depression from being smart

[YIDIRYIDIR]

i need help with some insights on this topic.

i believe "the more smart and aware the more depressed" is true until a certain point. and that certain point is what I'm trying to articulate.

here are my guesses so far: 

• the early version of smart is deconstructing everything, every illusion, every meaning system. that leads to suffering, but that suffering ends or gets better once you start conscious construction
• the more smart and aware you are, the more you move from Orange stage to Green stage, and the moment you jump to tier 2 in spiral dynamics, the construction journey starts
• before, everything was external to you, value system, motivation, meaning. awareness strips you of all that, you end up thinking "nothing is real, nothing matters, so what's the point?" thus leading to depression. you get over that once you develop internal systems of motivation, meaning and values

what are your takes?

[Judy2]

yes, i only read the title and thought, you have to be even smarter to push past that. 

it's probably also about multi-dimensional intelligence that is able to synthesise intellect, emotion, and other factors. 

[YIDIRYIDIR]

13 minutes ago, Judy2 said:

it's probably also about multi-dimensional intelligence 

what do you mean by multidimensional intelligence? you mean holistic? or more specific?

[Judy2]

Just now, YIDIRYIDIR said:

what do you mean by multidimensional intelligence? you mean holistic? or more specific?

yes, holistic.

[UnbornTao]

I wouldn't say that. I think I know where this stance comes from - it is a common trope in pop-culture, and a tempting one to engage in. But look at the source of depression, beyond your intellect. It might be that we are ignorant of the fact that we generate it, and how we're doing that. We might simply use external circumstances as a pretext to abdicate our responsibility.

Why does one get depressed from time to time (excluding some serious physiological imbalance)?

What's going on in what you call the state of being depressed?

Edited 4 hours ago by UnbornTao

[YIDIRYIDIR]

6 minutes ago, UnbornTao said:

Why does one get depressed from time to time (excluding some serious physiological imbalance)?

What's going on in what you call the state of being depressed?

loss of direction, meaning and clarity. and identity uncertainty. too much uncertainty without clear direction. (there are exceptions, like loss of loved ones, struggle with survival, physiological stuff like you said...) 

[UnbornTao]

17 minutes ago, YIDIRYIDIR said:

loss of direction, meaning and clarity. and identity uncertainty. too much uncertainty without clear direction. (there are exceptions, like loss of loved ones, struggle with survival, physiological stuff like you said...) 

Maybe. But set that aside. I wasn't asking for a plausible, rational explanation or answer. Look into the existence of the depression. It's also possible that you're talking about more than one thing. I'd suggest you get even clearer on what things you're actually referring to. It sounds like you're using depression as a very broad category encompassing other feeling-states.

Regarding depression, for example, how does it relate to time? In relation to what time period does it exist? Now, past, future? What are its components?

Again, something to explore experientially.

And by the way, it seems to me that we tend to conflate identifying something in our experience - labeling it, giving it a name, having a fixed conception around that experience - with being aware of what it is, its nature. I'd be wary of this confusion we often fall into.

[YIDIRYIDIR]

@UnbornTao yed depression is a broad term but understand it in this context.

I'm talking about that nihilistic feeling from being striped from conditioned external systems of meaning and value. you become misunderstood, judged, lonely, can't fit in, and lost and see life as one giant meaningless absurd existance. you know, the stereotypical saying of "ignorance is a blessing" and "awareness hell" 

there's this lame ass quote by Fyodor Dostoevsky that goes: "the more you understand the world, the more you destroy yourself. that's why fools are happy and intelligent people live in loneliness" 

Edited 3 hours ago by YIDIRYIDIR

[integral]

Knowing how to be is a skill separate from developmental stages. 

There are people who know how to be and people who do not.

Some people accept reality some people do not.

Its a mix of genetics and upbringing.

Most people fight every aspect of there lives and complain when anything goes wrong or does not meet expectation.

Inteligent rationalist types stuck in nihilism dont know how to be, they were never good at it even before there realizations, they resisted most things in disgust and had poor mood regulation.

You don't need to deconstruct anything to know how to be. It's a separate skill. But if you don't know how to be then at that point you definitely have to start deconstructing stuff.

Edited 1 hour ago by integral

[YIDIRYIDIR]

@integral nice i love this framing. i always use the mental model of seeing everything as a skill, i guess i didn't apply it on this one 😀 

reflecting back, it really is a skill, but one that is harder for some and easier for others. 

[YIDIRYIDIR]

58 minutes ago, integral said:

Its a mix of genetics and upbringing.

didn't even see this line, it sums it all up.

[Eskilon]