How many genuinely interesting people do you know?

Everyone would define "genuinely interesting" differently. To me, it means the ability for original thought on many different topics as well as the capability to articulate those thoughts.

I have been lucky enough to know many people who I considered to be genuinely interesting. My parents and one of my siblings would both qualify in my opinion. My grandparents and a lot of my extended family were what I would call genuinely interesting. I think I was spoiled from a young age.

When I was cast out into a world of boring, banal people, I just shut most of them out because I consider being boring to almost be an unforgivable sin. It isn't "sin" because boring people mostly can't help it. I usually count being boring as having three strikes against you right off the bat.

Some consider me to be boring on this forum, so what do I know? This topic is quite subjective.

a reply to: Profusion

I think that the more you know someone and the more invested you become in their lives, the more interesting they become.
Days of our Lives stayed on the air for decades for that very reason.

And then there are those who are immediately interesting, but you don't want to know too well, like serial arsonists.

I like boring people. I'm a fan of consistency and small-talk. Nothing really interesting ever gets said out loud anyway.

a reply to: Profusion

Everybody I spend time with is genuinely interesting.

a reply to: Profusion

When I was cast out into a world of boring, banal people, I just shut most of them out because I consider being boring to almost be an unforgivable sin.

One persons excitement is another's boredom. My family are the most boring people I have ever met. I had no idea until I was 'thrust out' into the real world.

What specifically bores you about everyone else, so better than thou?

a reply to: Profusion

This topic is quite subjective.

and there is the tread killer quote

I recently joined a local women's group. We do a lot of social stuff, getting to know each other. I have met some of the most interesting people in this group. Some of these women have been around the world, and have worked with other really interesting people, doing interesting jobs and have some fascinating stories to tell. Makes me feel pretty boring in comparison. It's weird though, because some of them have said they envy me because I have a successful marriage and family. Most of them either had a failed marriage or never married at all, and have no children, so while they may have led "interesting" lives, they don't always feel fulfilled, and often feel lonely.

As for intelligence and critical thinking, I feel I am on the same level as these other women. Does that make me just as interesting as them? Don't know, but we are a strongly opinionated bunch, and it leads to some interesting conversations for sure.

I find many people worthy of being interesting for lots of different reasons.

Theres those who have lead interesting lives by doing something, being somewhere, knowing other people who are interesting - these people are interesting because of their memories/knowledge of events etc

There are those who have interesting ways of looking at things. These are sometimes those who agree or disagree with my own ideas or understanding of a massive range of subjects. These are my favourite.

Some people are interesting just for their querks, people who make me laugh or who are different for whatever reason.

These types are so different to the boring crowd, the top of the pile of boring for me are the celebrity followers, those addicted to something i find uninteresting and those who cant keep up with a "normal" conversation due to being uneducated, unwilling to expand their mind or (and im not proud of this) those who lack the intelligence to try.

How many people do i know that are genuinely interesting: The majority of people i know. Im in my mid thirties so ive plenty of time to spend more time with interesting people and so it makes sense the ones who arnt, are associated with less often.

I would expect that the younger you are the less choice you have over who surrounds you.

The more you find out about a person, or about people in general, the more you realize that everyone (with maybe a couple of exceptions-- 1-2%?) is interesting. At least that's what I've found.

Oops, just realized that I responded without reading other responses. I guess I'd agree with above posters!

How many genuinely interesting people do you know?

As of last counting.....9 [nine]

a reply to: Profusion

Well lets see...

One of my friends has a medical implant, whose purpose is sending interference signals to interrupt and disrupt signals sent from a damaged nerve in his back, to his brain. Without the implant, he would be in crippling pain. He has to have his implant retuned every now and again, but essentially he is a cyborg now. He has to charge the implant up every day to ensure it remains functional. The alternative to this would have been a constant reliance on pain medication of STAGGERING strength, for as long as his body could tolerate its presence in his system, followed, one would assume, by death.

He also plays bass guitar in a local band, and is aside from these things, a real stand up guy. In fact, saying all that, I have about six friends who play in bands, and most of them have fantastic stories and attitudes to creativity which really make me smile, and they have hobbies besides. One of them is a mechanic by trade, but also collects swords and bayonets ranging in style from the medieval to the Second World War era, and spends his spare time traveling around the country in his modified, matt black, Vauxhall Corsa, visiting ancient battle sites, castles, and places of historical importance. He also writes fantastic lyrics.

I also know a person who is a professional Viking. That is to say, that she rocks up to schools in traditional norse garb, and explains what the life and times of the norsefolk were like, with all the equipment, shield, ax, sword, all on display, and used as props to demonstrate certain things about life in the ancient days. Thats pretty interesting.

My cousin is qualified to fit, maintain, and tinker generally with X-Ray machinery, and is a physics whizz. He can also locate Mars in the night sky faster than most people can find fresh underwear. Hes a very interesting guy, and probably the person in my extended family with whom I have the most in common from the perspective of our interests and hobbies.

But here is the thing. I do not hang out with boring people. There are things I find interesting about all the people I know. My best friend is interesting to me, because for all that she has been into Wicca, but now identifies as largely atheistic, she is one of the most Christian people I know, in terms of how she treats human beings. That might not interest many people, but it interests me. Everyone I know has their quirks, their very own identifying habit, ideal, principle, or component. If they did not, I would not be able to stand them for a moment.

Many years ago, I was told if you want to be happy and successful you should attempt to surround yourself with happy and successful people...which I made a concerted effort to do. I'm not bothered about material success but people who have dreams that they go out and realise are always infinitely better company than my stoner friends who played playstation 24/7 and have no ambition.

No such thing as an uninteresting person. The only measure is how detail a measure you have made. Look into any depth and you'll find some wild things about everyone....both good and not good.

Sounds cliche, but I think that it is objective...you have to determine your measure of "interesting," but either way you'll find it at some point.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: Profusion

When I was cast out into a world of boring, banal people, I just shut most of them out because I consider being boring to almost be an unforgivable sin.

One persons excitement is another's boredom. My family are the most boring people I have ever met. I had no idea until I was 'thrust out' into the real world.

What specifically bores you about everyone else, so better than thou?

I don't think I'm 'better' than others. If people want to just be monotonous drones, who's to say that's not better than trying to be creative? There are lots of people who think that being completely mind controlled is better than taking responsibility for oneself. I don't make value judements for others about such things. If someone wants to be like an android and they think that's best for them, I would never tell them they're wrong. That's a freedom of choice issue to me. I have the utmost respect for freedom of choice.

My subjective answer to the question posed in this thread in no way implied a value judgment. Being a drone may be the best choice for some, I can't deny that, and I can't judge that choice.

The part of the original post that may be confusing is the part where I related compatibility of personalities to being interesting or boring. People who lack creativity often find creative people to be annoying in my experience. That's a good example to me of how compatibility of personalities has nothing to do with being 'better' or 'worse.' In other words, a creative person could be rejected by some because of their creativity while being accepted by others for the same reason. Who's to say who or what's right in such a case? I would never do that.

a reply to: Profusion

We should be able to make some choices about what we do and what kind of people we interact with.

I watched a good documentary last night about the rise of Hitler, one stated goal of the Nazis was to have youth strong as steel, fleet as greyhounds, etc. Another was to have men , 'not of books but of will'. In other words not learned or intellectual, not questioning, but drones carrying out the will of the party (Hitler).

This led to book burnings and we all know, eventually burning people too.

So always question, always choose carefully where your allegiances lie. Its easy to go along to get along. Where then do we draw a line?

Imo, personally, at my feet. Like I said earlier, can't change nobody but yourself.