What makes a genius?

It's what you do with your intellect that makes the difference between the two.

Amicus Curiae

Since: Aug 09

Austin, TX

"Knowledge is power" - Sir Francis Bacon.

I say "Knowledge is power only when it is applied for the good of humanity."

writewingproxyco ntin

“The Buybull is innerrrent.”

Since: Jun 08

10,559

Philadelphia, PA

We are not going to find the answer to that on topix.

“l'enfer, c'est les autres”

Since: Jul 09

4,564

Albuquerque

Sheila wrote:

It's what you do with your intellect that makes the difference between the two.

I agree. I've spent all my life "playing dumb" because people truly resent intelligence. If I wanted to have any friends at all, I had to play dumb, come down to their level. A higher IQ is a burden.

Sheila

nmweatherman wrote:

<quoted text>
I agree. I've spent all my life "playing dumb" because people truly resent intelligence. If I wanted to have any friends at all, I had to play dumb, come down to their level. A higher IQ is a burden.

Each of us are at different levels of intellect and should not disparage those with lesser ability. Truly, you must adjust your speech sometimes, but be gracious as there is always going to be somebody smarter than you, also. I know I appreciated Carl Sagan's grace when he actually asked my opinion once several years ago. We all have limitations, even the super intelligent.

writewingproxyco ntin

“The Buybull is innerrrent.”

Since: Jun 08

10,559

Philadelphia, PA

Sheila wrote:

<quoted text>Each of us are at different levels of intellect and should not disparage those with lesser ability.

Oh, you moron-jackazz.

Actually, I have almost always found that the more intelligent a person is relative to me, the kinder they tend to be regarding any misunderstanding on my part. I guess either they have developed a quality of forbearance if they regularly deal with people who are less intelligent than they are, or else they are overcome with pity for me in particular.

Praiz!

Adrian in Tacoma

Seattle, WA

I choose indifference and pee them off exponentially, just grin when they call me Spock or robot - tickles me to see an instant gratification tantrum...

Sheila

writewingproxycontin wrote:

<quoted text>
Oh, you moron-jackazz.
Actually, I have almost always found that the more intelligent a person is relative to me, the kinder they tend to be regarding any misunderstanding on my part. I guess either they have developed a quality of forbearance if they regularly deal with people who are less intelligent than they are, or else they are overcome with pity for me in particular.
Praiz!

There are a couple of geniuses on topix who are so intellectually gifted that you may not even be able to grasp 'when' the insult began or even happened.

“l'enfer, c'est les autres”

Since: Jul 09

4,564

Albuquerque

Sheila wrote:

<quoted text>Each of us are at different levels of intellect and should not disparage those with lesser ability. Truly, you must adjust your speech sometimes, but be gracious as there is always going to be somebody smarter than you, also. I know I appreciated Carl Sagan's grace when he actually asked my opinion once several years ago. We all have limitations, even the super intelligent.

Okay look, I'm not bragging, I'm complaining. In a relative sense my IQ (at age 14) is not that high, it was 130. And I learned very early on not to disparage others. To have social relationships you need to have give and take and telling them "that's stupid" doesn't cut it. Then you'll have no friends, no peers. I learned early on to listen as if interested and never point out that to me they seemed "slow." It was hell to get along with people and I have been playing a role all my life.

In grade school I felt resentment because I finished assignments early and correctly. Other students struggling do NOT appreciate the person who seems to be "smart." Later in life (early-mid-teens) my interests isolated me. I was reading and comprehending at a college level, making movies and rocket motors, writing short stories, playing chess, doing art and so forth. None of the people I liked as peers were in to any of those things. To keep a friend, I had to pretend to be interested in what they were doing.

This was back when IQs weren't very well understood and parents really couldn't understand they had a kid who might be, intellectually at least, more advanced. Mine began looking at me like you'd look at a bug on a pin. Long story short, I wish even today I'd been born "normal."

I never brag about my IQ, that wouldn't gain me any points anywhere. I bring it up on this thread because it seemed on-topic. But an elevated IQ is simply a burden, a life-long burden.

Ironically, I worked for a decade as a paraprofessional mental health technician, with emotionally handicapped and developmentally disabled kids and adults. Even more ironic, I was damned good at what I did. I became one of our agency's two Program Coordinators.

Sheila

It's nice to know that your common sense has grown along with your I.Q. You have done work to be proud of, many with a higher Q. have done less. On a tangent have you read the short stories "E for Effort' by T.L. Sherred, or "In Hiding" by Wilmar Shiras, I thought they were interesting.

Sheila

Obviously your common sense is well developed, too. You have done work to be proud of as well. I, also, don't claim to fame. It's too bad on topix that so many members like to call others retarded,it's so cruel. As you know from your work, the "challenged" don't deserve such comments. I cringe to think how these labelers treat their own families.

just an allusion

Louisville, KY

Cash wrote:

What makes a genius?

In my humble opinion, I would say that it amounts to one's capacity for the faculty of perception &/or the ability to willingly exercise it beneficially and not merely allow it to go to waste by allowing societal, cultural, or personal obstacles to hinder it's expression...The unfortunate downside is that far too many people THINK that they are exercising intelligence when, in fact, they are exhibiting the exact opposite.

This site appears to provide something more of an insight, or at least another's perspective on the matter, for those that are interested:

http://www.geniusintelligence.com/whatmakesag...

A laborer in America

Jacksonville, FL

Amicus Curiae wrote:

"Knowledge is power" - Sir Francis Bacon.
I say "Knowledge is power only when it is applied for the good of humanity."

No no, it's only when it makes others money, but that also means that the genius is willing to sell himself for money.

A laborer in America

Jacksonville, FL

What is truly tragic, is that our school system has dumbed down the super majority, so that they don't even posess common sense. It's just pitiful. If you'd like a for-instance, just ask and let's see if you have more than just ---

“l'enfer, c'est les autres”

Since: Jul 09

4,564

Albuquerque

A laborer in America wrote:

What is truly tragic, is that our school system has dumbed down the super majority, so that they don't even posess common sense. It's just pitiful. If you'd like a for-instance, just ask and let's see if you have more than just ---

AMEN, bro.

Andik

Cleveland, OH

nmweatherman wrote:

<quoted text>
Okay look, I'm not bragging, I'm complaining. In a relative sense my IQ (at age 14) is not that high, it was 130. And I learned very early on not to disparage others. To have social relationships you need to have give and take and telling them "that's stupid" doesn't cut it. Then you'll have no friends, no peers. I learned early on to listen as if interested and never point out that to me they seemed "slow." It was hell to get along with people and I have been playing a role all my life.
In grade school I felt resentment because I finished assignments early and correctly. Other students struggling do NOT appreciate the person who seems to be "smart." Later in life (early-mid-teens) my interests isolated me. I was reading and comprehending at a college level, making movies and rocket motors, writing short stories, playing chess, doing art and so forth. None of the people I liked as peers were in to any of those things. To keep a friend, I had to pretend to be interested in what they were doing.
This was back when IQs weren't very well understood and parents really couldn't understand they had a kid who might be, intellectually at least, more advanced. Mine began looking at me like you'd look at a bug on a pin. Long story short, I wish even today I'd been born "normal."
I never brag about my IQ, that wouldn't gain me any points anywhere. I bring it up on this thread because it seemed on-topic. But an elevated IQ is simply a burden, a life-long burden.
Ironically, I worked for a decade as a paraprofessional mental health technician, with emotionally handicapped and developmentally disabled kids and adults. Even more ironic, I was damned good at what I did. I became one of our agency's two Program Coordinators.

I want to say that I have first-hand experience at what you are saying, and I sympathize and empathize with you regarding your feelings surrounding your intellect.
I, too, was singled out, treated differently, and mocked.... hell, I was down-right bullied, not only by peers, but by members of my own family as well. I taught myself to read by the age of 3 or 4, and when I started kindergarten, I was already fluently reading, only no one knew until that point because I was so painfully shy, that I rarely spoke to people.
By the time my family realized what was going on, I was so freaked out because I thought I had done something wrong by being who I was. My parents never even told me what my IQ score was, or that I was gifted until well into middle school. I went my entire childhood, being pulled out for gifted programs.... and I thought it was because I was "special needs" or one of the "dumb kids". This did not do wonders for my self-esteem.
As a result, I spent YEARS in school trying to bend over backwards to do whatever the adults wanted, and I ended up in college my first year, in a major I didn't like, pursuing a career I didn't want, and one day I finally "got my voice".
I changed majors, moved across country, switched majors again, got married way too young, divorced.... moved again.... etc...
Fast forward to now. I FINALLY (in the last 7 years or so) know who I am, accept who I am, LIKE who I am, and am doing exactly what I want to be doing.
It is not a fairytale ending, though.... Sorry.

Andik

Cleveland, OH

nmweatherman wrote:

<quoted text>
Okay look, I'm not bragging, I'm complaining. In a relative sense my IQ (at age 14) is not that high, it was 130. And I learned very early on not to disparage others. To have social relationships you need to have give and take and telling them "that's stupid" doesn't cut it. Then you'll have no friends, no peers. I learned early on to listen as if interested and never point out that to me they seemed "slow." It was hell to get along with people and I have been playing a role all my life.
In grade school I felt resentment because I finished assignments early and correctly. Other students struggling do NOT appreciate the person who seems to be "smart." Later in life (early-mid-teens) my interests isolated me. I was reading and comprehending at a college level, making movies and rocket motors, writing short stories, playing chess, doing art and so forth. None of the people I liked as peers were in to any of those things. To keep a friend, I had to pretend to be interested in what they were doing.
This was back when IQs weren't very well understood and parents really couldn't understand they had a kid who might be, intellectually at least, more advanced. Mine began looking at me like you'd look at a bug on a pin. Long story short, I wish even today I'd been born "normal."
I never brag about my IQ, that wouldn't gain me any points anywhere. I bring it up on this thread because it seemed on-topic. But an elevated IQ is simply a burden, a life-long burden.
Ironically, I worked for a decade as a paraprofessional mental health technician, with emotionally handicapped and developmentally disabled kids and adults. Even more ironic, I was damned good at what I did. I became one of our agency's two Program Coordinators.

... to continue, off that ominous last ending...

To be as true to myself as I need to be, and to keep pursuing the ideas that I want, and to trust my intuition which is almost always right (as a scientist, I leave room for error, I have inevitably pissed off and disappointed craploads of people, failed at a bunch of stuff, got politely asked to leave a program of study because my ideas were so contrary to the "groupthink" that it made the whole department up in arms.... But, I know I am on the right path now, and no matter what the negative fallout is of my decisions that I make, I know deep down that I am doing what I should be.

Because every so often, when you feel like you are all alone, "you against the world", and you wonder why you subject yourself to so much pain to stick to your guns, when it would be so much easier to just "go with the flow" like everyone else and have an easier time of things...

You realize that despite the relative pain and hardships and difficulty, that you actually enjoy what you are doing, and screw everyone else. And THEN even more rare, but so much more satisfying, is to sit down at the computer after a craptapular day, and find a random message board of people just like yourself, and you don't feel so alone.

And the fact that you wrote an article, and the subject matter was the same as the ideas that got your proverbial butt kicked by your "more knowledgeable others" at an unnamed former University..... and to see people accepting your ideas and giving them some sort of validity, and sparking dialogue... makes it all worthwhile.

I'm glad I happened upon this posting. Have a great night, and hang in there... it gets better (at least that is what I hear).(^_^)

“l'enfer, c'est les autres”

Since: Jul 09

4,564

Albuquerque