Ann Althouse has had an interesting discussion on whether the intelligence of a potential partner (compared to your own) is an important factor in a successful relationship. She has come down pretty much on the side of equality of intelligence. Read about it here. Ann doesn’t do comments, and email responses are limited to 300 characters. Being the verbose individual that I am, I was unable to respond within those parameters. So, my overlong email is now this post:
Well, if equality = compatibility I agree. It seems to me all this talk about preferring smarter/less smart mates is irrelevant if there is not basic compatibility present. And I think compatibility goes way beyond equality in intelligence.
Personally, I am attracted to successful women but I am not sure success is a reliable indicator of intelligence. More important is the presence of some shared interests and the ability to talk about topics and issues at a level where both partners can potentially enlighten or be enlightened. I appreciate learning something new from my wife and I like to think she has learned some things from me over the years. (Unfortunately, I was unable to make her see the errors in her logic for supporting Kerry, but that is a moot issue now thankfully).
We are probably saying close to the same thing Ann. But as I see it, intelligence and equality are really just part of the overall universe of compatibility.