It is healthier when friends or partners are on a similar intelligence level?

[noname223]

I know that might be a weird question but I read this often.
Especially, men could not cope when their female partner is smarter than them. They feel intimidated.
I had the best chemistry with women who were smarter than me. And they appreciated my deep talk. I often got the compliment that they appreciated our conversations. Personally, I think I don't have a problem if a woman is smarter than me. It is more important how I am treated by her.

We in our friend group are all on a similar level. We have a group of 5 where we discuss politics. And I enjoy this a lot. I have the feeling if one of us was extremely intellectually gifted he would be bored by our discussions and might ruin the experience for most of us. But I am unsure. However, I think intelligence is less important than the political orientation. Many women say they cannot imagine a relationship with a Trumpist or AfD voter. And my friends would have a problem with me if I were a stanch Israel supporter. Morals and ethics seem to be more important than raw intelligence.

What do you think?

I think some extremely inellectually gifted people don't give a fuck about it. It can also induce the feeling of alienation if one is always the smartest in the room. I think the quantum physics professor was against such classifications.

 

[DarkRange55]

I think you answered your own question. Morality and ethics are more important in a friendship, probably almost any relationship technically.

There's the law of 33% - spend 33% of your time with people at your level, your peers. 33% with people more advanced than you, where you want to be. And 33% of your time teaching people less advanced you are.

You want a partner that can stimulate and hold a conversation with you but that doesn't mean they necessarily need to be an intellectual super genius.

I have just always been drawn to what I view as intelligent people. I was very, very fortunate growing up to be around a lot of gifted people. I also just am personally big on mentors.

Yeah, one of the smartest guys I ever worked with, I learned a lot from him. He was brilliant, extremely experienced and talented. But he was a dick and genuinely truly did not care.