SCHOPENHAUER: Why Smart People Don't Care About Being Social (And Why They're Ditzy)

WATCH: Schopenhauer on being alone and how to deal with society:    • SCHOPENHAUER: Being Alone (How to Dea...  

We’re all familiar with the archetype of the absent-minded professor. A recurring stock character in fiction, the absent-minded professor is the prototypical genius, great at what he does, but horrible at being a normal human being. The website TVTropes has a great write-up on the character, plus a huge database of examples of absent-minded professors in fiction.

Thales of Miletus, considered by many to be the first philosopher in the Greek tradition, is said to have been so engrossed in philosophical thought while looking up at the stars, that he didn’t notice the well in front of him, and he promptly fell down into it.

Schopenhauer also noticed this tendency of great geniuses to be absent-minded or otherwise ill-equipped to deal with the social reality of day to day life.

The phenomenon arises because the genius takes a bird’s eye view of humanity. The genius rises above the petty concerns of man. He is preoccupied with the world in its totality, not in its parts. All of existence poses a riddle to him. What time does such a person have to concern himself with gossip, conversations about the weather, or social etiquette?

The commoner, by contrast, has a much simpler point of view. The common man cannot transcend his own viewpoint and see the world from a higher vantage point. The commoner is stuck with his own individuality, and only looks at the world from his own selfish perspective.