I don't know Mr Carrol and Mr Krauss - but I have known great physicists who were vastly my intellectual superior, and those I have known were wonderful people who wanted to help, and explain, and were talented at doing it.

Yes, they were my intellectual superiors - but they never made me feel 'inferior' ... just priviledged to know them.

I do not play the name-drop game, so no list here, but I have a large group of folks who range from casual acquaintance to good friend who are highly respected in their fields. I learned at an early age that surrounding myself with people who challenged me to do better and expand my knowledge base was a positive. Now, these 'people' are just that -- people. Just like you. Just like me. The only difference is that they are smarter and/or more knowledgeable than I am, otherwise they have worries, hobbies, habits, likes, dislikes, foibles, fancies, and so on like the rest of us. Nothing to fear there, unless their personality sucks, but that brings us back to people.

Lawrence, for example, is a busy man who fields questions from all sorts of people every day. So, if you happen to be one of the lucky ones whose question he sees and responds to, hurray. However, I caution you, if you are proposing your latest TOE for his consideration, you might not like the answer. Just do remember that he is a human being, a rather nice one, who is also a teacher and he does what teachers do, he teaches.

Yes, I was raised by fundamentalist Christians.

No. I admire and respect highly intelligent people, but I do not stand in awe of them.

I didn't understand what you were saying, can you say it slower?

Is it really mental inferiority or just a lack of/different knowledge? If they're your freinds what's the common ground? We can't be all thing to all or even those closest to us. I say relax and enjoy the freindship. Hey you could tell them how you feel, see what happens.
Just a thought.

I have a niece who is a lovely girl, and one of the brightest young mathematicians/physicists in this country, she always questions any formula I post on facebook, I am certain she is only being kind when she says that they "mostly check out".

Because someone may have more knowledge in certain areas than you - does not mean you are mentally inferior - not at all !

Each of us has brilliance in some things (though I do hesitate to apply that to our current White House gang).

I respect everyone, and certainly greatly admire some more than others. But in no way do I feel inferior.

Here's a great equalizer : When you feel that inferior feeling coming over you - just imagine the person who seems intimidating, sitting on the toilet. We ALL do it !

Nah, my oldest and best friends is one of those. He's also a ginormous a**hole, and that is what we focus our friendship around. Besides, it's always nice to back-up reference library of my life, and most other things, within an IM. Besides, I'm sure at some point, even Carrol and Krauss get sick of talking about physics and geek out on one of their 1001 other joys in life.

Yep. I am drawn to smart conversations. I am usually like a toddler at the grown up table.Just so curious.

All The Time... he, he, ha, he.... but they still your friends and that is what matters.

I have a friend who has a bridge between both hemispheres of his brain. He can write two distinct thought processes with his left and right hands...independently. Talks with him are sometimes...troubling. He thinks and speaks three and four dimensions. Hurts my head.

I once heard a story about of of the world's leading Prime Number specialists. Apparently, he live all his life with his mother and when she died he moved into his sister's house. The first night there he banged on her door at 02:30 and she can running out in panic, thinking the house was on fire. He looked at her and said, 'how do you open the fridge?'.......

Well I know Krauss appreciates art so I sent him a request years ago and he excepted it a year later. My specific quandary involves an idea I had involving the expansion period at the beginning of the universe. So I received no answer back and that’s when my fear kreaped in. I don’t mind being shown I’m wrong(that happens a lot) just show me how I am. Shit I know I make better art then the those two!

If I don't know something I google, if I don't understand something scientific I ask someone. If I felt that way I wouldn't have any friends. LOL

No but I can totally sympathize. I would love to engage them but I too would be intimidated.

Hell, you are in a great position, all you need to do is get yourself to appreciate it more. I found physics my senior year in college. I did not follow through but my love of physics lives on, If someone is a TRUE scientist, your enthusiasm would be welcome beyond what you believe. For me, not a certified scientist but awfully dedicated to it, I thrive for the moment someone ask me for my thoughts You, my friend, have tremendous opportunity to chat with people that want to share with we the interested ones.

Neither of them seem pretentious to me. I would just talk to them. They both seem like very reasonable, well grounded but really smart people. I'm jealous. I admire both of them and have used Professor's Carrol's General Relativity course as a self study guide to that subject. I will confess that it is quite challenging. Maybe in my younger days as a physics grad student I would have been more successful. As it was, I only got through the first chapter.

No they shouldn't make you feel that way and you shouldn't either.

I’m not sure why you would feel that way. They are most likely a genius in their field but outside that it’s an open forum. Your views are just as valid as their own and any extra information they can provide is just more knowledge for you... once again not a negative.