Intelligence in a romantic partner is great, y’all, but why has it become so idealised, eroticised and fantasised about? Is it really *that* attractive when someone teaches you something you don’t know?

I mean just because someone knows more than you do about a particular subject (or even about a subject you love) doesn’t instantly make them sexier or more interesting as a potential partner.

Like honestly, if it does, you might as well fall for half the world https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😅" title="Smiling face with open mouth and cold sweat" aria-label="Emoji: Smiling face with open mouth and cold sweat">

What if the attributes we tend to idealise in a potential romantic partner are things we perceive ourselves to be deprived of right now? https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤔" title="Thinking face" aria-label="Emoji: Thinking face">

E.g. If you rarely feel like you’re being mentally stimulated, then intelligent people will exhilarate you.

If you rarely feel like you’re appreciated, “seen” or understood, then someone who just “gets you” will exhilarate you.

But these are just attributes; they just affect how you feel right now. They do not necessarily speak to character, which is what ultimately (and mostly?) endures over time.

After all, exhilaration is, by nature, as short-lived as it is exhausting.

In conclusion, I don’t know where this thread is going. This ends now. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙃" title="Upside-down face" aria-label="Emoji: Upside-down face">