Intelligence vs Social Competence

[Nihilego]

Which is more important on the whole in life, and which would you say you are?

As an example, consider education, or more specifically, applying to college / university. If you're insanely intelligent, you can get some extremely good grades giving you a strong chance. If you're more socially competent, though, you might be able to give a better interview and have more of an influence over the staff. Again, just as an example.

Be aware that this is not implying that there is any link between the two; I'm not saying that the more intelligent you are, the less socially competent of vice versa. Although there may be a link, and feel free to discuss that briefly too.

Discuss. And mods, I was unsure if this was more suited to OVP so please move it there if need be. I'd just rather make a proper discussion out of this than a poll.

 

[インフェルノの津波]

Funny. I'm having the same thoughts running through my head as well.

When I was a kid, I was super-smart. Like, the school genius. But as I got older, I yearned for friends.

What happened? I got stupid. I stopped caring. I devoted my time and effort to my friends.

My grades dropped, my work wasn't finished, although I'm now popular, like I've always wanted. And only in my Freshman year too!

Although I don't think that intelligence is tied to social status. In some cases, such as my autistic self, yes, but others such as my gifted mom were intelligent and quite socially adept in her school years.

 

[Olli]

My mother have told me many times how me and my brother resembled those things.
She always said that my brother was much more social than me, but he wasn't the one to read hours in a row, where I was the one who always was alone inside reading my books.
So, my opinion? Something in between
Being intelligent enough to pass exams, get an education and such while still having good friends around you.
It would be great to hear other peoples opinions in this, since I've been thinking about this for a long time too :I

 

[Nihilego]

It would be great to hear other peoples opinions in this, since I've been thinking about this for a long time too :I

Well, as I didn't give my own.

I'd say I'm more socially competent than intelligent and I wouldn't change that. Intelligence will help you get into a great high-paid job and all that but that's about it. Imo the majority of life does not revolve around learning and work. Simple social skills are so important for the rest of it.

Besides, it's not like if you're unintelligent you're completely screwed in terms of jobs. It doesn't take vast amounts of intelligence to be an artist, musician or sportsman for example. It's just that it's harder to build a career in those areas.

I think you can get by just fine with good social skills but not much intelligence. I know I have.

 

[Olli]

Well, that is actually what I kind of think too.
I'm trying to keep myself as social as possible, even though I'm living far away from my friends, but that's also the reason why I'm so antisocial.
I'm getting less and less used to having people around me, and mostly being on the computer.
Being only 14, I don't know how it is having to live by yourself, or having as much responsibility as you do when you're not living at your parents anymore, which gives me a smaller chance to quite understand how things benefit you in further life.

Damn sentimentality >_<

 

[Xyrin]

I would say intelligence. Without intelligence you can't do much. If you work hard it won't matter about your social skills (most of the time) in a job interview because of your amazing accomplishments. Of course you should have a good, sweet middle right there.

You should have a group of good friends that you can trust to take away from working so hard. But you should also work hard and not goof off all the time.

 

[Livewire]

I think it's very important to not group the two together, as they're quite different. You can be a very intelligent person, yet be a social recluse, and vice-versa- you could be dumber than a sack of potatoes and have very prodigeous social abilities. It just depends. It'd be best to have both.

 

[Åzurε]

I think there's a minimum level of each you have to get to before you should shoot for one or the other. :l A severe deficiency in either is problematic, and they can both be divided into more meaningful (relationships with family/good friends, logic and essential knowledge) and less meaningful (random acquaintances, random trivia) categories. Once you reach that happy medium, I don't think it matters much, although I'd be more inclined to focus on improving my intelligence.

 

[Musician of Literature]

I'm great in both aspects. I say each is equal to each other. In today's world, it's survival of the fittest with job cuts and whatnot. I believe that education is extremely important. If you are intelligent there is a better chance for you to be hired. Social competence is less important considering like 70% of communication is done online.

 

[Alex]

YOU KNOW WHATS FUNNY

As a kid I used to have much better grades, then I started loving having friends. But, that doesn't mean I have social skills. In fact it's quite the opposite. I got a great group of friends on the very forum, and for that, my grades dropped and stuff. I'm still going to school, but my grades did drop significantly.

and the best part is I have less-than-desirable social skills! I'm good at making friends online, though. But IRL is tough :(

wat do

 

[aruchan]

I would say you need a direct balance of both, because if you lack intelligence, you cannot be competent in your affairs; if you are just a bookworm, you cannot progress in life's affairs and succeed.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

Well people who are intelligent or socially "odd" usually end up being the bosses of those people who were solely social in high school...so intelligence in some ways is better but I agree with live both are important and having one doesn't mean you don't have the other...

 

[colcolstyles]

Both have their pros and cons but in order to be truly successful, both are necessary. You need to have both the intelligence to come up with revolutionary ideas as well as the ability to convey those ideas and to convince people to join you. As for which is more "important," I can't say. You'll probably be more successful with intelligence but happier with social competence.

 

[Black Ice]

^yeah that

Intelligent-but-socially-inept people seem to be a bit more likely to land solid jobs than socially-adept-but-not-intelligent people. And those aren't really even the extreme examples.

I think it's necessary to have a mix of both, but I'd consider intelligence to be a bit more important.

 

[DarkAlucard]

The problem, according to my perspective, is that the social side often becomes so obsessive that ends up making a brain dead persons. It is very important to be smart as well as important to be a social person, but the latest should have some limit.

 

[Dawn]

I seem to lean more towards intelligence than social competence. Sadly it's not always possible to demonstrate both. I'm working on it though.

Well, from what I've learned, it's sadly not an even scale or fair. You can be as intelligent as you want, but if you don't have social competence to match it, nobody will respect your intelligence. However, social competence alone will still get you plenty of places.

I guess what I'm trying to say is... intelligence is nice and all, but it's like a car without wheels without social competence to match. It won't get you anywhere. On the other hand, a pair of wheels can still get you places, even if it would be a lot easier if you had the car body to ride in.

Soooome people just have neither though.

 

[eightbit]

Two different means to an end.

...

I'm neither, really. :(

 

[Serperior]

They're equally important, as much as I hate to admit it.
That's coming from a person who doesn't socialize much...so I'm biased.

 

[Masqueraine]

My happiness is dependent on social competence, and happiness is all I want. Unfortunately I wouldn't rate myself a great socialist. I am social, believe me, if you saw me in school, you'd have no idea I had trouble with people. I just don't have very many close friends.. in fact I don't really have any.

The problem lies within my upbringing and home life, as well as me judging myself too harshly, and I hope to change this. I really do.

 

[Impo]

Funny. I'm having the same thoughts running through my head as well.

When I was a kid, I was super-smart. Like, the school genius. But as I got older, I yearned for friends.

What happened? I got stupid. I stopped caring. I devoted my time and effort to my friends.

Same with me. Though I devote to my social time during school, then I come home and do some homework. Though lately I've been too lazy to... gosh, that's terrible.

I think this sums it up nicely: