Not everything is Roses and Pizza.

[Emageht Tsoluoy]

Something of special interest to me, as it has severely effected my life over the last several decades.
I would consider the aggregate IQ score of these forums to be higher than average,
so maybe others have shared the same issues I have struggled with.
I am not confident that I even belong or deserve to be included as one of those effected by this phenomenon,
but nonetheless I find limited solace knowing that I may not be completely alone in my circumstances.

Can High Intelligence Be a Burden Rather Than a Boon?
http://science.slashdot.org/story/15...er-than-a-boon

HughPickens.com writes

David Robson has an interesting article at BBC on the relationship between high intelligence and happiness. "We tend to think of geniuses as being plagued by existential angst, frustration, and loneliness," writes Robson. Think of Virginia Woolf, Alan Turing, or Lisa Simpson – lone stars, isolated even as they burn their brightest." As Ernest Hemingway wrote: "Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know." The first steps to studying the question were taken in 1926 when psychologist Lewis Terman decided to identify and study a group of gifted children. Terman selected 1,500 pupils with an IQ of 140 or more – 80 of whom had IQs above 170. Together, they became known as the "Termites", and the highs and lows of their lives are still being studied to this day. "As you might expect, many of the Termites did achieve wealth and fame – most notably Jess Oppenheimer, the writer of the classic 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy. Indeed, by the time his series aired on CBS, the Termites' average salary was twice that of the average white-collar job. But not all the group met Terman's expectations – there were many who pursued more "humble" professions such as police officers, seafarers, and typists. For this reason, Terman concluded that "intellect and achievement are far from perfectly correlated". Nor did their smarts endow personal happiness. Over the course of their lives, levels of divorce, alcoholism and suicide were about the same as the national average." According to Robson, one possibility is that knowledge of your talents becomes something of a ball and chain. During the 1990s, the surviving Termites were asked to look back at the events in their 80-year lifespan. Rather than basking in their successes, many reported that they had been plagued by the sense that they had somehow failed to live up to their youthful expectations (PDF).

This is ripped from slashdot and has been reformatted for the purpose of local discussion:
All links and credit have been included.

My question(s) are this:
Do you feel you fit this observation?
If so, do you feel comfortable sharing your experiences?
What difficulties have you faced?
How did you overcome them?
Do you feel as if you have overcome them?
Do you feel that national circumstances play a role in how society has treated or dealt with you?
How have things changed for you as you have aged?

Thank you in advance.

[Tyrgannus]

I use around 15% of my vocabulary and dumb myself down to almost everyone I meet. 19 out of 20 don't notice and find me very agreeable. 1 out of 20 feel talked down to and patronized. It's just not worth it for me to engage people on levels most everyone I've met is not prepared or equipped for. Unfortunately, I have been known to alienate other intelligent people. It is a balance I have yet to perfect.

[Beery Swine]

Well, in normal everyday conversations with people I find that maybe about 5% of the time they, for whatever reason, just start misunderstanding me and, once I've caught on to such and begin trying to explain further to clarify, they basically refuse to listen, not in a spiteful way, though. It seems like they just think they already know what I was trying to say and can't imagine that I meant anything different, so there's no point in listening any longer and they just start saying things like "yeah, right, mmhmm" rapidly. idk if I'm just around the wrong types or what, but there it is.

Will post more, later, after not enough sleep. Also, I have a sorta high at 130, but it ain't genius level. Maybe by the standards of past IQ tests I'd be closer to 140, though. idk

[Independent voter]

I'm glad I wasn't born smart, seems like a terrible burden to bare.

[Ryme]

God this feels so narcissistic to write:

I used to feel a great sense of accomplishment being smarter than my peers, but once I got older I realised how isolated it makes you. None of my interests are shared by my friends, and to fit in I have to dumb down my vocabulary and change what I'd really like to talk about or do. I've found happiness by accepting that we don't get to just be whoever we want to be if we want to have a larger circle of friends (I have about 8 that I would do a lot for, hopefully this is mutual).

When meeting new people, I try my best to never 'outsmart' them, to try to keep just below their level (that sounds so horrible to write, I'm not a bad person, I swear!) and this helps to create common ground.

I'm definitely not the smartest person I know, and others that are my superior seem to do roughly the same things as I do, so I suppose it works quite well.

The only thing that trips me up, is that aside from my granddad who's not doing so well lately, I don't have anyone in my life that I can just kick back and talk about interesting maths or physics with. Even something like wanting to take awe in all the mechanisms of the Sun is something I have to just ponder to myself. That sucks, that's isolating, but that's life - not everyone gives a shit about the things you give a shit about.

[NewOrleansTrolley]

This isn't anything new, guys. On the flip side, I would argue nothing great comes without suffering and persistence. And yes, even a little isolation.

However, I deeply disagree that this forum represents the cream of the crop. It's mostly my bias is better stuff drowning out anything else.

[StayTuned]

I was happy when I used to be a dumb kid. Playing video games all day long, not caring much about future careers and life outside of my room in general.

As I grew older I became more educated and met more people, which changed my life. I became constantly concerned about my grades, thinking how I will accomplish great things in life and became afraid - every day - that I might not fulfill the expectations everyone had of me now.

I know a couple of people, including my best friend, who didn't go down the same path of tertiary education. They got a blue collar job, no brain work, and after finishing their shift they'd go home and keep on playing video games. They are genuinely happy with their lives. Not to mention that for the past 5 years, they were able to afford way more than I was able to.

If I wasn't a stoner I do not think I'd be able to manage all that. I was never used to any amount of work, or pressure. But back in my head I know that I want to own things. Nice car, house, boat. The package. I really want it, but I know I can't have it without hard work.

Hopefully I'll be more happy when I reach my goals, but for now it sucks. My view on the world in general became a lot more pessimistic. I see behind the lies in politics, I can draw the connections between new laws and lobbyists. Things like that. Information you cannot process with due deepness for as long as you do not actually start reading upon that topic (given you understand what you are reading).

And I am by far not naturally gifted, or even on any IQ chart that would make other people go woaah. I don't even want to fathom the things others, who are much smarter than me, are aware of.