Member-only story
Ego studying
When people study not to learn, but to be the “smartest person in the room”.
That person who always needs to be right, that person who needs to feel like they’re the most intelligent person in the room, the condescending person who makes snide comments after your every sentence.
The thing is, if you’re egotistical, you’re never going to be the wisest person in the room, and wisdom goes hand in hand with education.
It’s all well and good being book smart, but there are many people who still struggle in life due to having no wisdom. It’s like having a lot of money and still spending it all on things you don’t need. You have all you need to do well, but you don’t know how to use your gift.
Intellectual narcissism
I don’t know if this is an official term, but I am making it one. It’s where narcissists put all their value into their intelligence instead of more stereotypical places.
All they care about is being considered the smartest person in the world and they’ll create an image around it. They’ll dress a certain way, speak a certain way, and take part in certain hobbies, like studying a lot.
I once met a guy who used to study accounting in his free time. He’d take time off to learn. He didn’t only want to pass his exams, he wanted to get top marks. You might think to yourself that there is nothing wrong with this, but you have to understand accounting exams.
For people who don’t know, there is no benefit to getting top marks in an accountancy exam. All you need is 50% to pass and that’s it. He wanted 100% so he could feel more intelligent than everyone else so he’s throwing away his free time to achieve his goal.
He refused to go out and enjoy hobbies and had never been abroad because he wanted to stay home and study. That wasn’t all he did, he also wanted to read a lot of books so he could tell people about it.