Would you date someone smarter than yourself? Would you prefer not to?

Honestly, I really don’t care either way.

I preffer to be equal. :)

I like a little of both. My husband is smarter than me in some things, and I am smarter than him in other things. I love that. If he were smarter than me in everything, I would still want to be close enough intellectually to have significant conversations about some things. I love being amazed by his intelligence in areas that I lack it, but it’s no fun if you’re always on radically different levels.

Supposedly, I’m really damn smart. My college is paid for, I aced the ACT, and I’ve made straight A’s through college.

There is a girl I have been best friends with for a really, really long time, and I know she is smarter than me in a deeper, intuitive kind of way.

I’m secretly head over heels for her.

Sure, I love smart women. I also wouldn’t mind earning less money and being the one who’s in the kitchen the most.

I think my preference though would be that the person I date has a different type of intelligence then me, so when can still learn from each other. Complementary intelligences are the best for a relationship. But if not, eh, so what? I dig the smarties.

Absolutely I would. If he doesn’t have common sense though, forget it. I dated a guy who was very smart, but had zero common sense. I wanted to strangle him.

Smart is sexy, smart and has common sense, oh bring it. Bonus points for glasses ;)

@everephebe I think my preference though would be that the person I date has a different type of intelligence

That’s how I feel about the girl I mentioned. I know a lot about literature and history and things like that, and she knows a lot about practical knowledge and philosophy. I still feel like she could totally outclass me if she really tried, though. And I think that’s sexy. I love smart women. Hell, I love brilliant women. Intelligence is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard I’m the same way. I’ve got all the academic smarts, and my husband has the deeper, more intuitive smarts of which you speak. It’s a good combination that balances well when we communicate effectively. Occasionally we just end up driving each other crazy, but for the most part, we love it.

I want to date someone smarter than I am, but guys who are smarter than me and are not arrogant pricks, and are honest are hard to find, along with the smart guys with the common sense @redfeather is referring to.
I don’t like talking about ‘how smart I am’ because that makes me nervous, but I’ll just say it’s hard to find guys who can keep me mentally stimulated in my community.
I have deeper respect for people who have the ability to be resourceful, insightful, can be comfortable with different ideas, and are inquisitive and curious than those that are just merely book-smart.

It would be a refreshing change. I’ve only dated one that was “smart”: she was a a great painter, could do puzzles really fast, and picked up math well. She was the closest thing to smart I’ve been with. The rest were typical, superficial club women, potheads, too ghetto, and too conservative. I’d rather take my chance with the smart one.

I am married to someone who is smarter than I am in many ways. So yes, I would date someone more intelligent that I am. He claims that I am smarter than he is in other arenas, but I’m not sure I buy that. Except for Wheel of Fortune. I completely kick his ass at Wheel.

@Blackberry – Maybe you need to look somewhere else. ;)

My husband is logically intelligent. I am emotionally intelligent. We are both smart in different ways. I cannot imagine a balanced relationship without some difference in how the intelligence is distributed.

I would. Intelligence is sexy.

Intelligence turns me on.

You bet. Intelligence, especially when coupled with a keen wit, is the sexiest thing in the world.

I agree, true intelligence is the best aphrodisiac—nothing else comes close.

I wouldn’t mind dating someone smarter than me. It hasn’t happened yet.

I would and I did and I prefer intelligent girls.

Wouldn’t mind at all. You are who you are. Everybody is different from one another, on one level or another. Shouldn’t be a problem.

Yes, I like being told what to do.
And being taught. Opens opportunities.

Lately I’ve been considering my track history and I would have to say.. it hasn’t happened that I consider someone I’m dating to be one of those ladies who were actually WAAAAY smarter than me.

On the other hand, when I think about those ladies who I do consider to be WAAAY smarter than me, I find I lose perspective on the definition of “smartness.”

so.. maybe a little help.. what does smart mean exactly?
Filled with knowledge?
Always the victor in a debate?

oh my god.. I think I just realized the lady I saw last night is most likely entirely smarter than me. I think I might have even suggested that to her without knowing what I was implying.. weird..

Of course I would only ever want to date some one smart and intelligent. However, it would take me some getting used to if the person is smarter than me. My entire academic life upto university I’ve been used to being the brightest or smartest. And I’m also pretty competitive. So yes I would date someone like that but I may have to get used to being the student/choir/second brightest bulb

It wouldn’t bother me. But if they were superior about it, or if I felt like they didn’t respect me because I was less intelligent than them, I would be hurt.

If it were at all possible to find someone more intelligent (and more modest) than myself, then sure.

@AstroChuck It’s your lucky day then Chucky boy! I’m here :D

I like ‘em dumb as a bag o’ hammers and will not settle for anything less! ;)

My SO is a LOT smarter than me. I find it intimidating sometimes. But I don’t think I would enjoy being with someone who was a lot less smart than me.

I would love that. Smarter or equal. I could never ever in a million years date someone that I found to be less intelligent than I am. We just wouldnt be able to connect on a level I’d like to. But someone smarter would be nice because there would just be that much more to learn from the person.

@lucillelucillelucille I didn’t like the book, but I liked this one part from Steve Harvey’s book:
“The only way woman can truly be completely satisfied is to get herself four different men—an old one, an ugly one, a Mandingo, and a gay guy.” (Mandingo is dumb as a bag of hammers who can hammer)
Says nothing about a smart guy :D

My friend recently dated a very smart woman who masqueraded as down to earth and not elitist, but her true colors came out once they started to know each other more. The woman was 22, knew 3 languages already, attended Harvard, and was just smart as hell lol. They both are into philosophy and during debates, she would become so arrogant she was like a different person, even using the phrases “I’m miles ahead of you”, and “It’s ok to be behind, I still accept you for who you are”. We always laugh about that because she made it seem like she was the complete opposite.

I think I’d get really bored if my partner wasn’t smart.

As long as the person is smart enough to be interesting and engaged with life and we can talk about a range of issues and argue and debate some, I don’t really care whether they are smarter than me or not. I am smarter than my husband in some areas, but he is much smarter than me in others. All is equal and fair.

Definitely, but only if he could also make me laugh and talk about something besides his own field of expertise.

I dont think it really matters . I’ve dated the dumb, smart, and equal ones .

sure. I think that as many people have suggested, there’s lots of different kinds of smart. I personally think its important to learn all of the time, and not neccessarilly in a school book type way- but from people and life in general. I think it’d be good for me. heh.

I’m a bright gal, I’d much prefer smarter than dumber. This goes for EQ as well. Lots of smart men with 4 yr. old whiney, complaining, moody, baby sides to them. I don’t do baby men, at all. lol
If it’s a choice between dumb & dumber, I’ll just take a happy brownie to my hot tub. ;-)

I’d love having an SO smarter than me, but just smart is okay too. I dated a girl who seemed pretty sharp, but then she used to stop me mid sentence all the time to ask me what the word I’d used meant. It got old.

My girlfriend and I are within 3 IQ points of each other; I think it’s why we enjoy each other’s company.

@zenvelo

Haha, where’d you two meet? On ‘Match IQ .com’? lol

Yes, I would. I honestly wouldn’t care. Maybe that would change if the situation presented itself, but how I feel right now, I would only admire it; it would not be a problem.

I like an intellectually significant lady from time to time.

Actually, I seriously don’t care. As long as the guy I marry isn’t too much smarter then me, then I would smack him. It’s just annoying.

It wouldn’t matter as long as the other person knows how to keep a conversation running. The other can be the smartest person but if they lack social skills it would suck. Or if the other person doesn’t know what to say or when to say. I find myself a lot pointing out a lot of mistakes in myself or in others; things that others might not want to hear… a bad thing that sometimes is a conversation killer.

I never really thought about that much. Doesn’t matter either way, I guess.

I love when I date someone whom I can learn something from. Knowledge is power and the more he knows then the sexier I find the guy.

I agree @creative1. I do find intelligence incredibly sexy too.

Oh hell yes. I never gave this much thought until I met my current husband (who is smarter than I am in many ways). Turns out, I much prefer that.

Not dating someone smarter than myself would pretty much eliminate the entire spectrum of potentials.

Honestly, I don’t know what is meant by “smarter”. She understands gardening and I understand automobiles.

If nobody dated anyone who wasn’t smarter than themselves, then nobody would date at all.