You're gifted enough to cruise through the first few stages of your education without trying, so you forge an identity as "the smart kid" but never build up skills in learning or studying, so when you finally get to a level where your natural intelligence can't carry you anymore you can't keep up with the people who did learn those skills and you start to fail and lose your identity as the smart kid which causes you to break down because that'd how you defined yourself for so long..... or so I've heard.
That's the cost of designing education for the worst students.
This is actually the reason. Because there is no such thing as "natural intelligence". Not more than there is "natural strength". There are natural predispositions, yes, but what you get is function of what training effort you put in. Whether you realise, and/or like, putting effort into training your intelligence, is is another thing. So people who are "above average" were in a favorable environment that fostered their development without it feeling forced, or unnatural. And then, when the environment was replaced by the school's, it sadly didn't foster personal development anymore. I would argue we would need to redesign education, now that we have internet. We don't have to design courses around physical limits.
I feel like you watched me grow up. For a long time I was smart enough to pick things up naturally, I was even offered to skip grades.
Then the math got complicated and I didn't know how to learn it. I went from being the smart kid to being the stupid one in remedial math. Being smart was all I had at that point, so when I "lost" that, I lost everything in my eyes. I was stupid and I was never going to be anything because of it.
I ended up getting my GED as an adult and I now have a promising career in insurance- so I didn't really lose everything, but when I was 15 it sure felt like I had.
More or less the same, except I ran out of steam somewhere in the calc 2 to calc 3 area...so instead of becoming an engineer, I became someone who works for them.
In some ways it ain't bad. I'm "skilled technical staff" whose work makes my position "salary non-exempt", which means that at most companies/employers, my work gets guaranteed salary pay, but if I am asked to go over 40h in any given week, they're legally obligated to pay me 1.5x OT pay.
I am crossing this divide now. I have secondary education but no university and I am working to get to med school now (In Finland it is a combined undergrad and med school). I think I can do it but I don't really know how to study. I know how to learn but learning in schedule is the issue. I was too ill to go to university when I should have and I could have gone to easier courses I could have gone to without an entrance exam and done OK but I always wanted medicine. Or well, I not easier but easier to get into like maths. After I got better I ended up in aid work, and stopping that is really hard. But I still want to become a doctor so I am trying now in my thirties. Having what looks like undiagnosed ADHD that is now under investigation and crappy childhood might explain part of why I never became what people felt I should have but the fact that I never had to learn to study because I didn't need to get through is up there.
I try to remember that our education does not mean anything for our value, but it seems hard when it comes to you.
Excuse me, I resent being attacked at 5am on a Friday, tyvm.
Wow, that's exactly what I've... heard... too!
First half describes me, second part does not. Never struggled in school or university (although I did fail lectures because I was too lazy to show up for exams).
But I also never defined myself about being "the smart kid", I always rejected that notion. Society didn't and still projected it onto me. That's why I'm breaking down crying every other day. I always tried to help people that do struggle, I always tried to keep my "gift" as far away from conversation as possible. It didn't matter, I'm a failure.
That stang...
Also, when you see it happen and you actually start trying and do better but some teachers always give you a lower mark to "motivate" you so you'll "try even harder".
Why did you have to remind me of my higher education failures
I am good with knowing my deficiencies. What sucks is being told that they are my fault because I should be "smart enough to overcome them".
Agreed 100%, being a specialist in something always has led to someone taking a pot shot at your deficiencies.
Or being a jack of all trades and getting potshots for not being an expert in everything just because you pick up the basics quickly.
It's actually insane how many teachers and other education professionals waved me off with 'you're smart enough, just try harder' while I was obviously suicidally depressed and extremely dysfunctional. Having undiagnosed autism because I was a teenage girl in the '00s was fun.
Girls, undiagnosed autism, and suicidal tendencies? Name me a more iconic trio!
Ah, the ol' "here's the test here's exactly what you need to do to be successful" followed by "lol that was never the real test."
The guilt that "you could have done more with your life", despite being a successful engineer with a happy family.
"Gurtaj is a principle software engineer at Google you know! You used to be the same grade in school. What happened?"
"Dad, I'm running a multimillion dollar startup right now"
"Tsk tsk"
"with all that million dollar you still can't be a doctor, did you know your nephew could play violins blindfolded while performing a surgery when he was still 3 years old. What a disappointment"
Meanwhile,
"Osrs is running a multimilion dollar startup you know! You used to be the same grade at school. What happened?"
"Dad, I'm a principle software engineer at Google right now!"
"Tsk tsk"
Dude...fuck...are you me?
There's that joke about wearing regular clothes on Halloween to go as the "gifted kid", and when people ask what you're supposed to be you sigh and say you were supposed to be a lot of things.
Let's be honest, most of us think we're in the blue zone, when we are probably in the red zone
Sometimes we wish that our impostors syndrome was true
I just wish I didn't know that whatever is true none of it matters anyway.
I had to do an official test along with a psychological examination for reasons when I was almost 18 years old, so I know at some point I was in the blue zone or above, but it doesn't really fucking matter when you have autism, a mood disorder and have been neglected by your parents so you never learned things like determination or frustration tolerance. I think I shaved a solid 10 IQ points off anyway from almost a decade of substance abuse issues, so now I'm just autistic and dysfunctional without the gifted part.
How many of us were put in the blue zone because we liked The Magic School Bus and turned up to second grade already knowing what an esophagus is?
I'm cleanly in the green 👑
Excellent at being below average
I'm in this picture and it makes me keenly aware of what I could accomplish if I didn't just coast by
Go with what makes you happiest, most often more effort can lead to less rewards. Ultimately you have to find your comfort zone.
wise words. I started just playing to my strengths a few years ago, instead of overachieving for the nebulous award of being "the best", and my life has gotten immensely more fulfilling.
my current employer isn't asking me to be the best in my field, just good at what I do, and that feels great. I get shit done, and don't feel the need to constantly reinvent the wheel. or feel the stress of failure when something is over my head.
We all think we are there, it's not a good mentality. No judgement, I am with you
AscendedMeme.jpg: Being Dumb | Being Gifted | Being Just Smart Enough to Coast by Easily in life while enjoying it.
I'm in this picture too, but the red part
I still suffer from this. Promising early start, intense self-confidence issues and depression by the end.
Doubt is a sign of intelligence. Which can sometimes lead to confidence issues. Just try to keep things in perspective and not let doubt keep you from taking calculated risks. It's when we allow ourselves to become paralyzed that things regress. A lot of it is environment as well so there's no simple answer but I can assure you thet you're not alone.
I think I needed to hear this, thank you
Many such cases!
Fun fact: programs for gifted kids have historically been far more underfunded than programs for other exceptional students.
By the way, the euphemism of "exceptional children" pleases my autistic brain way more than any other word for Special Education students. It has all the compliment-sounding qualities of "Special Needs" but is even more literal than any previous euphemism. It literally means "kids that teachers need to make exceptions for"
"Gifted" programs royally screwed my education. I had huge gaps in my knowledge because they decided that being top percentile in reading/writing (and being the weird kid) meant I could just skip out on classes for special little weird classes or sit with higher grade classes. I just had ADHD btw and really liked to read. Anyway, I would LOVE to know wtf they thought they were doing moving a kid around that much in 3rd-5th. I suffered the hardest with math. I was missing bits and pieces, which is pretty gd important in math, and I'd still somehow get the answers right but talked to about my overly complicated or ✨creative✨ solutions lol. Even now I hide my work if I need to solve something because I'm probably doing it weird... Then later it was really fun finding out that I couldn't really live up to being "gifted". 0/10 being special made me less educated.
Truth. When I was in the gifted reading program us dweebs had to temporarily be relocated to the teachers break room.
I'm sure the teachers that shared that break time with us didn't enjoy it.
This is funny, but even the most intelligent people are inflicted with this. Don't let it keep you down, we cannot be good at everything.
Its been consistently self-reported by Harvard students. And another effect is present, too - excellence leads to being placed in competitive environments, where everyone else is just as excellent. And this can make brilliant people feel stupid.
Intelligence also doesn't necessarily translate to actual success. I've been through numerous assessments as a child that confirmed I am comfortably in the "green zone" (if measured by IQ, that is), but I also have pretty severe ADHD so I can only really make use of my brain for short periods of time.
I can get a week's worth of work done in a day, but only once a week, and I spend the rest of the week wondering where I'd be if only I could work like that every day. I was also a decent student in school/uni but never near the top of the class, because I couldn't bring myself to study for anything more than a few days before the exam.
Well, there necessarily need to also exist below average Harvard students. Its probably more of a shock to have the one thing you might have been proud of, being rather smart, be taken away once you get there and realize you are probably at most average and have to find a new identity
But its just an illusion.
No we're not, you're just in the blue zone. Us greens are quite happy.
Found the red
There is no green region. It's blue all the way up.
Ah, I see the stereotype of everyone thinking of themselves as "lazy genius" is something we've carried over from Reddit. We're all above average intelligent and could really achieve something if we just bothered to work hard and apply ourselves!
lol
Yeah, one of the most important epiphanies I've ever had is realizing I'm not a lazy genius, I'm just lazy. It was a rude awakening to realize that I need to work twice as hard to keep up. But it was probably the best thing to happen to me!
Did you know that 80% of people think they're above average intelligence?
I think a good part of that is because 'average human' is not a good way to represent who we are individually. I'm probably above average at specific things but in many other respects I'm average or below or wherever I'm supposed to be. Maybe most people are above average even though on average most of us are average.
Fully above average people IMO are like astronauts and stuff. We all live in the shadow of that former navy seal/doctor/astronaut who is like 45 or some crazy shit.
This really depends on the distribution. If some or all of the people in that bottom 20% are very, very stupid it could actually work out that 80% are above average, because the average is being pulled down by the people at the bottom.
This is why we have different averages like mean, median, mode, and RMS because they each give you different interpretations of the raw data. For example the mean electro motive force of the grid is around 0 volts because it spends as much time in the negative as the positive. We use RMS here because negative numbers become positive when squared.
Flat earthers and anti vaxxers bring the average down far enough to make that possible.
I'm definitely average
Maybe a little stupid sometimes
Being gifted only refers to intelligence most of the time. But intelligence alone won't make a person excel at their field. You can be among the most intelligent people but still stay in the blue zone.
I think excellence comes to be when intelligence meets motivation, purpose, creativity, social skills or other factors.
And when it comes to the blue zone resilience would be a key factor. If one is intelligent of course you realize your faults quicker as well. However it takes resilience to keep going in the face of your own doubt.
That's why in the real world people who are very convinced of themselves and their own ideas will get far even if not gifted at all.
Agreed with most of your post but uhhhhhhh
That’s why in the real world people who are very convinced of themselves and their own ideas will get far even if not gifted at all
Confidence isn't as good for finding the truth or good solutions as it is for tricking other people's brains into thinking that you're a reputable source of information. If you mean "will get very far" as in "capable of raising through the ranks of a hierarchy, regardless of what they actually do with their position later" or "capable of establishing their own little flat-earth cult", then sure, a confident dumb person can achieve that. Not sure that's something to be celebrated though.
Absolutely agree. I meant exactly what you said.
This just reads like a post about how you should be a good little capitalist slave.
Or you could read it as critical of capitalism.
"motivation, purpose, social skills, creativity" arguably all valued more under socialism/communism (admittedly there's a lot of semantics going on under the hood here). Which is why so much tallent goes to waste as grist in the capitalist mill.
I wish my iq was 20 higher or lower, idk just gimme out of the blue zone
I get what you mean… though, I feel like an IQ test is a biased test, I took one as a teenager and scored high. Which was a morale boost at the time, but a few months later I had medical problems and ended up having a stroke and had to basically start all over with speech, motor and memory.
Sure, I survived. But I went through every therapy, started back up and realized I wasn’t close to what I was before. Which was crushing, sure I knew it wouldn’t be the same and I’m still above average, but the latent memories of my capabilities before constantly haunt me.
I didn’t mean to depress anyone, just enjoy the blue zone if at all possible. I constantly try remembering, it can get worse. /hug
The older I get the more I profoundly identify with Cypher. Ignorance truly is bliss.
I say it regularly, I would prefer to be ignorant… At least then I wouldn’t be hyper aware our species stinks.
Seriously, sweet ignorance and the woman in the red dress, every day.
Fun fact about being in that green region: Don't! It's like being in the blue region, but green!
You have the downside of having to shoehorn being in the green region to every conversation. A real burden
Who wants to bet that most commenters will place themselves in the blue zone?
Thankfully I can look down on everyone as I’m firmly at the top of that curve.
Is it surprising that people like that gravitate to a place like this?
No it's not and it's also weird to treat that percentile as if people in it are extremely rare. People who fall in the blue area (noticably higher than average intelligence, but not exceptional) are about 15% of the population. The problem is that people somehow feel attacked if someone claims themself to be clever and it's accepted to shame them for that.
A lack of self-awareness does come with its perks.
Getting mature early is a curse
Cuz you are left with a wee little tolerance for biased thoughts and advices
I don't mind being aware of everything, but I do mind that nobody else is
As you get older, you sort of get used to the fact that the majority of your fellow passengers are oblivious to the fact we’re on a bus speeding towards a cliff, driven by depravity and delusions of grandeur. And you realize short of a miracle, nothing is going to change it. It’s either that or you go mad. ¯\(ツ)/¯
Awareness of your own weaknesses is the first step to make them your strengths.
Yes, this is funny, but anyone worth knowing in a PhD program will quote Hawkings at you if you take the green part too seriously.
"Only losers brag about their IQ."
Or Thomas Edison (and yes, he was actually a decent engineer before he realized how much easier it is to just own a company)
"Great accomplishments depend not so much on ingenuity as on hard work."
Others have touched on this, but ultimately the most vital trait a person can possess is perseverance and a bias for action. I would gladly work with a mediocre person who works relentlessly at improving their skills and figuring out solutions. I don't enjoy working with "gifted" people who have plenty of ideas and few actions to show for it. Intelligence can make you risk averse, and you're useless if you're too afraid to take any action.
Which is the curse, built in risk aversion. 🥴
bias for action
Bezos intensifies
I believe this is called the Salieri zone
lol i had to look up who that was... very fitting
My guy spitting facts over here.
Uh... All I see when I Google that is old porn starring some guy named Mario Salieri
Like I'm even good enough to have imposter syndrome.
Had the top conversation in third grade. Have spent the rest of my life in the blue zone.
I avoided it by coasting, they did testing in kindergarten and I realized fast I didn’t want the attention. Especially being treated like a trophy by my dad.
Do I regret coasting now, of course. Do it for your self-confidence, later in life you’ll be happier you did.
So I'm curious, how did you end up? Is there anything in your adult life that indicates your capabilities are above average?
Yeah, the less stupid you are, the more you realize how stupid you really are.
Ah, the Asperger's Zone
I felt this. You?
Show this comic to 100 people and almost all will think they’re in the blue zone.
This is like those ADHD memes which just list every one of life’s inconveniences or challenges as some kind of “symptom.”
Everyone has these feelings, it’s not a curse, it’s just life.
I guess you didn't realize that pretty much every ND diagnostic criteria is something that pretty much every human experiences to some degree or another, but people who experience them to levels where it negatively impacts their life can get diagnosed and treated so that they can attempt to live a "normal" life. It's not some big gotcha you just figured out, it's part of the actual diagnostic criteria for the conditions.
Can't find the source right now, but some tweet compared it to peeing. Everybody has to pee, but when you have to go 30 times a day, there is obviously something different about you.
Sure, and an earache can be nothing or a symptom of a brain tumor. That’s the problem with a bunch of people self diagnosing based on WebMD or memes.
Everyone has these feelings
Not me!
Can you not try to drag ppl with ADHD thru the mud? Odds are you really don't know what you're talking about.
As demonstrated by the comments in this thread.
Fully agree. It's strange that people think that being aware of ones deficits is beholden to people of above average intelligence. Being aware of your own limitations is a pretty basic human trait.
Godamnit
The smart kid who's just not smart enough to achieve the big goals and should always suffer from what could have been,living an average life.
