The Sad Socrates Effect: Intelligence, Suicide, Depression, and Pigs

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• "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; it is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied." -John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism 

• "God knows how our neighbor managed to breed/His great sow:/Whatever his shrewd secret, he kept it hid/ In the same way/He kept the sow--impounded from public stare,/Prize ribbon and pig show." -Sylvia Plath, "Sow"

• "A pig does not seem able to accuse; it is too dead to pity." -Ted Hughes, "On Thinking"

• "J'avais de cochon, plus exactement de pate en croute, de rillons, d'andouillettes, de fromage de tete, de jambonneau aussi."-Charles Baudelaire, "Lard or Pigs?" 

• English: (I felt like a pig, more exactly like a pate of pork, some rinds, a head of cheese, like some ham also). 

So, what's the deal with pigs and the discontent of great minds?

It is nothing of a coincidence that pigs seem to hold a perpetual juxtaposition alongside ignorance. Wyatt N. Troia first proposed "The Sad Socrates Effect" on Harvard University's blog, The Crimson. When Troia explained the phenomenon, he highlighted the correlation between Harvard students and an increased risk for Depression and suicide. He suggested that higher-than-average intelligence leads to an increased proneness to sadness as a consequence of deeper thinking (Read the Article Here). 

 However, this is not a new phenomenon. There have been endless articles correlating gifted children with unexplained bouts of existential depression.  Being spontaneously thrown into a bout of existential depression is typically triggered by idealistic thinking (i.e. imagining all scenarios--including exceptionally ideal scenarios and becoming upset when they don't 'pan out'). 

So smart people are sad, big deal. What's new? Who cares? And what the flying fiddlestick do pigs have to do with any of it?

Let's reexamine the first quote by good old John Stuart Mill, "better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied." John Stuart Mill--who suffered from Bipolar Disorder or Manic Depression--was proposing that although painful, the life of an intelligent person is a sort of burdened blessing. To Mill, Plath, Hughes, and Baudelaire, the pig represents the lowest possible vessel to live in. However, intelligent philosophers, thinkers, and authors all know that living in the lowest possible vessel is favorable over living in mediocrity. 

So let's propose a new phenomenon. The Three Little Pigs effect.  

As we all know, "The Three Little Pigs" is a children's parable that details the moral: "hard work eventually results in success." However, if you were to reexamine the details of the story, what does it really show? One pig is responsible for all three's survival: one pig who is not really a pig but something for the future. The weirdo pig saves the day, but why? Because he didn't act like a pig. Hence The Three Little Pigs Effect. 

By nature, all exceptionally intelligent exhibit savant-like symptoms. You could easily argue that exceptional intelligence is a disability. Ignorance--or rather, pigness--feels better, is more socially-acceptable, and easier to cope with. The Sad Socrates Effect is a disability. The Three Little Pigs Effect helps all the sad socrateses rise above, contribute, and save the day. 

• "Sludgy Soil: mud, blindness, and 'Sow'"