Mindblock when with most people

[LAM]

I find that I usually have a massive mindblock when interacting or even being exposed to any people. The only (partial) exception is my genius friend with Aspergers. He is the only one who I seem to feel subconsciously comfortable or something like that with and as such able to utilise a greater amount of "brainpower" when talking to, etc. Even then, I am a complete moron compared to how I am when I am completely alone, especially when doing something repetitive like working out or walking (especially on tiled floor.)

I could for example make a brilliant essay about thousands of things just from the top of my head right now, after having spent an hour or two on the internet in my room alone. However the moment I meet someone who isn't also really, really intelligent, I have a mindblock. For example, when my peers start talking about society/politics (the things I know a hell of a lot about and my peers don't know practically anything about) I literally can't think up even a sentence to offer my point of view, even if theirs is so incredibely limited a 5 year old could beat it with a random collection of words. I try to as hard as I can but I don't end with anything but some stupid disjointed sentences. I just have to passively agree with "americans are like british colonists on steroids" without even offering the millions of things wrong with that statement (literally, the other guy had nothing else to backup this claim but that they killed people in other countries, like british colonists....)

If only there was a way I could fix this stupid mindblock D: . Whats sad is that often I am still smart enough for them to impress them <_< . Even though what I had said at the time was grossly erroneous, limited and heavily biased. (Not this isn't a hindsight thing, I knew it when I was thinking it up. But I just couldn't use anything but the shit that my mind/subconscious gave me.)

I want to be a smartass so, so much Its my destiny. You need to help me

 

[walfin]

I want to be a smartass so, so much

Bet you already are.

Does anybody else find it interesting that smartass and dumbass aren't antonyms?

Yeah, I think it's very troublesome when people don't just "get it", and assume you're wrong. Waste of time to explain, when I'm pretty straightforward already.

The lack of substantiation of arguments is not my main problem, though. It's just that I think differently.

 

[Cognisant]

It's annoying when someone tries to start a friendly conversation by offering a valid statement, practically forcing me to reply "yeah" and feel like an asshole in the resulting awkward silence.

 

[Melkor]

It doesn't bother me so much, because in general, I dislike talking with unintelligent people.

I mean, why turn down a perfectly good exucse to ignore every moron in sight?

 

[ashitaria]

I used to be a smartass

But now I hold myself in restraint because

1)
2)
3)

The smarter ones do 3 (most do 3 though), the emotional ones do 2, the lazy (no one is stupid, there are the ones who think, and the ones who don't) do 1, and the mentally unstable do all three (ESFJ, ISFJ).

Also, I tend to feel guilty after acting the smart-ass, so for the sake of my conscious, I have stopped being a smart-ass altogether.

Of course, LAM, if you don't have a conscious like I do, I fully encourage you to pursue your intelligent jerk-hood all the way

 

[bovinity]

I could for example make a brilliant essay about thousands of things just from the top of my head right now, after having spent an hour or two on the internet in my room alone. However the moment I meet someone who isn't also really, really intelligent, I have a mindblock. For example, when my peers start talking about society/politics (the things I know a hell of a lot about and my peers don't know practically anything about) I literally can't think up even a sentence to offer my point of view, even if theirs is so incredibely limited a 5 year old could beat it with a random collection of words. I try to as hard as I can but I don't end with anything but some stupid disjointed sentences. I just have to passively agree with "americans are like british colonists on steroids" without even offering the millions of things wrong with that statement (literally, the other guy had nothing else to backup this claim but that they killed people in other countries, like british colonists....)

They aren't being serious about what they're debating. These types of discussion serve the social function of determining who can come up with the more clever thing to say and present it in a way that is most appealing to others' humor, placing everyone in a sort of pecking order. My bet is you're on the bottom.

Usually when this type of discussion starts with my friends I cross my arms and nod my head from side to side in disapproval without saying anything until I come up with something that completely refutes what someone is saying, at which point I draw attention to myself by smiling and loudly saying something like "well, that's really great and all, but...", and it works because everyone always wants to hear what the guy who never talks has to say, especially if you start your sentence with something derisive that makes it seem like you're confident you're right.

 

[Words]

ever thought about the possible reasons behind the "mindblock"? Social Pressure, Noise, etc?

 

[Marbas]

I literally can't think up even a sentence to offer my point of view, even if theirs is so incredibely limited a 5 year old could beat it with a random collection of words.

Are you sure they're actually engaging your focus then? Your problem might be that you really just don't give a damn about what these people think, if you hold their views in such contempt.

Also, Walfin's avatar drives me up the wall. My inner-geometer says one thing, while my eyes say another.

 

[lafmeche]

ever thought about the possible reasons behind the "mindblock"? Social Pressure, Noise, etc?

Are you sure they're actually engaging your focus then? Your problem might be that you really just don't give a damn about what these people think, if you hold their views in such contempt.

I think you're both onto something.

I never gave it a ton of thought, but I always chalked up my mindblocks to excessive brainpower being devoted to understanding and blending with the 'normies'. Come to think of it, it's very strange that I devote so much extra effort into basically emulating the lack of thought/effort most people put into things.

Also, the vast majority of people I come across do not (or at least don't appear to) think very deeply about anything. So not only am I wasting a bunch of energy blending in, but I don't care about the substance of their conversations (or lack thereof?).

I guess I should give up on people.

 

[LAM]

I think you're both onto something.

I never gave it a ton of thought, but I always chalked up my mindblocks to excessive brainpower being devoted to understanding and blending with the 'normies'. Come to think of it, it's very strange that I devote so much extra effort into basically emulating the lack of thought/effort most people put into things.

Also, the vast majority of people I come across do not (or at least don't appear to) think very deeply about anything. So not only am I wasting a bunch of energy blending in, but I don't care about the substance of their conversations (or lack thereof?).

I guess I should give up on people.

Thats how I feel sometimes... Like the day I wrote my post up there for the start of the thread.

 

[Melllvar]

Hi, LAM. I experience a similar sort of mindblock in social situations, but I'm pretty sure I know the source of mine. Maybe yours is similar?

I believe for me it stems from the nuances of social interaction (i.e. face to face, verbal conversations). There are two major parts, the first being that there is way too much information for me to analyze and react on rationally, such as facial expressions, hidden meanings, self-doubt, vocal intonation, body language... I could keep going on for a while. I think "typicals" (as I think of them, but maybe all non-INTP/INTXs) are able to just ignore all that stuff without thinking about it, and just go with the flow and feeling of things. For me its impossible to shut that down, and I can't focus on the actual facts of the conversation because I'm constantly being distracted by thoughts like "Why did he phrase it like that? What does that reflect about his worldview? Why did he just smirk like that? What if he's not serious about his argument but just trolling to mess with me?" etc. etc.

The other thing would be that conversations happen at a certain pace, and they tend to be uni-directional. When I post on forums I can come up with the most detailed arguments and poke holes in seemingly iron-clad theories, but that's because I'm able to think carefully about what I say, or erase stuff and rewrite it, edit it, etc. Sometimes I'll write several paragraphs, then decide that isn't what I mean, erase it and start all over. In face to face conversations that would have all just spilled out at the speed of speech, and I come up looking like an idiot, or on the other end of the spectrum I take too long to formulate my point, by which time the conversation's moved on to something else. For me I think it may be related to my own intellectual strengths and weaknesses, since on IQ tests I tend to do very well, but my processing speed scores are always much (as in whole standard deviations) lower than all the other sections. I'd be interested in knowing how many INTPs/INTXs with much faster processing speeds still have these sorts of problems.

However, just because we both experience the same problem doesn't necessarily mean its for the same reason. Does any of this sound like what happens to you, or am I totally off?

 

[LAM]

I have no idea why I posted my Opost, and I soon got over this. Although I don't "overthink" it as some would say you do, I still cannot experience the full range of thought with others that I can alone. Basically it might have something to do with personality modes, however I can't really elaborate on this at this time.

 

[alepov]

Wow Melllvar, what you wrote about social interaction and why it "mindblocks", is pretty much exactly how I feel/think, too. I am, however, a very fast thinker/worker (and I score extremely high on IQ-tests and such). So I don't agree on the last part, about having mindblocks due to slower processing.

 

[warryer]

Yea Melllvar for sure down to the last t. I really hate the lag time between when somebody says something, I jump into my mind to formulate a good witty response, then i actually say it about 5 seconds later. Just long enough for it to not be quick draw gun fast but not slow enough for it to be utter failure. And I come up with some good shit too!

I'm thinking that worry about what a person means really comes from: not know them that well and you haven't reached that comfortable to be around them stage yet. I find with my family and close friends I am the fastest gun in the West.

The question is: how does one become comfortable in unknown situations? Probably by being comfortable with yourself.

 

[White Rabbit]

The question is: how does one become comfortable in unknown situations? Probably by being comfortable with yourself.

There you go.