I come from a family with fairly rural roots. My parents were the only ones among their siblings to pursue college, and they raised me with an immense appreciation for education and the opportunities it brings. I currently hold a Masters degree in engineering and would like to pursue Law or an MBA in the future. My academic experience and qualifications are a significant part of who I am as an adult. As I continue to grow, I’ve noticed that it becomes harder to connect with some loved ones who are less educated and ultimately less adept at thinking critically and having discussions. I find that ideas, that to me are obvious, sometimes require significant effort from others to appreciate the full depth. Furthermore, I have also found that on average people are not interested in connecting with one another as deeply as I’m interested. For example, if I ask a question, I truly want to know the answer, I’m not just queuing up my own thoughts as response. I always try to be poetic and gracious when explaining these feelings because I’d imagine this would be received better than saying “I think people are dumb and hard to connect with”, but that’s how I feel a lot of times in plain English. I am interested in learning better ways to maintain relationships with people I may have these feelings my about.

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[–] 10 points 2 days ago* (2 children)

Try "dumbing down" your language, though I've always hated that saying. Language is meant to convey thoughts and emotions, it's up to the dealer to decide how they speak. Edit: meant to say that there's no wrong way to speak so long as you convey what you need to.

That said, if you like the way you speak, try to be more emotionally expressive as you talk. Smile, frown, whatever. Not to a comical degree, mind you.

But the thing that's most important is, everyone is different. It takes a different approach and amount of effort for each one, so try not to generalize people too much.

And intelligence comes in many forms. Sometimes you gotta do a little digging to tease it out.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 2 days ago (1 child)

    Thank you. I agree that there is no wrong way to speak but I feel like there are wrong ways to communicate. I can spend hours asking loved ones questions and listening to their thoughts etc, but I’ve noticed that most don’t ever ask me as many questions as I ask them. They never seem as interested or even as capable of understanding me. I feel like I make an effort to truly understand people, or at the very least to give myself of an understanding of what they’re presenting to me, in ways that are never reciprocated. For example, I have friends I communicate with using very crass language with, as our main relationship is casual with no commitments. I have friends that I share a common affiliation and goals with that are essentially pseudo-coworkers, but the job was school.
    Idk I’ve just been feeling lonelier than I ever have before and I was curious what I could learn by sharing my thoughts. I feel embarrassed by how much these replies mean to me but I also feel grateful for any genuine engagement.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 days ago*

    Hmm. It sounds as though your family is slacking on their end. They should be reciprocating, yes, but there may be a reason they aren't. It's possible they feel intimidated by you, for example.

    Honestly, I would recommend a one on one heart to heart with each of them. Ask them if they aren't interested in you. It's probably gonna be really difficult, but I think talking it out might be the best option.

    If you've tried this already, I'm afraid your family is firmly on the wrong side of things here.

    I wish you the best. I legitimately hope things work out for you and your family. Good luck, and keep at it! You've been doing a great job so far, you may also just need a break from things for a while. Maybe time for a camping trip?

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