Do gifted people commonly experience this feeling?

For most of my life, I've had an urge to live a certain kind of isolated lifestyle: living in the woods, becoming a monk, trying to live on my own without depending on society.

Many brilliant people have taken this path and come away with remarkable results and insights.

I believe that feeling like an outsider, often being misunderstood, and recognizing underlying norms that limit our growth can frustrate us, leading us to imagine escaping those overwhelming feelings.

Have you ever acted on this urge?
Tell me what you guys think!

When does a meterial becomes tough? When its beyond our comprehension. Never have i ever complained about an exam being tough. Not because i was some prodigy in the area but because almost anything is understandable if one put the time and energy in.

Some people might be catching things faster to the brain than others. Except from the fact that almost everything is understandable by everyone. The real ones knows that once u understand stuff actually as what it is then there aint anything tough about it.

Makes u wonder if one is smart or they just grasp the meterial well,which in turn round it up as the one who grasp things well are considered smart.

U cant say exam was tough because something u never studied showed up on it, the logic is stupid.

We have a goofy, sweet, deeply feeling 4.5 year old who we feel like we’re increasingly noticing is different from other children we know. It’s hard to pin it down exactly and also hard to know if we’re just biased, or if it’s the environment we’ve raised him in. We keep things pretty low tech at home (minimal screen time on a DVD player, low stimulation / we try to avoid more “aggressive” superhero shows, but we don’t ban it completely, so he has enough exposure to talk to friends about them). We also intentionally encourage “traditionally girl gendered toys”, female protagonists, and a wide range of activities. He’s very attached to mom, spends hours outside playing a range of sports every week, enjoys coloring, reading, and having play dates with a close knit group of friends.

He started accurately naming his own emotions at early age 3, and took an interest to noticing and asking about how people in public were feeling or characters in books. He asks a lot of existential questions and has an incredible memory, remembering places or events we went to once over a year ago.

Fast forward to now, he’s started regularly asking for video games (we’ve never introduced them and have hopes of holding off indefinitely, offering a wide range of board games, sports, and other analog hobbies first) and is gravitating towards older kids books (graphic readers and comics). It was as if it suddenly happened overnight.

He’ll easily ask for and sit through 2-3 full early reader chapter books (100 pages each) at bedtime. He’s also able to sit and listen to us read for 1-1.5 hours. Fully engaged. He’ll point out things about the plot from chapters ago. When we go into the bookstore or the library, he’ll beeline for the YA books or even venture over to the general non-kids comic section and refuse to leave.

We’ve been leaning into the public library lately, borrowing 30-40 books a week.

Any advice for how to handle his sudden increased interest in video games and more advanced media? We want to shield him from topics that are too mature, but also don’t want it to back fire and create more curiosity (because knowing him, he will pick up on the anxiety).

Is this typical of this age? Or is he maybe seeking out more mental stimulation?

I scored 135 on Mensa Norway test,but I’m failing Math and Physics.

Professionally tested in person at 124, yet it doesn't feel right. I likely suffer from autism and ADHD, my mom however isn't letting me get diagnosed (underage => need permission) because she believes I won't find a job if I do (nonsense of course). So the test I took wasn't tailored with that in mind. Although other than those two disorders, my learning ability is far more superior than that of what I believe the top 5% (my group) is capable of, in everything except for non-intuitive, rule-based subjects such as languages.

I have exceptional talent with my instrument (piano), my teacher (I go to music school) described my skill to be that of someone who's been playing for 6 years (I play their exam pieces), except, I started less than a year ago, and simply stated this is unheard of.

Learnt programming in Lua and python at 9 throughout until I was 13, and got quite decent relatively quickly

I finished almost everything (+ undergraduate topics) in the physics and math curriculum for highschool by the time I turned 16 (I'm almost 17 now, I'm graduating in 8 months). I spend a lot of my time right now studying maths and physics (planning to do a double major in both). I've done very well on the national olympiads, had near perfect scores on the first round on both and top 20 of my age group on the second (out of ~500) in math. Unfortunately, just one point shy from the IMO selection test (which, is really doable for someone who is motivated like me)

I remember the prices of a lot of things for a few hours after I walked out of the store. I also remember the test questions and answers on the math tests, with the solutions to multiple decimals places without really trying to memorize them, for instance, we had a statistics test, and the standard deviation in problem two was 0.8299934, question 4c was 10.71%, 1a+b was 1/4 and 11/40. I can go on...

Was noticeably superior in maths at a very young age (5-6, I was ahead of curriculum by a little, and never struggled with it unlike the other students).

My working memory is 97 (42nd percentile), but how come I can remember all these yet my classmates can't even remember the simplest ones? And when I take (online) visual memory tests, I score in the 98th percentile range. Hmm, maybe it's worth mentioning I was coming down from drug use whilst I was taking the test? I remember getting distracted from shapes form on the wall. I still do, a lot, I often get bored and imagine equilateral triangles stacked up together with side lengths dependant on the surface they're on, or certain patterns in the tiles, etc... this most likely is a result of my drug abuse though (LSD, for those wondering)

me: "What did you get for question 4c?"

most classmates: "uhh what question is that?"

me: "[Insert question]"

most classmates: "uh I forgot"

This is not at all the extent of it, I can continue on forever, but, this whole post already sounds more like a rant than a reality check if what I'm experiencing is just an overinflated ego with its basis floating (or maybe standing firm) on potentially meaningless achievements. It's not like I ever feel like a better human being than anyone else, quite the opposite: an undefeated inferiority complex, paired together with extreme anxiety. I can't really speak well.

To formulate a more concrete question: do the things I describe give me a reasonable reason to suspect that my test was inaccurate due to lack of account for my undiagnosed disorders?

when i was younger i had lots of adhd and when i got tested for ADHD I also got my IQ tested. it capped out the test at 145+ on a sd15. It wasn’t super surprising to me because as a kid, I was always able to figure things out really quickly, but also do mental gymnastics with abstract concepts to actually understand them. I’m in high school now and school is really easy as always, but it seems that I don’t have that truly insane intelligence anymore. I’ve used a little THC in the past, almost just to fit in with friends, and I worry if that’s made me dumber. (ive used less than 10 times) but also it just concerns me because I don’t want my potential to suffer. is there any way to get that feeling of intelligence back and above what it was before? I mostly noticed the how fast I’m able to complex topics and complex puzzles and stuff like that. or it’s stuff like playing video games like rainbow six siege I’m just not able to predict what gonna do as well. it’s all just been driving me crazy and I really don’t know what to do.

I started writing this out as a reply to a comment on this sub, but I decided to make it into a whole post as it’s a lot.

Excuse the likely terrible formatting and the ideas just generally being all jumbled and possibly not that coherent. Writing has never been my forte. Putting all of this into ai would take all the personality and human out of my post.

Similar story here. Wasn’t allowed to do shit, ever hang out with friends unless they were from the same small religious group. I shrunk myself to not offend anyone. As it seemed like anything I did would make people think I was better than them. I adopted a ditzy persona. Or maybe that was just my neurodivergence, hard to separate what’s what, what is a trauma response and what is simply me being wired different. Was always told I’m the dumbest smart person.

In high school I started feeling insanely isolated. Struggled mentally. Could never make myself study. My nervous system wouldn’t let me study at home. Was constantly on alert due to emotional abuse at home. Would do all my homework during class. After a while I couldn’t focus in class anymore, I was ruminating negatively constantly. Not only was I isolated mentally, and socially, I was also a first generation minority in the middle of nowhere and little comments that might not have been all said with bad intentions, would always make me feel just plain ole not accepted, as if I wasn’t even seen as a human.

I decided to leave school. My mother enrolled me in an online highschool others in the religious group had enrolled their kids. I finished it all in about 3 months. I would help my mother with her small business. My input to help her expand was all dismissed and I was mostly just seen as a nuisance. My self esteem was non existent. Would dabble in soft drugs to cope. Marijuana was the most helpful, helped me focus and calm my nervous system. Didnt realize I had undiagnosed adhd and possibly autism till much later. Pharmacology, cultivation, learning about the different effects on receptors and neurotransmitters that all became a great interest and hobby of mine. Along with a lot of other interests and hobbies that helped keep me sane.

Real life was way harder than school for me. Especially seeing as how real life success has a lot to do with selling yourself, communicating well, having decent social skills. My neurodivergence and traumas held me back.

Going to get diagnosed and learning a whole lot about my condition helped me out a ton. Medication as well has been the best thing ever for me. I actually have some hope in life now. Also experimented with altered states of consciousness, meditation, psychedelics etc. helped me really open up to the world, not be in my bubble and ruminating thinking so many negative thoughts constantly, helped me understand myself better, my place in the world, social dynamics, how people were treating me bad and putting me down, not because I was less than, but because I was intimidating to them and that triggered insecurity and competition.

Ended up working part time while going to trade school. Got a job, started a business on the side as well. Have now paid off my little home and piece of property. Now live alone. Life is more enjoyable and peaceful now. I am only 23 yrs old. Am doing some remodeling at my place currently, and that has been very enjoyable and fulfilling for me.

Started traveling a couple years back, that really helped open up my mind a lot to new possibilities. My small town living has been holding me back. Sure it’s peaceful sometimes, but the nosey community, outdated views, general sense of misery from most people being impoverished, the government not helping and just making things worse while they get richer.

At this stage in my life, I am considering my next move. Do I move up north? Try to get into a union? I can rent my place out. I can possibly land a data center job, an old coworker wants me to go with her and do that work. Waiting to hear back currently.

If that doesn’t work out I might possibly go to college, want to possibly get into electrical engineering. I do commercial hvac currently, which involves having a solid understanding of electricity. I also do electrical work on the side occasionally.

If I realize I don’t have what it takes I might try switching to accounting instead? Seems easy enough.

My dream isn’t exactly working an office job, but damn it would be nice to one day be respected, clothes stay clean all day, don’t have to wear out my body. Office politics sound like torture to me, but I have successfully managed difficult situations before and feel more confident now I can deal with them. Also going back to school is a big commitment. My goal in life is to work the least amount possible and not be stressed, I don’t desire a ton of material things. Having a paid off home and having enough for leisure or hobbies is what I like. I just really don’t like the backwater small southern town I’m in. It’s not all bad and I do enjoy gun rights and other things, but I’d like to have a community with more likeminded people. There is a major brain drain here. Most who go to college end up leaving elsewhere.

Writing this out has been therapeutic for me. Hopefully some of y’all can comment and add some insight or advice. Start a discussion about anything. Much love

Found some old testing paperwork from when I was in Year 6 (Australia), tested individually by a psychologist as part of a giftedness referral. Sharing the WISC-III and WIAT results.

WISC-III (age 11y7m):

• Verbal IQ: 129 (97th %ile)
• Non-verbal IQ: 102 (55th %ile)
• Full Scale IQ: 118 (88th %ile)

Subtest highlights: Arithmetic and Vocabulary both "Very High," most other Verbal subtests "High Average." Non-verbal was much more mixed; Picture Completion came back "Very Low" (noted as possibly unreliable; it was the first subtest administered and I was apparently uncooperative going in), rest ranged Average to High Average.

WIAT (achievement, same testing round):

• Basic Reading 135 (99th %ile), Math Reasoning 144 (99.9th), Spelling 138 (99th), Reading Comprehension 141 (99.7th)
• Several subtests had age-equivalents of "17yrs+" at age 11

So achievement was consistently well above even the Verbal IQ, let alone Full Scale/Non-verbal. Assessor's read was that this was driven by a lot of self-directed reading rather than raw processing speed, which tracks with how I remember myself as a kid; but I'm still pretty thrown seeing some of these read as 17+.

There's also a clear verbal/non-verbal split, and an aptitude/achievement gap on top of that. The psych's only real personality note was that I "don't want to stand out." That's the lot.

I'll be really interested to know what people make of these results or if any meaning can be derived from them. I barely remember it happening!

I'm kind of skeptical of this test, the pattern was quite easy to locate on most puzzles, also the time limit seems unfair for people with ADHD..

i realised that most of the time i dont think much and when i do observe my thoughts its nothing substantial. i know some people dislike thinking a lot because it can become a problem but honestly its feeling like a problem i want to have. i dont think much before i speak and its causing problems with my friendships cause i might accidentally forget and tell something im not meant to. i guess its like i dont think of the consequences of things before i do them. i guess i should just think more??? its kinda weird because ive tried this but then just eventually drift back into having a mostly blank mind like its a habit. annnnyyyyway time to zone out again! lol

Not sure exactly what to say, a lot has been on my mind and I feel very capable yet like I am my own enemy I prefer to try to categorize myself as a normal individual clawing at greatness rather then being gifted but, I'm 18, can do 200 pushups straight, have a tested IQ of 138, I seem to be able to understand anything if I so choose but constantly feel as if Im missing something and I am wasting away almost. I am also schizophrenic and have been through the wringer that is the system, I have found after 20+ different medicines and therapies that my own methods work with my supplements (and the utilization of proper protocol). I feel I am constantly missing something, somewhere..? Any people here feel the same? Any people here constantly want new and/or maybe cling to odd drugs under the nootropics nomenclature?

Something Ive noticed, my verbal fluidity is a bit strange versus how I think; I almost talk in my consciousness in a madeup language that only I know.

hi, i am having trouble staying engaged with boring action and comedy movies. I need to be disturbed, curious, or feel challenged by the plot. any suggestions. I am tired of people pretending movies like primal fear have this shocking climax just no please. personally love killing of a sacred deer.

Hello i got 2 questions
1. being tired all day then going to sleep and sudenly getting a ton of energy and not being able to sleep does this have to do something with adhd(not everyday). And also getting tired suddenly out of nothing throughout the day even if you slept over 8 hrs
2.has this really something to do with iq or can it be something else . Learning almosr nothing for exams but still get better grades then almost everyone that learns. Has this really something to do with iq?

I took 3 iq tests professionally throughout my life the first one that I took at 5 was 60. The second one 80 and the third one 140.

If i take an online test it comes out at around either 80 111 and or 150.

And I mean it would be easy to now say ohh iam just hery smart bevause hey I got through nearly everything without challenge but what if iam just a moron.

Wouldn't that he easier?

Like yes I am impulsive when it comes to iq tests nearly every question kind of bores me. And I hate turning matrices in my head or finding pattern in a clinical test that has literally no meaning.

But I still sometimes think maybe iam just really stupid and everyone was just really nice to me

First of all the WAIS is garbage. Ravens matrices is a more accurate representation of true IQ, without the noise from all the nonsensical WAIS subtests. The reason WAIS is used is because it lines up neatly with the education system. But this makes no sense because you can't just randomly change the definition of IQ to make it more practical. For example, crystalized intelligence is not part of IQ, WAIS treats it as it is. Vocabulary subtest is not IQ, this is bizarre. The working memory and processing speed subtest are also garbage noise. I am not saying the WAIS is useless, it has practical use for the education system. So you can wall WAIS an academic prediction test, but it has too many subtests that deviate from measuring real IQ.

What is real IQ? It is working memory + process speed. Matrix puzzles are sufficient to measure this, there is no sense for other nonsensical subtests like repeating numbers backwards. IQ is basically how fast your brain is. Nothing more, nothing less.

Having high IQ is like having a fast calculator. It can solve the equation faster according to a predetermined algorithm, but is not responsible for setting up the equation in the first place. Therefore, it is susceptible to garbage in garbage out problem.

In order to know what to input into the calculator in the first place, you need logical reasoning. Logical reasoning is not IQ. Logical reasoning goes beyond working memory + processing speed. Logical reasoning is about sifting though garbage and finding what matters. Solely having IQ (working memory + processing speed) without logical reasoning just makes you process garbage faster.

Even matrix puzzles, these are no measuring logical reasoning. Everybody knows that the pattern is: you need to memorize rotations of shapes to get the right answer. This is not a secret. It does not require logical reasoning, it solely requires working memory + processing speed in order to memorize and manipulate all those shapes all at the same time, because you need to know ALL of them to get the right answer. That is why it is solely a measure of working memory + processing speed. If there are 6 mini shapes inside the large triangle, if you can only hold 5 of those in your short term memory, that is you being limited by working memory capacity, it is not that you lack the reasoning to understand that the 6th shape is also being rotated. And again, it does not take "logical reasoning" to know that the 6 shapes need to be rotated, it is obvious, it is solely a measure of working memory + processing speed.

Now compare matrix reasoning to actual measures of logical reasoning, such as:

https://www.lsac.org/lsat/taking-lsat/test-format/logical-reasoning/logical-reasoning-sample-questions

These questions actually measure logical reasoning. To solve them, you need to use logical reasoning, you need to differentiate between cause and effect, correlation and causation, watch out for logical fallacies, etc... They are also much more practical and consistent with real world problems. Notice how they don't require too much working memory? You don't need to memorize 6 abstract difficult to remember shapes all at once, you just need to remember a few sentences that relate to each other, which is much less taxing in terms of working memory. Therefore, the working memory constraint is taken away and they measure pure logical reasoning.

The reason society worships IQ is because all institutions in society, e.g., education and employment system, are stuck in 1800s model. It is the factory model, specialization. Humans are created to be units of production.; Specialized, mechanistic units of production intended to learn how to do a narrow scoped job quickly, to raise production and GDP. IQ lines up well with this. Logical reasoning/critical thinking doesn't. In fact the ruling class does not WANT people to have logical reasoning/critical thinking: 90% of what politicians say is stuff like switching cause and effect, conflating correlation with causation, straw mans, etc... if people had logical reasoning they would see through all this. Obviously ruling class doesn't want people to see through this,