Thoughts on Intellectual Isolation
I didn't even know this was a thing. The past few weeks have had me feeling uninspired with a number of sleepless nights. I'm currently writing this a few minutes past 3am after having a conversation with one of my friends about what's been keeping me up. I've been feeling intellectually isolated (in true millennial fashion, I googled very specific phrases of what i've been feeling, and that's the term the internet gave me for it).
Intellectual isolation, at least in my case, is the feeling of craving more intellectually stimulating conversations with your peers. The feeling of wanting to talk to people who get you, don't judge and add insight to your thoughts. When you don't find those people or those types of conversations, you shut yourself in.
I've been trying my best to integrate myself in social situations for the past couple of weeks in search of people with similar thoughts and interests. But even in just the inner circle of people I associate with here in Bali, the conversations i've been having lately have become trivial and dull. Alcohol doesn't help either. You start drinking as a social lubricant to be able to relate to people while numbing the fact that you've dumbed yourself down and are talking complete bullshit just to keep a dialogue.
But of course what I mean by "social situations" is going out, parties, etc. And it's really on me if I expect anything substantial from people I talk to at bars. Hopefully if I change the setting, i'll change the outcome of my interactions as well.
I don't really know what to do to be able to deal with this feeling. Truth be told, it makes me feel lonely. I just know that I needed to write this down and let it out (let's be honest, this is not my best work. I basically just ranted about how I feel too smart for people and I can feel future me rolling my eyes at this).
My friend said that he believes my struggle is real and that what I need definitely exists here, we just have to find it. Thankfully, I found this comment on the internet to back him up and offer a bit of comfort to anyone else feeling the same way:
"It happens. It might be because you have a higher intellect than your peers or a bigger appetite for meaning, which is a good thing. I understand that this feeling of intellectual isolation is very frustrating. And as a result we tend to shut ourselves in. Fortunately, the solution is simple. There will be people around you who are going through the same phase. Seek them out- on quora, at your college or office, join a ngo or something, expand your horizons. I went through the same feeling while in college. I found many people whom I thought were interesting. Some relationships didn't amount to anything while some were very rewarding. Widen your social circle, the more diverse and varied people you will know the more satisfying conversations you will have.
Read a lot.
Write about stuff that interests you. Eventually you will attract your kind of people."
Intellectual isolation, at least in my case, is the feeling of craving more intellectually stimulating conversations with your peers. The feeling of wanting to talk to people who get you, don't judge and add insight to your thoughts. When you don't find those people or those types of conversations, you shut yourself in.
I've been trying my best to integrate myself in social situations for the past couple of weeks in search of people with similar thoughts and interests. But even in just the inner circle of people I associate with here in Bali, the conversations i've been having lately have become trivial and dull. Alcohol doesn't help either. You start drinking as a social lubricant to be able to relate to people while numbing the fact that you've dumbed yourself down and are talking complete bullshit just to keep a dialogue.
But of course what I mean by "social situations" is going out, parties, etc. And it's really on me if I expect anything substantial from people I talk to at bars. Hopefully if I change the setting, i'll change the outcome of my interactions as well.
I don't really know what to do to be able to deal with this feeling. Truth be told, it makes me feel lonely. I just know that I needed to write this down and let it out (let's be honest, this is not my best work. I basically just ranted about how I feel too smart for people and I can feel future me rolling my eyes at this).
My friend said that he believes my struggle is real and that what I need definitely exists here, we just have to find it. Thankfully, I found this comment on the internet to back him up and offer a bit of comfort to anyone else feeling the same way:
"It happens. It might be because you have a higher intellect than your peers or a bigger appetite for meaning, which is a good thing. I understand that this feeling of intellectual isolation is very frustrating. And as a result we tend to shut ourselves in. Fortunately, the solution is simple. There will be people around you who are going through the same phase. Seek them out- on quora, at your college or office, join a ngo or something, expand your horizons. I went through the same feeling while in college. I found many people whom I thought were interesting. Some relationships didn't amount to anything while some were very rewarding. Widen your social circle, the more diverse and varied people you will know the more satisfying conversations you will have.
Read a lot.
Write about stuff that interests you. Eventually you will attract your kind of people."
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