Question
Is there such a thing as being too smart for your own good?
Answer
I just read a story that perfectly illustrates this pathology, the story of physicist Paul Frampton.
The Professor, the Bikini Model and the Suitcase Full of Trouble
He is a world-renowned physicist who ended up as a drug mule and is now sentenced to prison in Argentina. Though this guy is probably smarter than everybody on Quora, I am pretty sure 99% of people on Quora would have been smart enough in a common-sense way to avoid this fate.
It is not entirely clear from the story to what extent he was duped and what extent he knew what he was doing, but either way, it's a case of a remarkably smart person making a remarkably stupid decision.
I don't agree with many of the other answers (analysis paralysis etc.) because the consequences of being smart that they point out are to some extent consciously understood, chosen nevertheless and the consequences accepted. So somebody who enjoys analysis may not actually mind lack of worldly success and find meaning in their lives through a lot of analysis. Somebody who doesn't take on low-probability games or misses things due to boredom with repetition may similarly make their peace with the consequences of those traits.
But the Frampton sort of thing is a genuine "too smart for your own good" case. When your over-absorption in domains that reward your kind of smarts (whatever they may be) makes you neglect everyday human things to the point where your entire life can be derailed by Black Swan events of the sort that derailed Frampton's life.
Applying Taleb's antifragile notion here, Frampton's life exhibits the fragility of a too-smart-for-your-own-good life. Frampton's story is some mix of Forrest Gump meets Bonfire of the Vanities meets sneaky-little-boy who is too young emotionally to tell right from wrong at multiple levels (legal, pragmatic, moral).
So I'd say that the real cost harm that can affect you by being too smart for your own good isn't about the ordinary consequences like being perhaps less wealthy, accomplished in the real world etc. Those you can value/devalue through a life narrative that represent different subjective utilities.
But exposure to huge Black Swan events cannot be "utilitarianized" away so to speak.
I for instance, am a somewhat impractical armchair philosopher to some degree, and have made my peace with the costs and rewards of that lifestyle. But I certainly do not want to end up in an Argentinian prison. Fortunately, I am not that smart.
The Professor, the Bikini Model and the Suitcase Full of Trouble
He is a world-renowned physicist who ended up as a drug mule and is now sentenced to prison in Argentina. Though this guy is probably smarter than everybody on Quora, I am pretty sure 99% of people on Quora would have been smart enough in a common-sense way to avoid this fate.
It is not entirely clear from the story to what extent he was duped and what extent he knew what he was doing, but either way, it's a case of a remarkably smart person making a remarkably stupid decision.
I don't agree with many of the other answers (analysis paralysis etc.) because the consequences of being smart that they point out are to some extent consciously understood, chosen nevertheless and the consequences accepted. So somebody who enjoys analysis may not actually mind lack of worldly success and find meaning in their lives through a lot of analysis. Somebody who doesn't take on low-probability games or misses things due to boredom with repetition may similarly make their peace with the consequences of those traits.
But the Frampton sort of thing is a genuine "too smart for your own good" case. When your over-absorption in domains that reward your kind of smarts (whatever they may be) makes you neglect everyday human things to the point where your entire life can be derailed by Black Swan events of the sort that derailed Frampton's life.
Applying Taleb's antifragile notion here, Frampton's life exhibits the fragility of a too-smart-for-your-own-good life. Frampton's story is some mix of Forrest Gump meets Bonfire of the Vanities meets sneaky-little-boy who is too young emotionally to tell right from wrong at multiple levels (legal, pragmatic, moral).
So I'd say that the real cost harm that can affect you by being too smart for your own good isn't about the ordinary consequences like being perhaps less wealthy, accomplished in the real world etc. Those you can value/devalue through a life narrative that represent different subjective utilities.
But exposure to huge Black Swan events cannot be "utilitarianized" away so to speak.
I for instance, am a somewhat impractical armchair philosopher to some degree, and have made my peace with the costs and rewards of that lifestyle. But I certainly do not want to end up in an Argentinian prison. Fortunately, I am not that smart.