# Where can I meet intellectuals?



## Thinkerbell (Jul 8, 2012)

I envisioned college being a paradise for people like me. I couldn't have been more wrong, and I ended up with severe SA and depression. :no

I attend a university of 50K students, there's bound to be people I can connect with. Unfortunately I've gone two years without finding these people despite joining a women's pre-med group, research group, and ultimate frisbee. Where can I find "intellectuals," for lack of a better word? I don't mean whiz kids, straight A students, future neurosurgeons. But nomconformists, "nonshallow" people, deep thinkers, and open-minded people. Like what clubs/orgs or even places?


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## agentcooper (Aug 15, 2012)

Thinkerbell said:


> I envisioned college being a paradise for people like me. I couldn't have been more wrong, and I ended up with severe SA and depression. :no
> 
> I attend a university of 50K students, there's bound to be people I can connect with. Unfortunately I've gone two years without finding these people despite joining a women's pre-med group, research group, and ultimate frisbee. Where can I find "intellectuals," for lack of a better word? I don't mean whiz kids, straight A students, future neurosurgeons. But nomconformists, "nonshallow" people, deep thinkers, and open-minded people. Like what clubs/orgs or even places?


Well, my experience was finding clubs that make things. This can be techy or artsy. Then there is college radio, kids there are big on seeing the hidden symbolism of everything. You can easily find in these types of groups people who like to just "sit around and talk about big ideas"....wink.


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## Thinkerbell (Jul 8, 2012)

Would Chess Club be a good option? Is there a chance of there being people who think outside of the box? As you can tell, I'm now really picky about what groups I join. Ultimate frisbee was a disaster. I expected them to be laid back but I felt judged plus I've overheard mean things said about other teammates. I eventually quit the last month of school to salvage any amount of self esteem I still had.


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## TrcyMcgrdy1 (Oct 21, 2011)

Honestly, the honors school hangout if they have one. At UO, they had a special building for all of the super duper smart kids. They all just mingled together and left us dummies to go party and be ridiculous. Try and see if you can befriend them smarties.


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## Thinkerbell (Jul 8, 2012)

agentcooper said:


> Well, my experience was finding clubs that make things. This can be techy or artsy. Then there is college radio, kids there are big on seeing the hidden symbolism of everything. You can easily find in these types of groups people who like to just "sit around and talk about big ideas"....wink.


That's a good idea, thank you, agentcooper. Hm, idk if I'll be good at making things, I'm neither techy or artsy. College radio sounds fun, I never thought of that.


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## Shack (Jan 8, 2010)

Try surfing meetup.com. I'm a libertarian so I found a group in my area that meets once a month I like. It's pretty difficult though. The best place to meet intellectuals by far is on internet message boards nowadays, which isn't great for us with SA


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## Luctor (Aug 10, 2012)

Hello.


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## Reclus (Jan 11, 2012)

That's a tough question, OP. Non-conformists, by their very nature, don't join clubs, and true intellectuals don't necessarily go to university either. Some of the most intellectual people I have met are autodidacts who never got more than a high school education. Study at tertiary institutions these days tends to be about succeeding through narrow specialisation, which is the antithesis of the whole Renaissance Man concept. All I can recommend is that you keep your eyes and ears open and watch out for individuals who don't follow the crowd (including those who shun the shallow intellectualising wannabees you tend to find at varsity).


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## rayantrifoli (Sep 10, 2012)

In my opinion .. you are a star .. and you know that your followers ask all time the news about you .. So you Dont care .. Go .. Keep going in your life .. and with time you will find them .. ^^


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## Peppermint Tea (Sep 9, 2012)

hiding like mantis among, clubs, books, and online - in plain sight, my friend!


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## Temujin (Sep 3, 2012)

Debating society/club?


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## Neo1234 (Mar 6, 2012)

Some music club or photography club??They do think out of the box. That's all I can think about, for now :-|


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## Thinkerbell (Jul 8, 2012)

Shack said:


> Try surfing meetup.com. I'm a libertarian so I found a group in my area that meets once a month I like. It's pretty difficult though. The best place to meet intellectuals by far is on internet message boards nowadays, which isn't great for us with SA


I'll take a look at it. I have a "friend" who's in the libertarians club at school. Yeah forums are perfect for discussing.


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## Canucklehead (Aug 28, 2012)

Barcraft


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## typemismatch (May 30, 2012)

The world is full of sheep, I don't much care for sheep. You could start a non-conformists club, sheep not allowed. Trouble is, you will get people who think they don't conform - like goths and heavy metal folks and the like, silly sponges.


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## PointHelp (Sep 1, 2012)

and if you want to hang out with 'non-conformists' then you'll just end up conforming to what they're doing.
sorry for the lack of advice, good luck. :L


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## Thinkerbell (Jul 8, 2012)

typemismatch said:


> The world is full of sheep, I don't much care for sheep. You could start a non-conformists club, sheep not allowed. Trouble is, you will get people who think they don't conform - like goths and heavy metal folks and the like, silly sponges.


I was thinking about staring a club actually, one for introverts. I'm not sure what we'd do though.

PointHelp, why add "sorry" at the end? If you're going to be rude, go all out, don't chicken out lol


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## typemismatch (May 30, 2012)

Thinkerbell said:


> I was thinking about staring a club actually, one for introverts. I'm not sure what we'd do though.
> 
> PointHelp, why add "sorry" at the end? If you're going to be rude, go all out, don't chick out lol


we could all look sheepish


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## Wolfen (Apr 26, 2004)

Try learning Arimaa and find internet groups with other people playing it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arimaa
http://arimaa.com/arimaa/


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## AriesTrying (Mar 19, 2009)

Great question. I wish I had been self-aware enough to ask it myself when I was in school. I ended up not really connecting with too many like-minded people because I was just so shy...and not really realizing I had SA. You're ahead of the curve, I'd say.

Starting a group yourself could be a good idea. I also think it's a good idea to take stock of what types of values you want to have in common with your future friends. That will tell you a lot about where you might meet them.

For me, "non-conformist" tends to align with activists, atheists, and humanists. So personally, I'd try to link up with those sorts of groups.

It sounds weird but I find board gamers to be quite brainy and fun people. Have any board game cafes in your area? What about starting up a board game group?


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## Thinkerbell (Jul 8, 2012)

Lol typeismatch, that doesn't sound like a good time.

Arimaa sounds interesting, gotta look into it.

Thank you, AriesTrying. I actually wanted to go to my school's board game club but SA stopped me. I'll go tomorrow.


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