Response: Intelligence and Isolation

In response to Stacy Fisher's post "Sociability and Intelligence" (March 18, 2012):

I agree that the degree of sociability one exhibits is not by any means an accurate indication of one's intelligence.  However, the stereotype of the antisocial genius does have some basis in reality.  If this is not (as I believe it is not) due to the connection of sociability and intellect or lack thereof, then what does cause it?

I think that the most likely cause is the relative rarity of genius, at least genius on the scale of Melville's and Schopenhauer's.  On a whole, intelligence distribution seems to follow a bell-curve shape; as such, those at the far right end of the curve are few and far between.  It is the far-between-ness, I think, that is most relevant here; people with the intellectual abilities of Melville or Schopenhauer might go their entire lives without meeting anyone else of comparable intelligence or educational level.  Such people might feel surrounded by individuals who are simply incapable of or unwilling to comprehend the thoughts that they themselves entertain on a daily basis.  As a result, they might feel isolated even when in company, and so choose to avoid socialisation as a rule, because it fails to bring them any sort of happiness and only annoys them.  This might also help explain why so many people of high intellect tend to suffer from depression; out of all the people acknowledged today as geniuses, a fairly large percentage were very unhappy throughout much of their lives.  This could be because humans are naturally social beings, and so in general when a human is (through their own actions or through circumstances beyond their control) deprived of socialisation, they tend to become unhappy.