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[recycledbabies]

What do you guys think.
All other things being equal, assuming the person in question is sensitive, beautiful, shares your passionate interests, etc., would you rather date someone a little dumber or a little smarter than you?
Why?
Feel free to discuss your ideas on intelligence if it means making your point clearer.

Comments

[chantepleure]

Definitely a little smarter. Because I personally hate talking to someone who doesn't understand what I'm saying, and I'm not the best at explaining things if they asked. I might even laugh if it was something really silly (example, a friend of a friend of mine asked, "Where is Quebec? In Europe?" so I laughed at her and said yes). But if you dated someone smarter than you I imagine they would have enough patience to teach you anything you didn't know and wanted to know. That's my opinion, it makes sense to me. I can deal with being a little dumber than someone but I can't say I'd prefer being the "smartest" of the two. Although, it's quite hard to make that judgment between two people's intelligence.

[oniugnip]

*laughs* Unrelated to your question, the sentence "Feel free to discuss your ideas on intelligence if it means making your point clearer" is pretty hot.

(also: Smarter. Smarter, please. And ideally from a related field, with slightly different but strong opinions? I had this bad crush on one of the algorithms theory professors here... mmm... math.)

[bluek33]

i dated someone that was in the same field as me and was certainly more talented than i was in that field. It was amazing for a while (we understood the same literary theory jokes!) but eventually it did not work out. A bit too much competition from me makes me a poorer girlfriend. I realize this.

[bluek33]

On the other hand, my current girlfriend kicks my ass at GO! EVERY TIME. EVEN WITH MULTIPLE HANDICAPS. And its hella-fun to play with her, but it sure can get frustrating if we play too many games in a row.

[oniugnip]

Its agreed, we don't get the joke.

[bluek33]

I'm going out on a limb here. The question was all other things being equal would you want someone SLIGHTLY smarter or dumber than myself. I gotta say dumber. I love being right all the time. But i agree with ceolmhar - theres gotta be a balance, it would get boring if i was better than my partner at everything. besides, as PV kids (those of us that are) I think we've gotten used to being slightly smarter than most people around us. or at least slightly more informed and opinionated.

[adw]

If they're just a "little dumber" or a "little smarter" it's much too difficult to even determine who's "smarter." We all have different skills and interests and intelligences...it's kind of stupid to try and figure out who's "smarter." As long as talking to the person doesn't cause numbness of the mind discussion about this is silly.

You would leave a comment like this.

[recycledbabies]

The question was clearly meant to inspire discussion, you wet blanket, nothing else. Discussion like this is "silly" if you're only bothering to look at the first layer before you dismiss it. I was getting at things like "what do my friends think constitutes intelligence?", "how do people feel about power inequality in relationships?" Fie on you.

Re: You would leave a comment like this.

[adw]

Typical girl...having to be indirect about EVERYTHING...the question is only clearly not the question if you're a girl...because girls operate like that. This is why they end up in the trunks of cars.

[mightyjed]

I think Adam is right on this one. If it was a slight difference, it would be hard to be certain it existed. If it was enough to note, like a standard deviation, it would cause serious problems one way or the other with regard to respect and trust of judgment.

The difference between intelligence and education might be worth considering. Or more importantly, the willpower and application of intelligence.