Ask Jenae for real answers - no games.

[Jenae LaTorque]

Originally Posted by Hourglass

I have a question, and hopefully it won't step on anyone's toes.

Your IQ is upward of 150, which is far above that of an average person. I have read about highly intelligent types (I have a fascination with the human brain and what makes it tick) and have heard it said that persons with higher than average intellect can have just as difficult a time fitting in with normal people and those who are mentally challenged.

Do you feel this is true? Is being smarter than your average Joe difficult? Do you find it frustrating to be able to out think the people around you; that instead of making life easier, it can sometimes instead make it more difficult? Do people treat you any differently because of your IQ?

_______________________:confus ed:________________________________

Ok, now to be careful where I walk here so as to not step on toes; your initial statement:
"....that people with with higher than average intellect can have just as difficult a time fitting in with normal people and those who are mentally challenged."
doesn't quite make sense. Did you mean to use the word as instead of the word, and, that is in bold italics? If so:

"You fucked up!"

Now, did that make you mad when I said that? I sincerely apologize! That is something that all smarter people need to deal with - the feelings of others. We have to learn from a young age not to belittle other people and to learn to relate to them at whatever level. And yes, sometimes that is very hard. Many very smart people never do learn to do that and thus you have the stereotypical genius type who does not relate to most other people, perhaps because he is too preoccupied with his area(s) of interest, and has never developed much in the way of social skills. And yes, that can make life difficult for those who are intellectually gifted in logic and reasoning, but are less than gifted in social matters. Speaking of logic and reasoning: it is important to remember that no matter how gifted an individual is - he can only make deductions and reach conclusions from what he knows to date. It is much like the GIGO ( Garbage In - Garbage Out ) statement about computers. People are much like that. If all they recieve for input is trash then that is all you can expect from them, no matter how brilliantly they can express it. The fact is that we all operate on insufficient data; we are all limited by what we have retained and use from a lifetime of whatever input. Our thinking may also be constricted by superstition, religious dogma, schooling, etc.... The advantage of a superior intellect is that we may assimilate more data than others, and we may be more receptive to new ideas, and we may be more able to connect the dots, but, that doesn't make us error proof.

In summary, I could answer all of your questions with a yes sometimes, and a no at other times. The hardest thing about the situation is that sometimes it is so frustrating that some people refuse to see reason in some areas. They have certain ideas so fixed in their minds that they are unable to see outside of the box they are in. At times like those, I have to think about rap music. At one time I thought it was a complete waste of time. But then one day I resolved to really listen to some of it. And while it is not my favorite type of music, I can now appreciate it as an art form. And so with people; it is important to try and understand where they are coming from. We all have a song to sing and a story to tell.

P.S. As to your last question, yes, some people do treat you differantly. Several times on this forum, I have come under attack as to my IQ. Well that's okay as my ego is not so fragile, and I only mentioned it to encourage questions. Certainly not to impress or intimidate anyone. I know and I ask all of you to remember that I can only relate what I know and believe which is limited - just a very small drop in the sea of human knowledge and experiance.

[Hourglass]

Ah, yes...I did mean to "as" rather than "and". Sorry about that. And no, giant red profanity text does not make me angry, lol.

First off, I'm sorry to hear that people have attacked you. But it sort of helped to answer my question and strengthen my view on it...that a person's intelligence - high or low - can make them a target for unjust ridicule.

You did a really nice job of answering my questions, thank you. I think you made a good point when you spoke of the genius-types who are focused; I guess to the people around them it seems like they have "tunnel-vision". This at times makes them seem a bit rigid or even cold, but isn't because they're being logical instead of emotional?
I don't like to think that high intelligence comes at a price; That a person has to be lacking in the social aspect (meaning, consideration for other people's feelings) because they can answer almost any question asked of them. That seems awfully unfair, but it does seem like that's the stigma that society has cast upon high-IQ types. That they aren't "like us", they're different.

That was the comparison I meant to make when I mentioned people who were mentally challenged in my initial post; The way society can treat a person based on their brainpower (be it high or low), rather than their heart or soul.

Something else you said - "The hardest thing about the situation is that sometimes it is so frustrating that some people refuse to see reason in some areas. They have certain ideas so fixed in their minds that they are unable to see outside of the box they are in." - kind of goes hand in hand with that. They want to see everything through their own eyes, and not someone else's. Wouldn't that mean that they are really the ones who have truly never learned to relate to others, not belittle them?

Thank you again for taking time to answer my questions. This thread (and your other posts) are very nicely done, I enjoyed reading them.