High Cognitive Minds

One of the frequently cited attributes of introverts is their limited capacity for being with other people. But, like so much else that is supposedly true of the gifted, I've found this to be a half truth. The exhaustion that comes from being too long with other people isn't just a matter of introversion or oversensitivity. What kind of people are we talking about, and how many? Long conversations with one or two people whose minds are like mine is stimulating rather than exhausting. Fatigue sets in eventually, of course, but it's not the kind that comes from interacting with normals.

Interaction with normals is enervating because it requires you to slow down to their thinking speed, to engage in ritualistic conversation which is largely empty of content, and to conceal your own knowledge and thinking style in order not to cause offense.  Conversation with a normal is more a role-playing game than a real conversation. In spite of the common belief that contentless ritualistic behavior is a normal and necessary part of human relationships, it has an uncomfortable similarity to the grooming rituals of monkeys.

For the highly gifted, frustration and boredom are an inherent part of this kind of interaction. It not only precludes the need to think, it may very well interfere with the ability to think. Normals seem to depend on routines which they can follow in comfort rather than making any effort to use their minds. But
the gifted forced into such rituals find their minds chafing and slowing down. It's exhausting and even painful. Escape is a relief, and avoidance becomes a weapon of self-defense.