn about accepting its benefits and dismiss them as generic solutions or easy way out is not good in the long run. Such people might be highly intelligent, but they can’t deal with efficiency as an important measure.
Therefore, common sense has many benefits and must be utilized to do a task easily and as soon as possible.
5. Lastly, they prefer to be more accurate than efficient:
Accuracy is also a very important aspect of intelligence. Not only it is vital but also the basis for providing correct solutions to a problem that won’t be detrimental in the long run.
But, one must also remember that accuracy is a subjective process that consumes time. It might conflict with the efficient part of the problem, which requires good common sense and awareness of the importance of time. Therefore valuing one over the other doesn’t help.
Hence, they try to be more accurate than efficient and sacrifice the time they might need in the future. It doesn’t help their intelligence at all.
Final Words:
To sum up, intelligence without common sense is like a teacup without tea. It might seem enough, but it is not. People who abuse their common sense for better solutions might be deceiving themselves in the long run.
The above ways clearly demonstrate why some intelligent heads end up committing silly mistakes to validate their own way of thinking.