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Why is it that people with a very high intelligence often lack common sense?

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What is behind the whole 'absent minded professor' thing? Like brilliant people that cannot even organize their check book or anything.

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  1. Well that's a good question some people can be brilliant and still be absent minded. But that's mostly because they think they know everything that they don't have to think or just don't want to think or forget to think. Now every once in a while very smart people fail at something now that's just part of life. Failing at something is part of life. You learn from those mistakes to become a better person. Everybody is not perfect. Now not everybody is absent minded though. But if you are really really smart don't let it go to your head because you will be prompted to make a mistake.


  2. I have a friend who is like that. She graduated with her Bachelors in criminal justice at the age of 21. Yet is lost when it comes down to the most dumbest and obvious things. It has always baffled me...

  3. Well I don't know the answer, but you are soooo right about this.I used to work for a couple just like this, they were brilliant. They had a child and I swear the only reason they did was so they would have a tax right off. When it came to raising their child, they were completely clueless.  

  4. hmmm ... i dont agree with this as i dont think its true lol ... but intelligent people are clever because they have studied to specialise in that area and therefore its the easy things they get caught out on because they forget about them and concentrate on the stuff they specialise in . . .

    (need help with a question)

    http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...

  5. their minds are onto bigger things?

  6. Because they don't really pay attention to reality.  All they really do is study and put there noses in books.  We have a couple of those types of students at my school but not many teachers.  They get straight A's but do really stupid things and make weird comments.

  7. "Common sense" is the wisdom we have in common as a human community. I have found that the more intelligent someone is, the more often they have a clear idea of the common sense and how to follow it.

    Dr. Alfred Adler said that common sense if "socially useful."

    He contrasted common sense with "private logic," or the reasoning we use to put ourselves first, to think only of ourselves, or to put other people last. He called that "socially useless" behavior, because it did nothing to help the community, only the self.

    The "absent minded professor" is pretty much a thing of fiction, especially movies and TV.

    And yes, brilliant people often do not bother with mundane things such as balancing their checkbooks, washing their cars, etc. Why bother? There are SO many more interesting and important things to do!

    -- Dr. Bob

  8. That is not always the case, of course. When it is I think it is due to excessive "book smarts" and insufficient "street smarts" perhaps caused by a lack of social interaction during youth and an excessive focus on theory rather than experience. Just my opinion, I am not an expert.  

  9. I don't think they lack common sense; I think that people who are less intelligent claim that those with a higher IQ lack common sense because it gives them pride to think they have something that their professors don't. People with high intelligence have common sense, and can use it very well, but they don't use it 100% of the time, just like anybody else. They're human still, and are prone to making bad decisions.

  10. their brains are filled with pointless book info instead of common sense.  they dont have room insdie their brains.

  11. Because they can`t see the wood for the trees. Nor can they see the bigger picture, they can only centre on one thing, ignoring all other factors, firmly in the belief that they are right. Nor do they favour others opinions.

  12. They may have book sense, but they sometimes lack street sense

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