I agree, true geniuses like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk (at least in America) will usually come out on top in the end, no worries. But those are men with IQs above 160.

This article is actually targetting people with IQs between 120 and 140, mostly urban (and suburban) upper class white kids in North America.

To be honest, the real gifted people have no difficulty observing algorithms and noticing patterns, including social behaviors and interactions with other people.

Regardless, if your sharp mind is your tool, keep it sheathed in a quiet kindness amongst others, and work alone, for your gifts will not be appreciated.

What they have written in this article resonated quite well with me and what you have written demonstrates that you indeed are not in any category that I would consider gifted. Just another pompous fool who has a knack for remembering various useless words.

Amara you seem more concerned with what’s okay or not than with the actual perils of being different. You are in no position to say what is “okay” about anyone or anything, and neither is any of those who do. This person is expressing his feelings about many valid things as they relate to his person and you shame him (yes it’s cynical and exaggerated but it’s genuine unlike your stifling contribution). I’m sorry this is what you’ve learned at such a young age and I hope you will become free in time to truly feel the pain of being different and then being able to orient your life accordingly. Conformism is what the masses force on you, don’t be like them. I wish you freedom, and if you are as smart as you say you are I also wish you wisdom in how to live with it.

Pete, I relate so much to your comments / experience.

I came to this article after a failed attempt to write for work (I work for a small enviro magazine) about something deeply meaningful to me but a bit subtle and complex; I sabotaged the whole thing with extreme procrastination, had my perspective grossly misunderstood (critiquing society’s current dominant mode of knee-jerk oppositionality means I’m a nazi apologist, apparently), and because I left it so late I had to hand over the first rough draft which was way too abstruse and over-thought and absolutely not ready to be looked at by anyone else.

As a working-class person who reads and learns voraciously and thinks abstractly and conceptually, and who also abandoned any idea of post-secondary education after realizing I will never have patience to get through first-year level courses, I never really properly developed the ability to organize my thoughts well enough so that I can communicate them to others in writing. When I get a response like the one I got today, in which my mentor EXPEMPLIFIED the pigeonholing/oppositional stupidity that I was trying in a gentle way to critique at the society-wide level, here’s what I think to myself: “Writing is hard. Still, I would like to try. But what is the point of trying, with great difficulty, to overcome my habits of self-sabotaging / procrastination and developing the skills to try to communicate my ideas to others, when their minds contain certain resistant elements that likely will prevent them from taking any meaning from it, even if I manage to express it well?”

I’m realizing how isolated I have always felt and the deep, lifelong pain I have about being trapped in my own world and unable to express what’s in my own mind, and bring it into the world outside. It is incredibly isolating. I’m in my early 40s and it’s only in the last few years that I’ve started to understand, objectively, the lack of intelligence most people have. I always look for the best in people and I deeply believe that people have value far beyond their IQ. That, plus the human tendency to project one’s own self onto others, has prevented me, until now, from seeing the rather stark and depressing situation as it is.

Playing the dominance and subordination game – yup. The whole dynamic of engaging with people and systems that have more power but less intelligence than you just makes you pull back, disinvest yourself, and basically disengage, which is really tragic and crushes the possibility of making a real contribution.

It’s been really good to read the comments here, a balm to make me feel not so alone. I’m grateful for the practical advice I gleaned from your comment, to observe others carefully before trying to express myself. Take care out there.

I tested 179 on the Standford Binet, and this article fits me to a t. Thank you for publishing it. What a relief to know this about myself, and feel validated. Maybe I can handle myself better with others. I’m always amazed that others don’t seem to see what I think is obvious. I have to stop that, and react differently.

Possibly watch Goodwill Hunting?

All I know is that with even this as the only conversation in the room, I’m still never, ever, ever bored. Thank the speed of light I can close my eyes and ears and entertain myself for forever and a day.