Why MANY smart people are not social? | Rajesh Setty.
The following is the copy of my comment to this blog:
A – Statically speaking – normal person is generally considered a Social Animal. These people bend over backwards to be social, possibly, to fill up the sense of lacking as well as to insulate against the vagaries of the [unknown] acts that may happen in the areas of their known and perceived weaknesses. The relationships may be bilateral or multilateral or, sometimes, unilateral too. The ephemeral relations are established if these are unilateral, but bilateral or multilateral relationships are relatively for longer duration. The usual common bond is expectation that the relationship will make good one’s shortcoming. If this implicit or explicit need is bilateral, then relationship also takes bilateral dimension. The relationship stabilizes only when each participating party shares the same wavelength.
The ‘normal’ ‘social’ types redress their ’higher-level’ non-material problems at meta –physical level – by visiting temples or reading philosophical scriptures or seeking blessings of ‘sages’.
One of the oldest forms of relationship – family – is axiomatic because it is natural. This used to be bonded with more of non-material needs like love and affection. However, increasing dominance of material needs and considerations have weakened this, otherwise, strong relationship.
There are some very striking ‘exceptions’ to these ‘normal’ relational behaviour. There exists a small tribe of people who are ether gifted with or have assiduously cultivated vast reservoir of self-confidence. The self-confidence is the result of person’s [inner] strength of character to face any and all challenges. Since these persons are able or shall want to source the solution from within, they seem to need the support of external relationships. Their personalities are too unique to make them compatible with others, easily. Their network does happen, but is not akin to a social relationship. Ayn Rand, the famous author of ‘Atlas Shrugged’ and ‘Fountainhead’ [among several others] has called these as ‘first-raters.
In other words, the ‘normal’ ‘social’ persons tend to ‘escape’ from the efforts and responsibility to seek solution to the one’s own problem by instantaneously seeking external help as opposed to ‘non-social’ type who would have the requisite internal source to seek the remedial solution. [If not available, these people are creative enough to develop these strengths on their own.]
The world is too small? or Is it? 