 "Dumbing yourself down" around your peers?
helium: Don't dumb yourself down. People will sense that you are not being yourself and you will be miserable anyway. I have made the same mistake myself in past and I have realised that often times people that you consider less 'intellectual' are capable of very stimulating conversation if given the right subject to talk about.The key is to not be condescending. People don't mind smart people, but they hate being made to feel stupid. If you have to correct someone, do it in a kind, diplomatic matter.People don't always have to be super smart to be interesting, even less intelligent folks have the ability to teach you something if you really show an interest.I myself would rather spend most my time with 'boring', real live people than with a web browser in a darkened room.