being a genius would be sad

<li>Take IQ test.</li>
<li>Results come back. Shows an IQ of 210.</li>
<li>Spend all of your life worrying about changing the world and not losing your smartness.</li>
<li>Die.</li>
</ol>

<p>Seriously…that is the case for EVERY ‘genius’ and ‘prodigy’ I have ever heard of (except for Stephen Hawking). I think geniuses would be better off having NOT taken an IQ test.</p>

<p>Thoughts? Opinions?</p>

<p>At least their intelligence wouldn’t limit them in any way. They can learn anything they want with such intellect. They can hold a wide array of lucrative careers with such brilliant minds. Who the hell cares about loneliness and being left out when you have a brilliant advantage? Any hardship you get from being a genius means that others are just envious and you’ll get misunderstood. Oh well, at the end of the day you can go to sleep knowing that at least you’re smarter than 99.99% of the world.</p>

<p>^why live then? </p>

<p>so you can get more money and know you’re better than others?</p>

<p>When I was a kid people thought I was a genius. It was very bad for me. In first grade they pulled me out of class every day to work on algebra homework while everyone else was learning how to add. Of course this made me kind of strange and also an arrogant twit so nobody really wanted to talk to me. It only got worse when I was eight. My parents brought me to another school and the director put me in all eighth-grade classes as a “research project.” My parents somehow didn’t catch on that I was miserable and had no social skills until one of my schools threatened to kick me out for bad behavior. That’s when they finally had the sense to put me in a school where I’d only be one year ahead and wouldn’t be treated differently. That’s when I started making friends and climbing trees and living.</p>

<p>And this is why when I have kids, I will never, ever, ever give them an IQ test. Ever.</p>

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<p>There is nothing wrong with money as long as you know how to put good use into it. I’m not saying one should be arrogant, but documented proof that you’re smart should boost your confidence as you at least have that going for you. Genius is a gift, anyone who has it should take advantage of it, even if it’s a few quirky perks like being able to calculations on the top of your head like a savant.</p>

<p>^ oh wow fizix2, I think you might be a genius after all. </p>

<p>However, I do agree with what you’re saying. Been a genius must suck. </p>

<p>Imagine: you don’t get to enjoy your early years. What fizix2 said is a perfect example. Imagine a 12 year old in high school. He wouldn’t fit in. Yes, he is very smart and whatnot, but he is not happy. He is missing out big time. </p>

<p>It’s awesome to be successful and such, but really, there’s no need to be so advanced (like far beyond your years). You have time to graduate from HS and become an engineer, there’s just no need for you to do it at 13 because you won’t fit in in either of them and you would be miserable.</p>

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<p>Wouldn’t a genius 12-year-old be bored to tears in the 7th grade, not to mention bullying is at it’s worst in middle school? Imagine that kid following his classmates up to high school at a normal rate and they all realize he’s different and they are intimidated by his intelligence and they exclude him. Even if he does manage to make friends with his peers, the relationship will be awkward as his intellect may reflect his interests and he won’t have much in common with people his age.
What exactly they missing in school? Dances? Football games? Not fitting into any group?</p>

<p>Geniuses are probably better off being home schooled or enrolled in a gifted program, if possible.</p>

<p>What exactly they missing in school? Dances? Football games? Not fitting into any group?</p>

<p>You say this as if fitting in and having friends isn’t important…for a CHILD. No matter how smart a kid is, they’re going to grow up rather screwed up if they never made any close connections to others.</p>

<p>MetdethGNR: </p>

<p>“Imagine a 12 year old in high school. He wouldn’t fit in. Yes, he is very smart and whatnot, but he is not happy. He is missing out big time.”</p>

<p>This could not be further from the truth. I myself was 12 years old and in high school, yet I made countless friends, participated in school activities, and at the same time took the most rigorous classes available and excelled at them.</p>

<p>Sorry if I came off as an arrogant prick, but, in all honesty, what you as well as others are saying is merely a stereotype, and not necessarily true at all. Whether a “genius” is outgoing or reclusive depends on factors other than his/her own intelligence (I don’t want to state my opinion on whether these factors are genetic and/or environmental, because somebody is bound to use that opinion to start up the inherited/acquired personality argument.)</p>

<p>Whether they skip grades or stay in the same grade as their peers, they’ll still feel alone anyway. If a 12-year-old has the intellect of an 18-year-old, they are going to have a hard time making friends with the average person their age. Would they even be interested in doing so? I mean, there is only so much someone could talk about if they’re different in that respect.
They can always talk to other gifted children to have friends.
As for dealing with the real world, I’m sure they have enough social skills to do so.</p>

<p>TA3021: I agree with you with respect to your allegation that a 12-year-old with the intellect of an 18-year-old would not do well making friends with other 12-year-old kids. However, this also implies that such an intellectually advanced 12-year-old would be able to make friends with 18-year-old students. It is intellectual, not chronological, age that makes people peers.</p>

<p>Bear in mind that I speak from first-hand experience; I find others my age incredibly immature, and I even feel that some of those that are truly 18 years old are rather childish as well. As a matter of fact, people tell me that when they first met me, they thought me to be an adult and interacted with me very easily, indicating the possible disparity between a person’s chronological and intellectual age.</p>

<p>As to your statement that loneliness will be the case whether the student skips grades or not, I must disagree, based on what I have stated in the previous paragraph. You say that you are sure that they have enough social skills to deal with the real world. If this is so, why should they be unable to deal with high schoolers?</p>

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<p>It’s better than trying to make friends with people older than you.
I’m 17 and in a bunch of graduate math classes. I’ve never found people who really connect with me because the kids in my class are 26 and married with three business degrees. They are nice to me and we have conversations before class, but they’re usually about math because that’s the only thing we have in common.</p>

<p>People my age tend to like me a lot more. All I have to do is not bring up anything academic and voila, I’m not different anymore. I might be smart and think about life a lot but I still worry about friends and boys and all the things normal teenagers worry about. Please understand that smart people aren’t some sort of alien species. Nor are we more mature and more capable of dealing with the world just because we’re smart.</p>

<p>Also, you guys should read Ender’s Game.</p>

<p>CocaColaAddict: I now agree with you. I didn’t get to read your post while I was replying and was thinking about the post above yours. I was going to say something similar what you said, but I was afraid of coming across as an arrogant prick or being wrong.</p>

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<p>Yup I’m sure you were getting all the girls, hitting up the parties, playing varsity sports, etc. </p>

<p>I mean, if what you listed makes you happy, then good for you. But for most people I think they require a little more, at least when they’re of average high school age. I was about your age when I started high school and I can’t say that I was doing all the things I listed above. I had many friends, did great in school, joined a few clubs, but that doesn’t mean that I was satisfied or as satisfied as I would have been had I began high school at the same age as everyone else.</p>

<p>I’ve always read that Einstein’s IQ was only like 143, which is in the top 1-2%, but not brilliant. So, how accurate are these IQ tests?</p>

<p>My parents hid my IQ from me growing up so I wouldn’t get arrogant. Picked on a lot, I just assumed I was intellectually average and let the kids who could regurgitate information get all the praise for being smart. I wish they would have let me know before I had to figure it out on my own.</p>

<p>I’ve always thought of myself as a pseudo-intellectual. I’m much more intelligent than the average person, but I’m nowhere near brilliant. It’s not too bad, but it’s hard to talk to people, since I always have these thoughts about how they don’t understand anything. I’m getting better at realizing that everyone has his or her own merits.</p>

<p>Cola, you make some good points, but regardless, I think a 12 year old surrounded by 17/18 year old classmates wouldn’t enjoy HS as much. </p>

<p>A 12 year old is still going through puberty, is small and scrawny, his interests are different. His 17/18 year old classmates are physically adults, most are probably having sex, drinking, other things 12 year olds generally don’t do. Sure, maybe he’s academically on the same level as them, but outside of class, people don’t discuss Chemistry and Victorian Literature with their friends. Imagine being 12 and your 18 year old “friend” is trying to talk to you about her boyfriend and brings up her sex life, and you haven’t even hit puberty yet. Or they all go out to a movie, and you need to bring your Mommy because you can’t see a PG13 film, let alone R :D</p>

<p>molly, you are absolutely right. I think I had disregarded that aspect because, I, personally, was not “still going through puberty” and was not “small and scrawny.” I was not only intellectually mature, but my physique was also more mature than your average 12 year old. In fact, I appeared as though I truly was of high school age.
To be a little more clear: by the age of 15, I was growing a full beard. </p>

<p>You also note that “outside of class, people don’t discuss Chemistry and Victorian Literature with their friends,” implying that you believe a 12-year-old high-schooler would do so. It is on this point that you are falling back on stereotype. Personally, I can tell you that I was not like that at all; quite the opposite, in fact. I hardly brought up academics out of class at all. I got along with my classmates that were much older than me perfectly fine. As a matter of fact, I probably would have had trouble relating to kids that were my age. As I mentioned in a previous post, they seemed rather immature to me.</p>

<p>I reiterate, however, that what you said, molly, is perfectly plausible and I’m certain that it does happen. I just wanted to clarify that the situation you described is not necessarily the case. Speaking of which, I believe that if an advanced student is having trouble coping with the level of maturity he/she is surrounded by, it is the parents’ responsibility to provide an alternative for said student, such as homeschooling or, if available, a program in which all the students are advanced so that the child does not miss out on the social development others go through at that age.</p>

<p>I know everyone’s experiences are going to be different but in my case I find it to be more of a burden than a gift. (At least before college) Of course everything isn’t black and white like some people make it out to be. </p>

<p>I went to a magnet school in Los Angeles for elementary school and due to an overbearing mother I was pulled out everyday during 2nd grade to be taught more advanced math. By third grade I was enrolled in internet classes i.e. John Hopkins and spent summers at CTY. My parents had me take tests and stuff and I tested gifted (obviously not genius) but they had me focus more on math and science, which I tested lower on than writing/english and art. (This was probably when they still hoped I’d grow up to be straight.) Well anyways since my elementary school was adjacent to a combined middle and high school (it goes 6-12) I went to algebra class in fifth grade. </p>

<p>I got picked on a lot for being so young, but I felt like I belonged there. I had opportunities to skip grades, but my parents refused to allow me. It’s hard to explain, but I’ll do my best. IT IS SO UNBELIEVABLY FRUSTRATING</p>

<p>You just feel alone, I suppose. I never really focused on all downsides or anything along those lines. I always understood why my peers acted the way they did and said the things they said. I was indifferent to it and now I understand I probably won’t be able to connect with many people. There have been times where I thought someone did understand and that I had made a connection, but in the end I just don’t think like everyone else. There seems to be a fundamental difference in how I perceive the world. I am indifferent to the difference now.</p>