Why smart people fail
Before I continue, I better make some qualifications about that statement. When I say “smart,” I’m not referring to some precise class of people, but rather, a more general group: creative people with generally higher raw computing power. You know, smart people. What I mean by “fail” might be a little more tricky to pin down. I say this because a lot of people (smart people) might object to my diagnosis of their failures. In other words, smart people are more likely to consider “failure” to be an arbitrary thing, one that changes significantly between the different people we might ask about it. I’ve got good news, it is an arbitrary thing, and that’s precisely part of the problem. But what I mean by failure is not what smart people would consider failure but instead what the world at large would call it. I mean the smart person who gets bad grades. Or who gets stuck in a job or career that does not utilize their creativity or computing power. Or who sets his finances on fire. In other words, the world at large says that success means you have a good career, lots of money and you drive a nice car. Plain and simple. And that world doesn’t care whether you want those things or not. In fact, plenty of smart people don’t care about them in the least.
But, the people who have these things enjoy greater leisure in life, invite new challenges and see more opportunities than people who do not. And then what happens is this: smart people (who don’t care about having a nice career, or who are in the wrong career) sit by and watch as the dumber person with the better job gets to go travel to Europe, can afford the new laptop, and later gets to start his own business with the capital he piled up from all those years of making more money than the smart person. In short, the very things that smart people sometimes do not care about in the least can lead to lots of things they do.
Here are some reasons why smart people fail:
Their goals are lot bigger
Smart people think big. They have a greater chance to the see the big picture and they often form their goals around what they see. Besides that though, smart people have greater potential to accomplish bigger things and to make bigger impacts and so their goals and dreams reflect this. Having larger goals means a harder and longer trip and with them, a greater chance of failure. Sometimes it’s not that they are unsuccessful at what they set out to achieve, it’s that they set out to achieve so much more.
What makes them smart makes them ineffective competitors
The corporate ladder? Social status? Designer clothing? Lots of smart people couldn’t care less. Some of them care more about world poverty, global warming and political strife between nations on the other side of the globe. A lot of the time, when smart people fail, it’s because they never tried to succeed, at least at the things that might get them ahead financially or that might give them access to networked friends in the working world.
They falsely mistake most people as being more like them than they are
I’ve met lots of smart people who accidentally assume that all the other people they encounter will fully understand them or share the same viewpoints, think the same kinds of things. But that’s not often the case. The perspectives of the more mainstream people around them often vary significantly from theirs. More mainstream people are thinking ahead about the party next Friday, the drama going on at their girlfriend’s apartment or the next time they plan on going to the mall. For some smart people, they couldn’t care less about these things. In the meantime, they go through life always at odds with their surroundings.
Thinking by itself is not a success
A lot of smart people place too much tangible net worth on their smartness. Thinking, for instance, by itself has no value at all for anyone outside of the person producing the thought. They might conjure up brilliant things all day long, and while someone like me would be the first person to respect it, if they spend too much time thinking just for the sake of their own thinking, they may never get ahead in the tangible world. In a “perfect” world, those who are most suited for thinking should be left alone to think. No one you will meet will sympathize with you about this as much as I do. However, in the end the thinking has to be turned into some kind of utility. You have to do something with that thinking.
They require different kinds of stimulation
So what do all the dumb people enjoy? (I can see the flames coming now). Beer, too much sex, status symbols. Life is a big game where they compete to be the biggest, badest ape. Smart people like to solve puzzles, to challenge their intellects and flex their grey matter. This puts them at a major disadvantage. Beer, sex and cars just isn’t that intellectually stimulating. It’s all stimulating, but smart people need much more. What this does is it causes them to burn out a lot more quickly. Getting up, driving to work while listening to stupid morning shows, and struttin’ around the office or other place of business just really doesn’t do it for most smart people. Why do you think video games are so popular among smart people? They’re all puzzles filled with new experiences. So how can people become more successful? Easy, but read this first:
I’m going to tell you about something I’ve seen my entire adult life. I never walk around bragging that I’m smart to other people. When I speak to people I am gracious, extremely perceptive and highly sensitive to their self-esteem. If I ever were to tell them I was extremely smart, they’d think I was being a jerk, even if what I said was perfectly true, perfectly rational. But something strange has happened everywhere I have ever gone in life. Intelligence always comes up to topic. They’re always the ones who are bringing it up. Almost every single person who has ever gotten to know me, ends up asking me some close variation of this question: “What are you doing here?”
What does that mean? It means that even I, a master mask wearer, cannot hide forever among more common people. I’m always found out. It also means that there is some significant truth regarding the assertion that smart people often struggle to “succeed” in the normal sense, because they’re players in a game they were never truly designed to play. They will often be out of place, and it’s no wonder that smart people fail. To succeed, you must recognize the pervasive truth in the phrase, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” In mainstream life, you have to (at least initially) do mainstream things in order to get ahead, to succeed. You have to play the game. But it’s much more optimistic than that: you’re smarter than they are. You can beat them. You just have to learn the rules and feel the ropes. After that, they don’t even stand a chance. Then, after you’ve done all that, once you’ve succeeded, at least in the arenas of security, personal finances and a few others, you can get back to your own thing.
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Way to crystallize what I’ve been feeling these past ten years, as I switch from job to job and wonder why I don’t give a tiny rat’s ass about living the consumer-ape dream, while still having to subconsciously struggle with the judgment of parents and peers who tsk-tsk behind my back, “If only he were living up to his potential.”
Good to have some other people in your camp, though, no matter how uninvolved in the general baboonery you might think yourself.
@Ernie,
Must be some other people in our camp too. Hard drives are melting. Are you part of the Reddit wave? If so, thanks for the support. Glad I hit my intended audience.
And, just like you said, it’s nice to have people in our camp.
Cheers friend,
Dereck
…why I don’t give a tiny rat’s ass about living the consumer-ape dream…
That’s a hilarious way of putting it!
I am loathe to call myself smart [or if I was, you'd think I'd be successful, right?] but it’s uncanny how I can identify with this piece.
I absolutely agree that success can only come from expressing that which lives within me, or else I have no hope of ever reaching my goal. And I’m happy to say that I’m finally getting there, I took too damn long as it is.
Make it happen!
A very succinct description of my work-a-day life. So many of my friends and coworkers are motivated by things that simply hold no appeal to me. What’s more, they seem to be absurdly irrational in the pursuit of these goals:
“Can’t hang out, have to see ‘Sex in the City’ or I won’t get laid tonight”
“Sure, my job is boring, but I get matching 401k!”
“What do you mean you don’t like beer? Who doesn’t like beer?”
Bleh. I’m going to have to pay more attention to my interaction with the populace on Monday and see how well I fail.
Sung to the theme of any Disney Movie:
There’s a place out there,
There’s a place for you,
With lots of winding stair,
And teams training crew.
If your smart and sad,
And your feeling blue,
Let me tell you lad,
There’s a place for you.
It’s graduate school,
Graduate school,
Don’t look like a fool,
Stop mopping up drool.
Wish I could be,
Out of the Cave,
In graduate school.
Maybe you’re not as smart as you think you are? Just kidding, I understand how you feel although I have not reached the work force yet. Who are we really to judge others for living lives that they could understandably enjoy though? Smart people fail because they do not understand that social lives are as necessary to others as work is to us.
@ Harry - I wrote this precisely for you…
@ Kevin - I’ll do the same on Monday. Let me know how it goes…
@ Aaron - Great, now it’s stuck in my head…
@ Martin - Maybe I’m not. But do keep this in mind: I’m not judging them, I’m really judging us…
OMG, I am so smart and it’s so hard for me. OMG, I’m so glad you wrote this because it, like, totally describes how difficult it is for me to talk to common people. Like, I’ll be talking to them and I can see from the looks on their faces that they’re just thinking, “OMG, this guy is so much smarter than us, maybe we should go hang out with someone who’s stupid like us”, and I’ll just be, like, “Hey, don’t punish me cos I’m brilliant.” And it’s tough, y’know, because I’m, like, an awesome actor and when I’m talking to them I’m in, like, full-blown moron mode. But I guess my intelligence is greater than my acting ability (which, let me tell you, is awesome), because they always end up with that look on their face.
You’re doing good work alerting people to how difficult it is to be brilliant on this blog, man. I totally hope you keep it up.
It is “could NOT care less”.
@ Nazi - You’re correct.
Your latter advice still assumes we give a damn.
…follow the white rabbit, Neo.
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@ Thom - Quite so. That’s when even I go grab a beer.
It turns out these two questions actually are valid:
“If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?”
“If you’re so rich, why aren’t you happy?”
John Maynard Keynes handled the first question with aplomb.
Howard Hughes failed sadly at the second.
@ Meng - Precisely my point.
Great stuff - am impressed (and slightly jealous) at your ability to present these ideas clearly. I am interested to see what kind of community develops here
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I’m just as the person you’ve described. I am smart. I think differently from the common/mainstream person.
So as a result, right now I’m self employed. Running my own internet based business.
I have completed the first stage you described. I worked for 10 years in the IT industry watching this “unreal” office world around me.
While I watched I waited and cleverly kept my mouth shut (I said very, very little about my true feelings in those 10 office years).
In each moment dreamed of my escape to a better life and actively visualized it.
I saved cash like an immigrant
Yep, I made it and am happily self employed. I’m not rich though.
You see the challenge of harnessing your smartness and not letting it block your path is just as great when you are your own boss.
It really is.
**The biggest challenge is learning how to manage boredom and break out of the cycle of excitement/stimulation.** Excitement and stimulation are not how the big profits are produced. To make money you have to learn how to make $1 and then scale. Scaling involves? Repetition.
This post is getting long, but I’ll just summarise in a few points.
I am the “smart” person Derrek described (and smart doesn’t mean intelligent, it just means seeing through the illusion).
This is what I did:
1. Had confidence in myself.
2. Made a definite plan.
3. I learned about the power of visualisation (read Think and Grow rich etc
4. I understood that in this particular life, I want to control wealth/money etc. Turning my back on those things and leaving them in control of the usual ‘apes’ does a disserve - to myself (and maybe to humanity too - yes that’s a bit egotistical). This meant reading Rich Dad Poor Dad and similar and taking it seriously.
5. Picked a few business models. Tried, failed. Failed again. Persisted.
6. Got a business model that worked, suited my ethics etc. Scaled it somewhat.
7. Resigned.
8. Learned about the self employment which means a different kind of self discipline not always surrendering to excitement.
The most important thing I can recommend is visualization.
And consciously choosing to master money.
Which means being able to create and pay your own salary initially.
And later will mean mastering investments.
But you create through visual creation, goal setting, tracking and persistence.
The ultimate aim is to stop working and give your time over to world peace, teaching or whatever.
But master money beforehand.
Please don’t ignore it, smart person. The world may never see your vision otherwise.
The world may never see what you have to give if you miscalculate the importance of money and try to ignore it.
You should master it, *then* ignore it.
Before me beckons
an assignment.
Yes it is,
of my choosing.
In service my potential wakes,
Stirring here
and confiding.
Ai, for all my heart
with me in play,
Readiness is now yielding.
And work this work
my spirit shining,
Knowing to exemplify.
Make this day
to gather, superbly,
Consummating
resolution.
@the_grammer_nazi
Now that your “grammer” is nearly perfect, perhaps you could work on your spelling.
Grammer is a town in Indiana.
“The corporate ladder? Social status? Designer clothing? Lots of smart people couldn’t care less. Some of them care more about world poverty, global warming and political strife between nations on the other side of the globe.”
The smartest people realize the importance of all of these things ;).
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Smart people fail today because stupid people suppress them through moronic power structures. If you’re not socially popular or care about money, you’re not in the game. We need to promote smart people to leadership again, or the idiots will dumb down everything.
There, I said it.
Is ‘getting back to your own thing’ possible once you’re in? (the question is not rhetorical).
Then, the isolation is part of feeling elitist, which - to some people at least - is a pleasure in itself and which they will not readily/ willingly give up. I am not generalizing, but the emotionally they may be happier basking in their aura of a chosen (and existentially alone) one.
@ Katya - That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? Possible, sure. Likely, dunno. Just taking a look around, I’d say no, not likely.
About the isolation being a result of feeling elite, I’m not quite sure what you mean here. Are you saying that smart people who feel alone feel that way because they feel elite?
@ Realist - In some ways, smart people may be suppressed, but I’m not convinced that stupid people would do that consciously. And while that suppression might be through power structures, I’m not so sure I’d call them moronic, but rather, just a natural consequence of our society.
At first, I was somewhat skeptical of the article, especially the apologist kind of nature and the suggestion that someone else’s self esteem is something you need to worry about.
However, there is much truth in the conclusion. I’ve been doing the real world thing for about 4 years now, and I’m already almost back to “doing my own thing”. There is nothing stopping you from playing “the game” with obvious contempt — “norms” will refuse to differentiate because they demand that everyone actually is the same. There’s nothing better than playing the game with one side of your mouth, while talking total shit to them out of the other. You can start out almost day one pwning it if you’re willing to.
Looking forward to the rest of this series, it’s a good (if somewhat cowardly) perspective. Be proud of being smart. If it wasn’t so special, other people wouldn’t always “find you out”.
I don’t think I’m the brightest lamp in the Christmas tree, but not the dullest one either… I can remember as a kid, I was listening to my friends, a bunch of 8-year olds, thinking, “how can they be so interested in such inane things? How can they be so childish?” I was never on the top of my class, even though I probably was smarter than most of my class mates. I just simply couldn’t care less. I have always felt quite satisfied within my own head, although a trip outside it is always refreshing. It is certainly hard to motivate me with money or even the things that I can get with it… I am still stuck trying to decide whether my big goals are actually worth the trouble.