why are loners wiser?

[Julian gabriel]

Almost every genius I've ever heard of  was/is a recluse. 

The story usually goes that they create a bunch of cool shit, then they die alone surrounded by their creations. 

Also it seems like almost everyone who has some kind of awakening into the nature of the self either has very few friends or none at all.

Charles Bukowski said that solitude is the gift of going all the way, aka fulfilling your potential, why do you think this is? 

[Leo Gura]

In crowds people turn into idiots.

[Blackhawk]

They are forced to believe in anything (bs) so that they can fit in.

[mmKay]

Imagine being an unintelligent loner

[karltiboleng]

Social validation / groupthink. 

[Raphael]

Because by being alone someone doesn't get too much conditioned by society.

[Etherial Cat]

Because the crowd is deluded so the wise enjoys and needs the withradwal.

And it's also to avoid suffering the consequences of the many foolish behaviors he sees.

 

[LastThursday]

Obviously there's no wisdom in crowds. Crowds, for example governments, have never been wise that's why we don't need them. I wonder if the pandemic has made us all wiser with all that time spent alone?

Ok I'm being facetious.

What is the use in wisdom or genius, if you don't have a crowd to practise it in? Is it even wise not to share your wisdom?

[Preety_India]

Wise people tend to stay away from crowds to avoid brainwashing.

 

[Julian gabriel]

16 minutes ago, LastThursday said:

Obviously there's no wisdom in crowds. Crowds, for example governments, have never been wise that's why we don't need them. I wonder if the pandemic has made us all wiser with all that time spent alone?

Ok I'm being facetious.

What is the use in wisdom or genius, if you don't have a crowd to practise it in? Is it even wise not to share your wisdom?

If the wise/genius loner couldn’t enjoy their time spent doing nothing or creating without sharing I’d say they probably aren't that wise.

There would be no use. 

 

[LastThursday]

@Preety_India I'd say that no one became less delusional by being a loner. You need the wisdom of other people (the crowd) to keep you sane. Isn't this forum a crowd?

Edited May 23, 2021 by LastThursday

[LastThursday]

4 minutes ago, Julian gabriel said:

If the wise/genius loner couldn’t enjoy their time spent doing nothing or creating without sharing I’d say they probably aren't that wise.

There would be no use.

One needs the other. The crowds need loners and loners need the crowds.

[adztam]

“Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god. ”

I think Aristotle writing this didn't know how close to the Truth he was.

[Julian gabriel]

4 minutes ago, LastThursday said:

One needs the other. The crowds need loners and loners need the crowds.

 That probably applies to most but not all. Not the most advanced meditators. 

[LastThursday]

I would only counter by saying that it's non-obvious what:

5 hours ago, Julian gabriel said:

fulfilling your potential

actually means in practice. Is an advanced meditator a wise genius? What potential is being fulfilled here? I don't have the answer, but it's always interesting to notice the meta aspect of a question.

[Julian gabriel]

@LastThursday Yeah I get that. I’d say that yes a wise meditator is a genius because of the vast interconnections between things they’d experience.

The potential to be happy is fulfilled.

 

[LastThursday]

I'm going to be extremely picky. It doesn't follow that meditation allows you to see the vast interconnections between things. It doesn't follow that happiness comes from seeing the vast interconnections between things. And it doesn't follow that being happy is fulfilling your potential. In general. Maybe it does for you specifically.

The original question is asking are you more likely to fulfill your potential by being a loner (in general)? The answer is, it depends on what "fulfill potential" means in general. And, once you've fulfilled your potential, is there any utility in it? If I learn to speak Russian, I'm I really fulfilling my potential if I don't ever speak it with anybody else? Does being a loner really allow you to fulfill your potential?

Edited May 23, 2021 by LastThursday

[ivankiss]

There is wisdom in silence.

[kinesin]

@Julian gabriel I'm a major loner, and I think it has something to do with noninvolvement.  When you're removed from a situation and able to look at it from a distance, you see things which people who are immersed in it cannot see.  To be a loner means being distant from many social norms and group behaviours, so you get a broader view of what's really going on in them.

That said, I think it's important not to fall into the trap of believing that this wisdom gained from noninvolvement is superior to wisdom gained from involvement.  For example many people can relate to the feeling of being the 'loner' at a party watching the action from the sidelines, and feeling that by watching they're able to see the 'true reality' of the situation which the partygoers seem oblivious to.  Who is really seeing the true reality of the situation though?  The one who watches it all unfold, or the one who directly experiences it?  It's a false dichotomy of course - both are seeing equally valuable halves, and gaining equally valuable but different forms of wisdom from it.

[LastThursday]

13 minutes ago, ivankiss said:

There is wisdom in silence.

Is that silence in a crowd or alone?