Resume Syndrome

i tend to go for the drop outs rather than the success stories. but i take the same kind of route usually. "oh theyve done this, and this" and that makes sense cos i did them too. lost soul trying to find another. but i never really properly desired my ex, he just made sense when little else did.

"but in the end if he's a jerk"

Huh? I thought women LIKED jerks...

Whoa, there's a new one for yer Funk & Wagnalls!

I have to agree with an earlier comment, "chasing brains for their 'looks' is as wholly ridiculous to me as chasing shirttails..."

It seems as though you're not really attracted to intelligence, but the fruits of it. Since the products of intelligence (in your case, status-related entities such as job title, affluence and prestige) are just as trivial "in the end" as any other superficial characteristics, like what color his lunch pail might be.

In the end, it's all about a common ground and the emotion that registers, not their price tag and satisfaction warranty.

If I were a Carpenter and You were a Lady , would You Marry Me Anyway.....Would You have Our Baby....
Intelligence is not always easy to see

Best wishes , I prefer to be Stupid is as Stupid does

Well, I think that being intelligent and attractive is good and rather better than the opposite, but yes, it doesn't really matter because it's what one does with it that does. My measure of a person is what he or she looks like on a busy Saturday afternoon or lazy Sunday morning in the middle of Paris. What will happen when you spend a weekend there together. Having a person's full attention and keeping yours all the way when walking along the River Seine and having front seats for the ballet in the evening is a real plus. Stay sexy everyone! :-)

Intelligence, as given by IQ, is just a social construct. The only basis in reality that it has is the purpose I give to it. So, for me, if someone who is smart should be able to make good (in the truest sense of that word) decisions or evil decisions and make them big, then being smart can be something worse than being dumb and good. In a world where everyone is running in the wrong direction, the man who can't run as fast is ahead.

My wife and I are clearly sapiosexuals, intelligence both turn us on and we derive a much more lasting pleasure talking together in bed than... but that's another story.

The kind of attraction that is suggested, as TheOnlyConstantIsChange pointed, is to marketability. It's nothing more than what old-style matchmaking used to be: Will he provide, is he stable, does he come from a good family and so on.
Not to say that it's necessarily a wrong choice, it's the kind of reassurance some would look in a long-term mate.
My personal opinion is that career-driven individuals may have a hard time making a partner feel like a priority.

My MM is gorgeous with a capital GQ. He has amazing looks and the body to follow it (was a model for 10 yrs) but now is a high up manager for a Fortune 200 IT firm.

Nothing sexier than an gorgeous articulate man who knows what he wants.

Perhaps there is hope for the geeks amongst us after all !, Personally I find a woman attractive on appearance - BUT if when I speak with her she isnt interesting and intelligent enough to hold my attention I wouldnt stay with her. I wouldnt say Im uber intelligent but most of my friends would describe me as intelligent (I think!) and I have a decent career in a profession that generally requires intelligence. Im hoping this trend continues as Im in with more of a shout on this than the six pack seekers !

Interesting perspective DrPhilosopher.

I don't generally find people with degrees to be additionally pompous, except perhaps - ironically - those with philosophy degrees. (That is NOT a dig at you or your mentioned interests :) One of the most arrogant individuals I'd ever encountered had a PhD in Philosophy. Damn that guy liked to hear himself TALK...

"As a philosopher I hold intelligence in low accord because it is through feelings, intuitions, and emotions that give us the creative juice needed to thrive and create new things for knowledge springs from those three important energies we feel"

Feelings, intuitions and emotions are high on my list as well, but intelligence is needed to bring ideas discovered via these avenues to fruition. Many have worthy, innovative ideas in theory but it takes a particularly exceptional individual to make a ground breaking idea a reality. I suppose you might say it's easy to talk the talk but perhaps not so easy to walk it.

I don't think education makes one "a predictable conditioned puppet" per say. In fact, specialized knowledge can open doors for trailblazing and innovation, but you need to have nailed the basics first. (For instance, in psychology). It perhaps depends on which area you excel at as an individual.

I agree that it is good to challenge acceptable paradigms. More people should. There is nothing worse than doing things solely because "That's the way it's always been done." Some people are happy with this, but I would not be. I understand your point in this regard.

Regardless of education, the type of person that attracts me is one who takes risks, challenges the norm and wants to make a significant impact during their time in this world. This does not happen by being like everybody else.

I don't know that the two are mutually exclusive. It's not so much a social status issue, as it is an indication that that you can function, understand and perform at a certain academic level. Not everybody can. A lot of people who have made amazing contributions to the world have worked hard (and needed) to get their degrees. I have met some academics, however, who have had NO life experience and are not at all intelligent beyond "book smart." These are the people who like the sound of their own voices and who I avoid like the plague at social functions!

How shallow is that? ...I am disappointed....