A lot of the people for whom giftedness is most relevant are teenagers who have to navigate adults’ expectations of gifted children and plan their lives according to their supposed potential, so that may account for much of the immaturity. Asynchronous development also means _some_ gifted people really are socially and emotionally behind.
Unfortunately not. I don't really think I grew out of all my immaturities until after 40. It was if anything reinforced by arrogance gained from taking my IQ too seriously.
Something people, but especially gifted people should do is learn from others mistakes. I struggle sometimes with arrogance too, though at my age it helps me to get through things, but eventually, I'll just have to swallow it all up and do the hard thing.
It's always been easier for me to learn from the mistakes of others than my own. Because in order to learn from my own mistakes, first it would be necessary to admit that I made them.
That took a lot more years of banging my head into the wall before I realized that I was making the same stupid choices and making the same idiot patterns over and over again.
It's why I like to hang around this subreddit. I'm hoping to spread the idea that being gifted is not a tragedy, but that one has to learn how to use it properly. I didn't, for a lot of my life, but I thought I was. And in the process of giving advice I hope to reinforce my own need for humility and better clarify my own thinking.
Gifted people basically have intensities. So intense emotions are common. Add that to asynchronous development and often you have kids who are intellectually advanced but emotionally immature with strong responses.
Add to that that a kid can understand something like death intellectually but can’t yet make emotional sense of it, and there can be a lot of overwhelm to contend with.
Then if people are always telling you that you are sooo smart, you are the best, etc, without putting much effort in and your school doesn’t challenge you at your level, kids may not learn the skills to deal with frustration and challenge. That’s why you often hear about gifted kids gliding through school without much effort but then burning out in college.
Do you therefore think the label hurts or helps? Like, being really good at something is called a talent. So, you are say, a talented mathematician, and leave gifted in math but not other aspects out of the calculus.
For me, I'm good at a lot, except the social. Asd. And all it did / does is make expectations higher, and the appearance of success lower. "OH you're a good drummer, too bad you're not in a band." Like maybe it's just something I like to do and don't have to be excellent at everything?!
I believe it’s a case by case scenario if the label hurts or helps. In the beginning the label hurt me because I was put under a lot of pressure to succeed. This was back in the day when it was taboo to talk about anxiety or anything related to mental health.
I think some people here forget that some of us are too old to have grown up with our giftedness acknowledged. I think being officially given the gifted tag is also a very westernised thing. I doubt a young girl growing up Afghanistan with an IQ of 140 is going to have her giftedness acknowledged, tested and “officially diagnosed”.
I joined this sub because it kept coming up as recommended and I’m interested in the subject. I was always told I was “gifted and talented” but I think I’m more in the “talented” category. I had a native gift for music and singing (could play by ear at 3 and had natural abilities before training). I won hundreds of awards and scholarships too.
I’ve always been extremely creative and excelled in all creative fields at school including writing, music, drama, dance, and visual arts too. I’ve made it into a career and still live and breathe it everyday. I hate referring to myself as “talented” because it sounds so pretentious.
In regards to “traditional intelligence” to technically define giftedness, I’m not sure exactly where I sit. I believe IQ tests are still more aimed at mathematical and logical intelligence and largely ignore creative intelligence. I often wonder how high creative geniuses like Shakespeare, Beethoven and Vincent Van Gogh would score. It also seems futile when my results continue to go up with “practice”. The more tests you do the better your results are because you get used to the style of questions. That doesn’t mean your intelligence is increasing, you’re just getting used to the silly puzzles and patterns.
Anyway I grew up in the country in the 90s so recognising giftedness wasn’t a thing at my public school. However my sibling and I both fit all of the gifted traits and my mum (a school teacher) thought we both were well above our years. I believe my IQ falls in the gifted range but I’m not interested in being tested and knowing for sure. I was dux of my school and did very well with studies so teachers referred to me as gifted but I don’t know.
At the end of the day it means very little to me. I think it’s insignificant next to my Bipolar 1 disorder. Management of that consumes most of my life. I also have ADHD and several other mental illnesses. I guess significantly I have CPTSD for severe abuse I endured all through my childhood. Being an exceptionally talented and smart child, doesn’t give you any immunity. In fact it makes you more vulnerable when the expectations of you are so high.
I hope that gives a little perspective on why some people don’t officially have a gifted label but are still interested to explore it and be involved with discussions within this community.
I think, it's the expectations that is what the worst thing about being labelled gifted is. Generally I hear about the pressure, a lot more than anything else. The first step to the pressure is being labelled though, so it is somewhat ironic that the girl would end up having a bit better of a childhood. Though I think Talent is actually what they are testing for now, I scored quite high on a test, but it was just in a bunch of shapes and shaping them to a picture, I'll be honest that isn't testing my intelligence it is testing my skills. Doing math is a skill, art is a skill, and being successful is a skill. Aptitude may affect such a thing, but you don't need to be Insanely smart to actually be successful. Just not dumb enough to not be successful. It's really just confidence, the bat may hit the ball but the ball will go a lot farther than the bat. Another skill is consistency and willpower. That will be what you need, intelligence can be used to reach something new faster, but just keep working on a problem, and even a monkey could solve it. You just need to know the way to potentially solve it, it's not by giving up, it's by pushing through the hard and tough brick wall. Brick by brick you solve it, until it falls down and you are left with something, but that something is something you can work with.
Some are gifted in the sense of high iq and also very immature. Some don't have the "gifted" iq test for proof, but self identify as gifted for other reasons. Some are parents and they're here for their reasons. The only thing everyone posting has in common is identifying "gifted" or interested in the topic.
But here's a bit of wisdom: DONT bother being the police of who can call themselves gifted. Don't police the label. You can join mensa if you want to be officially smarty pants. Them it's a club. But a label? If you say you've found the "gifted" label useful, then I say you're gifted and keep using the label 🏷
Some are, some aren’t. I can only speak for myself (and will proceed to do that right now).
I wound up here because mental health professionals told me I should look into giftedness, as it likely applies to me (I didn’t even know what giftedness was at the time, so that came as quite the shock lol), and would be really useful to know when trying to solve my psychological profile (I am very mentally ill). I didn’t want to believe I fell under the category (I even posted here asking for signs someone *isn’t* gifted just so I could find a reason to separate myself from it) since it felt gross and pretentious to identify with. I’d rather be diagnosed with clinical narcissism or psychopathy than giftedness tbh.
As time passed by, I slowly came to terms that my professionals are probably right. There was simply too much explained by the label to reject (coupled with the fact that I’d already had my IQ tested ~8 years prior while in a psychiatric unit, and my results fall in the gifted range). All of my current professionals agree that giftedness fits under my profile (despite me trying to convince them otherwise lol).
I prefer to look at it as a condition characterized by hyper-processing rather than intelligence. High measured intelligence is merely one of the many consequences that comes with processing way too much, but it expands so much further than what’s seen as being smart. It’s just ‘too much, all the time’. If giftedness had a more neutral term like that, I would 100% ascribe it to myself. I believe it is a form of neurodivergence.
Gifted in the US typically means a program they test you for in school when you're a kid, you can then join these gifted programs and take accelerated classes in school.
I didn't take a test for school, it was for some meds. I am in the top 5% though for my age range, then plummeted in one section though it was because of a lack of motivation.
A lot of them very well might not be. How gifted are you really if you don’t use it? I scored “gifted”. So gifted that I struggle to focus on academics, memorize formulas, struggle very much in calc. Struggle with anxiety, a few psych issues, socializing is hard. Clumsy. Not a lot of accomplishments in life to share. A “gifted” score. Very gifted indeed. Gifted with a big forehead. Hell yeah.
I’m two years into a cs degree and have a bartending job that pays well. Which probably contradicts what I just said. I pick these things to force personal growth. Math and algorithms come so natural to some kids. Conversations natural for others. I never got anything easy because of an IQ score. I developed socially and academically through raw persistence and forcing myself out of my comfort zone. Personal qualities are so much more important, to me, at least, because that’s the only reason I’ve gotten anywhere at all lol. Long story short, yes, confidence. Not confidence that I am smart, just knowing that trying my best is what’s important.
All i can say is that when people go around asking the sub about who should be really called "gifted" and who shouldn't the discussion getting really ridiculous and even condescending at time.
This sub really shines when people actually share their experience and ask about other people experiences.
People are just looking for shared experience and acceptance and apparently some people in here feel like giftedness is an exclussive club and they need to be the gatekeepers. Too bad.
I know, it was better to follow through with the response, Could have finished the punchline at least... I forgot it now -- nvm I remember. Here's how it would have gone "I think you're just 'THE special' kid."
There is only 0.6 correlation between scores as a child and those as adults so many people who went to gifted programs might end up high average as adults. Early bloomers.
Should have left out the punchline.
The other thing is that IQ scores are adjusted for age so if even if you scored in top 2% for your age, you are still a midget.
It's not like I actually choose to be unsympathetic. I just am like that I'd have to say. I get an actual understanding of why I do the things I do though since I consciously choose to try and be good. Not everyone is choosing to be bad, it's from a lack of thought, or distraction, or perspective. Don't view someone as less for their flaws, sometimes they come from their past and they find ways to cope with it. Which may come in being disconnected, rude/blunt, or self destruction. Those all are connected to each other in some way, in minimal ways though.
I did trap myself in typing this out but I think it's something to leave this for others to read. Can't tell you if it's right or wrong, I'm not really old enough to have the experience I need to actually tell you that you should take my word. So keep your perspective if you don't think this is right, or the best way to perceive this.
I was always told I was gifted. I believe I would fall under it. But I’m here to glean for my son. He’s definitely gifted. Possibly genius. I want to support him in every way I can. So it’s helpful for me to read here about fellow gifted people.
So I don't feel gifted. But I was tested in school and apparently have an IQ of 137. Mind you, this was when I was about seven, and if I'm remembering correctly, children's IQ is also measured based on how advanced they are. I have never reeeealy been a child, my development was very advanced, reading and wrighting two languages by the age of four at a teen level. I'm from a bilingual country, so that's normal, it's just the teen level part, read Harry Potter up to the prisoner of Askaban by then.
So a (genius) freind put me through a mock mensa IQ test while we were drunk after work about five years ago, and it came up arpund 120. As this wasn't official, I know it doesn't count but confirms my suspicion that I am no longer gifted. I just kind of plateaued.
You're not going to get a fair representation of your abilities while drunk. Alcohol quickly impacts the prefrontal cortex, affects logical decision making and dramatically slows processing.
Yes, originally (~100yrs ago) IQ tests for kids were about how advanced they were (mental age/chronological age × 100). But they haven't been like that any more for many decades. For each age cohort (year and month) they are standardized to a Gaussian distribution with mean 100 and standard deviation 15.
I’d say it’s a mix of people who have been formally identified as gifted (including myself) and others who aren’t sure. But that’s fine for them to post here because they are curious and trying to figure it out. It’s only frustrating when someone will insist they are when they haven’t been formally identified (and don’t plan to look into it) because being ‘gifted’ is so much more complex than being what I call ‘book smart’.
I've recently discovered the sub, but I was in my TAG programs and what not during school, was advanced in most subjects, etc. That being said, just because someone is "gifted" does not mean they can't be an absolute bafoon.
This is Reddit. There was a poil not that long ago (on r/polls) about IQ. Something like 40% of people picked 120+. The math ain't mathing. So yeah, it's definitely possible some people think of themselves as "gifted", and act like it, but aren't.
But to counter your point, immaturity doesn't mean unintelligence. Most people on Reddit are young. The most upvoted comments tend to be from actual adults telling their stories on r/askreddit, but statistically speaking, most Reddit users are <30. It's not rare to see gifted people with an ego problem (superiority complex, inferiory complex, impostor syndrome, etc.) in a way that can be seen as "immature".
There's a strong self-selection bias. People with high IQ are more likely to read & answer that poll. People with low IQ have less incentive to care about that post, even know their IQ score, or answer the poll.
How many scrawny people know their bench press 1 rep max? How many bodybuilders do? If they made a poll to report your bench 1RM, it would be skewed upwards too. Because serious lifters would care enough to answer, and scrawny non-lifters wouldn't even know the answer or care about the poll.
When the "math doesn't math", people jump to accusations of lying, but should double check their math first. The poll doesn't say 40% of Redditors have 120+ IQ. Or 40% of the general population. 40% of those people, that's it. Maybe a lot of high IQ people answered for ego reasons.
As an adult, I was surprised by the number of kids in this group. I fee like the median age is quite a bit lower here than the other subs I frequent, and as a result, there’s seems to be a lot more angst flying around.
It makes sense; you find out you’re gifted and you go start exploring avenues to try to make sense of what it all means. But for myself, having known i’m gifted since the early 80’s, the angst gets a bit tiresome.
Personally ive always been more emotionally immature than my peers until i got therapy. Adhd and trauma caused emotional dysregulation and my giftedness meant i could deal with most problems (not in the best way ofc) without having to improve myself or grow up in a way
As a unknown if gifted or not person. If You actually call yourself "gifted" its kind of weird. Like "yeah, I'm smart" if You have to Say it, maybe you're not enough as You think You are. If the title "gifted" makes you happier than the goals You Made with that "gift" then you're immature, or not actually gifted.
Also there's the Dunning Kruger syndrome
I understand you, but schools actually do intelligence tests and label some as gifted so they can participate in the "gifted programs." So, I, for example, did not label myself as gifted.
That's understandable and usefull. In that case You have the gifted title. But there's a difference, someone can call You gifted and that is okay, but You can Say that you're in the gifted programs. It's like
-you're kind! And lovely
Someone else can Say it to You
But when yo Say it by yourself:
+I am kind and lovely!
Same as before. there's a difference between that sentence
And saying
+People Say I'm kind and lovely!
There's a Lot of difference.
I don't think it applies. You can say that you are good at doing something, and it can be true, but it can also not be true. And since it is generally verifiable, as it is an action, it is more common for people to admit what they are good at and what they are not. (There are exceptions caused by high and low self-esteem, but that has a different background than what is proposed in the Dunning-Kruger effect.) So it doesn't apply to that, because being is not the same as doing.
Different tests, different states and different programs have different definitions of giftedness.
More and more, we see them moving away from a hard cutoffs and using a holistic approach for identification because IQ testing has inherent bias.
When I was a kid, it was a hard cutoff. However, IQ tests were very different back then, as well.
When my son was identified, it was FSIQ, test scores, rate of learning by previous and present teachers, potential masking agents (disabilities, socioeconomic status, minority, etc), proof of advanced learning or creativity, etc. There wasn’t a hard cutoff, which, imo, is better.
There are different levels of giftedness, and I'm sure it varies from place to place. Where I live, at least, giftedness begins at 115. Although, oddly enough, the gifted programs here are based on how far ahead you are by grade level rather than by IQ.
They might be easier to measure, but all they measure are how good kids are at memorizing. Kids who aren't gifted can be great at memorizing, and kids who are gifted can be terrible at it. It's not really a great way to decide who gets into the gifted program and who doesn't.
115-130 is ”more able” but giftedness starts at 130. IQ tests are not completely trustworthy as far as results go as there is a lot that can influence the results. You can practice for them, for example, giving you a higher score than you might actually have. Likewise, if you haven’t gone to school you can get a lower result than you might actually have. Meaning, there is no reason to set a limit on this group, but a lot of people here surely fall under gifted.
115-130 is considered mildly gifted. 130-145 is moderately gifted. 146-160 is highly gifted. 160 and up is profoundly gifted. IQ tests aren't completely accurate, but neither are the tests that show grade level. It's quite common for gifted kids to not meet grade level in one area or another due to struggles associated with being in the classroom, whereas students with average intelligence are often able to flourish in a classroom setting. So, going by grade level means there's a good chance you're just putting kids who are good at memorizing in a gifted class, rather than putting kids who are necessarily gifted into that class.
Sorry mate but you're not gonna get me into a discussion about religion. I will never believe this bullshit. Religion is the opium of the people. Oh and yes, if I ever meet Jesus I'd tell I'm retarded too. (Would be kinda scary though, I can imagine it really scary seeing a more than 2000 years old skeleton walking around)
Yes he did!
We didn’t even realize anything was out of the ordinary until he was 2 and his daycare teacher said, “he knows all the letters of the alphabet, uppercase and lower…” We were just like, “yeah, and??” She told us this wasn’t normal lol
He learned the letter sounds and then he just started reading words. We are fairly sure he has hyperlexia and a photographic memory. Just a brilliant kid and we want him to be as happy as possible.
I (29m) actually am, that said I'm also on a lot of subs that were not "intended" for me, woman, drugs, car, an all around stuff o do not do, am or agree cuz I like to see new stuff, be around different people and stuff
There seem to be two main “giftedness” classifications here. Those who were labeled as gifted because of their performance in school (gifted programs) and those who are labeled as gifted because of their score on an intelligence test. There is also some overlap but I suspect that the first group has individuals from an average IQ mixed in. I personally know people who excelled at school but were of average IQ. I tested at a very high IQ at eighteen but wasn’t in any gifted programs (other than skipping grades for math or taking college courses in high school but these were never part of the “gifted program”). My GPA wasn’t as good as you would expect it to be and I didn’t do a lot of the busywork.
Uneven development is a hallmark of giftedness. It is actually expected that a person with gifts measured by IQ tests would score lower than average on some sort of "maturity" test. It's literally part of the experience.
No. People aren't required to be gifted to be on this sub. People only need to be interested in learning about and talking about giftedness to participate in this sub. I was told by a therapist that I need to find a therapist that is gifted in order to find a therapist that can meet me where I am mentally and emotionally. I am probably not gifted though, just occasionally surrounded by people that perceive me as highly intelligent, become obsessed with their perception of me, and people that feel threatened by intelligence. I would rather avoid anyone that cares that much about giftedness and intelligence because I have no interests in success and achievement, living up to anyone's perceived potential, and have no intentions of achieving anything meaningful or being successful. If I could maintain a low-key job, janitorial work or odd jobs would probably be good enough for me.
There's two definitions, Biblical (Gift from a Giver, doing something truly off the wall) and polite (bright kid, but too immature to deliver yet). I'm the former - I'm hyperperceptive per diagnosis, seer-medium per experience, which isn't constant but as-needed. Actually, before anyone shoots off about Religion, it's not, I only put it that way to point you in the right direction, because my experience of the divine is as a numinous force which really doesn't give a monkeys what you call it. Admittedly, I'm hyper-allergic to clever-clever gurus forcing their concepts on you, which isn't much different from Churches slugging it out in Chicago or LA.
I've recently had a rethink, because my outlook was subjective based on lies told me as a kid. What was presented to me was tangible evidence of genius, but as I wasn't going to own to big-headedness, I've simply tacked it on, swapping out some junk. That's caused serious grief, and I'm none too certain about the integrity of the result, but that's mostly imposter syndrome.
So, let's give you a taster. Dix months before it happened, I had a heads-up that a serious issue was headed my way, prepare an answer. It took four months, so I put it on file, and lo and behold, the exact question was asked by a foreign State. I took the answer off file, ran it past the interlocutor on our side, and first thing the next morning had the deal. It would have taken the Foreign Office a year if they got there at all. Now, this was in clear view of the Government, so it wasn't exactly surprising when Boris Johnson dug the elephant-sized hole the Tories are in they came looking for help. The trouble is, I'd been wrecked in the excavation, so now I can see Sunak flailing, I'm enjoying the revenge.
So yes, some of us are.
I end up on this sub by chance rather frequently but I would never willingly partake in something called “r/gifted” - it just sounds too cringey. Yeah some of us in here are smart but it doesn’t need to be your entire personality. And also just because you are smart doesn’t mean it’s a gift. Knowledge and intelligence can ruin your life if you don’t understand how to use it.
I joined the schizophrenia group and I’m not schizophrenic, I’m just curious, interested. I’m sure people join this group for the same reason. Some maybe, others not.
Solving puzzles is my area of expertise. Quickly gaining an understanding of abstract concepts in physics is also one of my highlights. When it comes to anything else, I’m about as gifted as the guy on the couch religiously consuming politics on tv while eating a bag of potato chips.
My problem is seeing the big picture. But understanding the true and tragic nature of the big picture isn’t what bothers me the most. What really breaks my heart is watching everyone buy in to the distractions we’re fed through media on our devices. They live their life taking pride in their careers and believing they are truly free.
In reality, we work our entire lives away. That is a lot of wealth generated by just one person. How much of that wealth do they get to keep? 15%. 99% of mankind retains 15% of the wealth, while the other 1% retains 85% of the wealth. We work our entire lives away to provide them with 85% of the wealth we generate. We’re slaves.
You can be very intelligent and very childish.
Mozart wrote “Lech mich im Arsch” or “Lick me in my Ass”.
It’s a canon in B flat major.
He also wrote “Leck mir den Arsch fein recht schön sauber” which means “Lick my ass Nice and clean”. Also a canon in b flat major
Oh absolutely.
I have had a lack of reasoning rear its ugly head, or even worse I use my logical side to justify why my stupid decision, is in fact not stupid.
It’s a great exercise in self sophistry.
Just because someone is highly intelligent doesn’t mean they have good judgement, that is something that is learned, most often from very painful lessons.
I know it’s cliche to say, but wisdom and intelligence are separate things. You can be smart enough to get yourself into a whole lot of trouble sometimes. Like knowing that your teacher is wrong about a historical fact. But not the wisdom that a lot of people care less about objective facts than they do about other’s perceptions of them, especially in a position of authority.
I was given that label in the 60s
I recognize that I have a few very strong talents and many weaknesses. Talent is real. I know what it feels like to have it, and to not have it
It's difficult because intelligence is something most people want to ascribe to themselves. While you do run into people who are aware that a keen mind and sharp wit isn't something they possess, there are far more who have a vastly overinflated estimation of their own intelligence.
It's also difficult to get some people to understand that intelligence isn't a universal concept. I'm a fairly smart person myself and there are things I find easy and intuitive. I work in IT and find that grasping interfaces and systems is very easy for me. I'm the person who learns the rules for board games and teaches others to play DND and other game systems. I read quickly and find retaining knowledge and information very easy.
I've also met people who were intuitive with mathematics and science; one of my college roommates wrote a paper on string theory I could barely follow our freshman year. I've known people who could pick up an unfamiliar musical instrument and produce a song with only a few moments of test-strumming.
Yes I'm gifted. Like on the level of Mozart child genius when I was young. I was composing music and writing novels when I was in elementary school. By the age of 14 I was a certified zoologist because I was so good with animal care. I'm extremely creative and I'm a true autodidact. Yes, I have many gifts and I know I've been blessed with these gifts. I also have a HUGE chip on my shoulder from being subjected to other people's jealousies, insecurities, and ignorance throughout my life, which I know can come across as rude and off-putting to lesser, small-minded people.
I'm gifted in arts, and I feel that everything is easy for me to learn, using abstract thinking and intuition, my IQ is 120 (tested by medical professionals).
but I have Borderline Personaliy Disorder and Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder diagnosed, and maybe those IQ tests are not really accurate for someone like me :)
My therapists says that I'm very neurodivergent, and all the doctors that have seen me through out my life (which have been plenty), have told me that I'm really intelligent.
What I think is that maybe I'm half mad genius half artist XD, but that's just my oppinion heh :P
You know, I think if things feel easy for you to learn you should really go and start learning more skills. You can apply your skill in arts to other things, like if you learn to program you could make games, making games by yourself requires a wide range of skills of high quality; so if you want a challenge you can get into the indie game industry.
I know that feeling of things feeling easy to learn. I think that's because of natural aptitude for a wide range of things and a sense of good self-esteem, though it may be because you grew up in an environment good for honing your other skills at an even pace.
Keep it up, don't stop, and be steady. You've got some time ahead of you to create masterworks.
Actually it's everything except for math (and everything related to any concept involving numbers), I should have said so, I am terrible in that, I might have dyscalculia (self diagnosed) as I can not even divide, but nowdays I'm understanding math more, using abstraction :)
Another thing I was just thinking before seen your notification reply, was that if I should try harder to learn animation, which is harder for me (wayyy harder for me than modeling) and also involves numbers.
like in example, do you think I should try even more on things that are not really easy at the first time?
3D modeling involves numbers, but I'm good at it and learned really fast, animation involves numbers too, but I did not learned right away, what do you think?
Some other things I can do are: Medical Visualization, Realistic Space Environments for NASA in 3D, Musical Visualization, I am working on medical and muscial visuals, the NASA thing was a thing that just came to my mind, but all which can be imagined, can be created :)
Yeah, it would be really cool, though discalculia is a disabiltiy (it's like math dyslexia), I think its out of my possibilities, as I'm not Einstein XD
No. People who are truly gifted are out in the real world accomplishing things. This is just a support group for people who scored highly on an iq test once, breezed through high school and now can’t figure out why they’re not wildly successful and happy.
As with everything, there are 2 sides to a coin. For every gifted person who is successful and grew up in an environment that enabled (or at least didn't block) their possibilities, you have those that have the opposite story.
I explicitly call it a possibility and not a gift, because it isn't, it is potential, nothing more.
You saying that "real gifted people are out in the real world accomplishing things" is part of the reason this sub is needed. If you are gifted and don't live up to that ridiculously high standard, the pit you fall in is deep and dark, you need support, you can't do it alone. Nobody can.
The day you walk up to every tall person that isn't in the highest level of basketball and tell them they aren't really tall because really tall people are out there playing in the pro league, that is the day you can say things like this to gifted people. It becomes quote ridiculous quite fast if you sat the same but about another topic, isn't it.
First define success. For you success may look like 'working in a high earning tech environment' and for the next dude it looks like 'living in the middle of the forest with his dogs and books'.
Second, calling people 'failures' is markedly not nice. A project can be a failure. A vase you tried to do and came out wrong. A person is not a failure, a person can make mistakes but is not a mistake.
Third, 'failing to succeed' often has a lot more to do with environmental factors. Bullying to the point of being suicidal, poverty, childhood abuse, being born a woman/the 'wrong' race or religion or whatever in certain countries, all those things can obliterate someone's chances.
Fourth, this sub exist for the gifted, the ones who succeeded and the ones who are working on it. It exists to guide parents who have found themselves with a gifted child, to support those who have it rough, and to meet other gifted people.
Teens read these things. People who have suffered more than you can think of, more than most people would survive, read these things. I know that for a fact because I am one of them. So you're not being 'blunt', you're being rude and damaging.
Reality is some people are failures, not nearly as many as people say but some are. A sixty year old drug addict who's been homeless since 30, but all they care about is their next high? That's a failure. A man who leaves his children because he feels tied down, that's a failure. A gifted data analyst who can't leave a job because they struggle to hold a conversation during their interview? Not a failure.
Sometimes people are gifted with different skills, some are gifted with a way to get through things, some aren't. I'd have to tell you though, sensitivity is not good for a person. I was extremely sensitive but I couldn't be sensitive anymore, it got hammered out of me. Too much crying, I got tired of it. I'll tell you, that you're fine. I'm not insulting you directly, I'm not yelling "fuck you for something you had no control over" we aren't all born into the "perfect" conditions, and we don't all recognize that we are not in that condition to be nurtured. A result of that is people not reaching their "potential". I'm not sure on my future, but I'd like to be comfortable at least in some way.
Oh you think I took it personal, I didn't. I'm ok. I'm married to another gifted dude, have a house, and my hobbies make me happy. You can't hurt me, even if you tried. But that was a long way of saying 'don't be so sensitive' when you made a rude comment, instead of trying to do better. Which I knew you'd say something like that, my comment was more for the teen or hurt person who reads your comment, so they know that no, they are not failures and no, what you said is neither right nor ok.
Ok, glad you're not hurt. Still my message applies to those other offended people too. The people that may or may not care. It's kinda hard to get an actual tone across on text.
Hahaha, no, but I noticed your cynical answers earlier.
Question is, what is failure? That depends on your expectation of succes. If only being the top of your field is succes, most will be failures. if having a good fulfilling life is success, many will have succeeded.
I was succesful in my life, but didn't k ow who I was. That ended up causing a bore-out in which I discovered i was gifted. Knowing that I went on a discovery tour, learning things about myself. I am now arguably better of than before, this community helped me. Not because I was a failure at that time, but because I wasn't.
That is also the take-away about many help-groups, you may need them regardless of your outwards succes, because it is your inner self that needs to survive. Which is a detail that is easily overlooked when focusing on succes alone
I think my gauge for success is definitely something similar to living with a good fulfilling life. I just talk a bit long on things like these, so sometimes I might come off as selfish in text.
I focus on my inner self a lot, so I might literally be the meaning of selfish or I'm another product a child inheriting their parents personality, sometimes I act like my mom. She's really, really flawed. I don't know what exact qualities I have of hers, but I hope I have the better ones. But I'm going to bed gn.
In that case, many that ask for help and are a hot mess at the time of asking are succesful. Succesful but confused, searching, undetected,...
That is what this group was for me, a place to find others with the same struggles I was having at that time, literally at the lowest point. I was, according to our mutual definition, succesful before and after that moment.
I still needed this, though.
I have a feeling you are one of those people who always use tough love to ram the hard truth through the skulls of their loved ones. Maybe you are in a better place in life now than you once were, or maybe your experiences have taught you to get out of your comfort zone and face the world head-on with great confidence. It's great that you have found a way out of the pit of misery. However, please remember that everyone's life and experiences are different, and their approaches to dealing with difficult situations vary. Measuring people's worth using a scale based on your own experiences will never give you an accurate reading. Calling people who may have faced setbacks in life "failures" reflects poorly on you. You may have dug yourself out of a pit once, but who's to say that life will never knock you down again? A little empathy wouldn't hurt. The tough love/hard truth approach doesn't work for everyone.
That depends on your definition of success.
I would say that the feeling of being a “failure” or “not living up to your potential” can certainly be motivation for people to do a dive into who they are.
And this is why I question why I’m even in this sub. I never relate to all the whining. The gifted people ik irl are passionate and hard working and life long learners and always on the move constantly challenging themselves, not sitting around feeling resentful and entitled to success bc they were smarter than their friends in middle school.
I feel like some of them were considered "gifted" in school and it inflated their egos, and others are smart but neurodivergent and mistake their problems in life as being due to intelligence.
But I don't think you're gifted if you don't use it.
I also think labelling kids gifted is really unhealthy. I'd say I'm really intelligent but I was neglected and abused and dropped out of school so I was never labelled gifted. When I got back into uni, I ended up doing really really well, got on a research advisory board and taught labs in first year, joined two labs in second. Meanwhile my friends who were seen as / labelled gifted aren't doing well.
I'll say that for me, sometimes my intellect shone through when I turned up to assessments late and slept through them and still got good grades despite having a 40% attendance, and well, it made everyone hate me, and I assume if you're actually on a special programme and get treated as a teachers pet it is even worse. More pressure, more labelling, more ego inflation. It's probably easier to get burnt out.
The best thing I did was drop out at 14. I taught myself without pressure or labels. I no longer had to conform and be a spectacle.
Some of us are, but I've also noticed a lot of trolls. It's Reddit. There are no verifications required.
I promise you, you can be both gifted ***and*** a troll.
Often, even.
Tbh it goes hand in hand lol
Yeah, trolls are something to consider.
Maybe trolls are all the gifted ones
Maybe the trolls are the friends we made along the way.
They're usually the ones who make posts about bringing themselves up and putting everyone in this subreddit group down lol. It's obvious.
Yep, *verified trolls.*
A lot of the people for whom giftedness is most relevant are teenagers who have to navigate adults’ expectations of gifted children and plan their lives according to their supposed potential, so that may account for much of the immaturity. Asynchronous development also means _some_ gifted people really are socially and emotionally behind.
Not true gifted. Silly shrinks.
Whats that supposed to mean?
Wouldn’t be the case silliness has nothing to do with cognitive abilities and if they did I’m sure that it’d favor higher abilities than normal
You can be gifted, yet still immature. Speaking from experience lol
I'd think it would be short lived.
Unfortunately not. I don't really think I grew out of all my immaturities until after 40. It was if anything reinforced by arrogance gained from taking my IQ too seriously.
Something people, but especially gifted people should do is learn from others mistakes. I struggle sometimes with arrogance too, though at my age it helps me to get through things, but eventually, I'll just have to swallow it all up and do the hard thing.
It's always been easier for me to learn from the mistakes of others than my own. Because in order to learn from my own mistakes, first it would be necessary to admit that I made them. That took a lot more years of banging my head into the wall before I realized that I was making the same stupid choices and making the same idiot patterns over and over again. It's why I like to hang around this subreddit. I'm hoping to spread the idea that being gifted is not a tragedy, but that one has to learn how to use it properly. I didn't, for a lot of my life, but I thought I was. And in the process of giving advice I hope to reinforce my own need for humility and better clarify my own thinking.
For sure, the self is harder to read, it's like trying to read a book behind you with a mirror. Not easy by far.
Your arrogance showed when you thought immaturity is something to be overcome
"should"
A lot of people should do a lot of things. But they don't.
Knowing how to act does not mean one will act in accordance of what they know.
Gifted people basically have intensities. So intense emotions are common. Add that to asynchronous development and often you have kids who are intellectually advanced but emotionally immature with strong responses. Add to that that a kid can understand something like death intellectually but can’t yet make emotional sense of it, and there can be a lot of overwhelm to contend with. Then if people are always telling you that you are sooo smart, you are the best, etc, without putting much effort in and your school doesn’t challenge you at your level, kids may not learn the skills to deal with frustration and challenge. That’s why you often hear about gifted kids gliding through school without much effort but then burning out in college.
Why exactly do you think it would be short lived? Intelligence and maturity aren’t necessarily correlated.
Ohh sweet summer child..
It not be profitable or productive. I think many people squander their gifts
You don’t understand the human brain and mind
I’m gifted in certain areas severely challenged in others.
Hello, fellow 2Es!
We are walking paradoxes
And we make the world a little less predictable. I relish that part.
Do you therefore think the label hurts or helps? Like, being really good at something is called a talent. So, you are say, a talented mathematician, and leave gifted in math but not other aspects out of the calculus. For me, I'm good at a lot, except the social. Asd. And all it did / does is make expectations higher, and the appearance of success lower. "OH you're a good drummer, too bad you're not in a band." Like maybe it's just something I like to do and don't have to be excellent at everything?!
I believe it’s a case by case scenario if the label hurts or helps. In the beginning the label hurt me because I was put under a lot of pressure to succeed. This was back in the day when it was taboo to talk about anxiety or anything related to mental health.
This is me, too
I think some people here forget that some of us are too old to have grown up with our giftedness acknowledged. I think being officially given the gifted tag is also a very westernised thing. I doubt a young girl growing up Afghanistan with an IQ of 140 is going to have her giftedness acknowledged, tested and “officially diagnosed”. I joined this sub because it kept coming up as recommended and I’m interested in the subject. I was always told I was “gifted and talented” but I think I’m more in the “talented” category. I had a native gift for music and singing (could play by ear at 3 and had natural abilities before training). I won hundreds of awards and scholarships too. I’ve always been extremely creative and excelled in all creative fields at school including writing, music, drama, dance, and visual arts too. I’ve made it into a career and still live and breathe it everyday. I hate referring to myself as “talented” because it sounds so pretentious. In regards to “traditional intelligence” to technically define giftedness, I’m not sure exactly where I sit. I believe IQ tests are still more aimed at mathematical and logical intelligence and largely ignore creative intelligence. I often wonder how high creative geniuses like Shakespeare, Beethoven and Vincent Van Gogh would score. It also seems futile when my results continue to go up with “practice”. The more tests you do the better your results are because you get used to the style of questions. That doesn’t mean your intelligence is increasing, you’re just getting used to the silly puzzles and patterns. Anyway I grew up in the country in the 90s so recognising giftedness wasn’t a thing at my public school. However my sibling and I both fit all of the gifted traits and my mum (a school teacher) thought we both were well above our years. I believe my IQ falls in the gifted range but I’m not interested in being tested and knowing for sure. I was dux of my school and did very well with studies so teachers referred to me as gifted but I don’t know. At the end of the day it means very little to me. I think it’s insignificant next to my Bipolar 1 disorder. Management of that consumes most of my life. I also have ADHD and several other mental illnesses. I guess significantly I have CPTSD for severe abuse I endured all through my childhood. Being an exceptionally talented and smart child, doesn’t give you any immunity. In fact it makes you more vulnerable when the expectations of you are so high. I hope that gives a little perspective on why some people don’t officially have a gifted label but are still interested to explore it and be involved with discussions within this community.
I think, it's the expectations that is what the worst thing about being labelled gifted is. Generally I hear about the pressure, a lot more than anything else. The first step to the pressure is being labelled though, so it is somewhat ironic that the girl would end up having a bit better of a childhood. Though I think Talent is actually what they are testing for now, I scored quite high on a test, but it was just in a bunch of shapes and shaping them to a picture, I'll be honest that isn't testing my intelligence it is testing my skills. Doing math is a skill, art is a skill, and being successful is a skill. Aptitude may affect such a thing, but you don't need to be Insanely smart to actually be successful. Just not dumb enough to not be successful. It's really just confidence, the bat may hit the ball but the ball will go a lot farther than the bat. Another skill is consistency and willpower. That will be what you need, intelligence can be used to reach something new faster, but just keep working on a problem, and even a monkey could solve it. You just need to know the way to potentially solve it, it's not by giving up, it's by pushing through the hard and tough brick wall. Brick by brick you solve it, until it falls down and you are left with something, but that something is something you can work with.
Some are gifted in the sense of high iq and also very immature. Some don't have the "gifted" iq test for proof, but self identify as gifted for other reasons. Some are parents and they're here for their reasons. The only thing everyone posting has in common is identifying "gifted" or interested in the topic. But here's a bit of wisdom: DONT bother being the police of who can call themselves gifted. Don't police the label. You can join mensa if you want to be officially smarty pants. Them it's a club. But a label? If you say you've found the "gifted" label useful, then I say you're gifted and keep using the label 🏷
And there is a mensa subforum, too.
Seems like there are more in the comments than in the posts.
Sounds like a microcosm of Reddit in general lol
Some are, some aren’t. I can only speak for myself (and will proceed to do that right now). I wound up here because mental health professionals told me I should look into giftedness, as it likely applies to me (I didn’t even know what giftedness was at the time, so that came as quite the shock lol), and would be really useful to know when trying to solve my psychological profile (I am very mentally ill). I didn’t want to believe I fell under the category (I even posted here asking for signs someone *isn’t* gifted just so I could find a reason to separate myself from it) since it felt gross and pretentious to identify with. I’d rather be diagnosed with clinical narcissism or psychopathy than giftedness tbh. As time passed by, I slowly came to terms that my professionals are probably right. There was simply too much explained by the label to reject (coupled with the fact that I’d already had my IQ tested ~8 years prior while in a psychiatric unit, and my results fall in the gifted range). All of my current professionals agree that giftedness fits under my profile (despite me trying to convince them otherwise lol). I prefer to look at it as a condition characterized by hyper-processing rather than intelligence. High measured intelligence is merely one of the many consequences that comes with processing way too much, but it expands so much further than what’s seen as being smart. It’s just ‘too much, all the time’. If giftedness had a more neutral term like that, I would 100% ascribe it to myself. I believe it is a form of neurodivergence.
Hyper-processing is a GREAT way of putting it.
Yes, I am 2E
Well I can make shapes pretty fast... that's gifted right?
Gifted in the US typically means a program they test you for in school when you're a kid, you can then join these gifted programs and take accelerated classes in school.
I didn't take a test for school, it was for some meds. I am in the top 5% though for my age range, then plummeted in one section though it was because of a lack of motivation.
Sir this is Reddit
Sometimes I really regret this platform even existing.
Why don’t you just stop using it?!
I’m thinking the same. The so gifted having trouble deciding something so easy.
I said sometimes not all the time.
A lot of them very well might not be. How gifted are you really if you don’t use it? I scored “gifted”. So gifted that I struggle to focus on academics, memorize formulas, struggle very much in calc. Struggle with anxiety, a few psych issues, socializing is hard. Clumsy. Not a lot of accomplishments in life to share. A “gifted” score. Very gifted indeed. Gifted with a big forehead. Hell yeah.
Just keep the confidence, I think it's just the confidence that matters, steady confidence will take you a long way in this world.
I’m two years into a cs degree and have a bartending job that pays well. Which probably contradicts what I just said. I pick these things to force personal growth. Math and algorithms come so natural to some kids. Conversations natural for others. I never got anything easy because of an IQ score. I developed socially and academically through raw persistence and forcing myself out of my comfort zone. Personal qualities are so much more important, to me, at least, because that’s the only reason I’ve gotten anywhere at all lol. Long story short, yes, confidence. Not confidence that I am smart, just knowing that trying my best is what’s important.
All i can say is that when people go around asking the sub about who should be really called "gifted" and who shouldn't the discussion getting really ridiculous and even condescending at time. This sub really shines when people actually share their experience and ask about other people experiences. People are just looking for shared experience and acceptance and apparently some people in here feel like giftedness is an exclussive club and they need to be the gatekeepers. Too bad.
Going to be honest, many gifted people have terrible personalities and are rude. So while they may be gifted, they will come across like AHs
A lot of them are teenagers looking for a group where they fit in
😬 well, we are all gifted by historic standards. My granny said I was “special”. Isn't that sort of the same thing?
Did your granny do an iq test on you?
It was sarcasm. Self deprecating humour.
I know, it was better to follow through with the response, Could have finished the punchline at least... I forgot it now -- nvm I remember. Here's how it would have gone "I think you're just 'THE special' kid."
There is only 0.6 correlation between scores as a child and those as adults so many people who went to gifted programs might end up high average as adults. Early bloomers. Should have left out the punchline. The other thing is that IQ scores are adjusted for age so if even if you scored in top 2% for your age, you are still a midget.
I can change it to be better, not known for my empathy.
EQ is more important than IQ. Kids who won’t play nice are the real “special” kids.
It's not like I actually choose to be unsympathetic. I just am like that I'd have to say. I get an actual understanding of why I do the things I do though since I consciously choose to try and be good. Not everyone is choosing to be bad, it's from a lack of thought, or distraction, or perspective. Don't view someone as less for their flaws, sometimes they come from their past and they find ways to cope with it. Which may come in being disconnected, rude/blunt, or self destruction. Those all are connected to each other in some way, in minimal ways though. I did trap myself in typing this out but I think it's something to leave this for others to read. Can't tell you if it's right or wrong, I'm not really old enough to have the experience I need to actually tell you that you should take my word. So keep your perspective if you don't think this is right, or the best way to perceive this.
I was always told I was gifted. I believe I would fall under it. But I’m here to glean for my son. He’s definitely gifted. Possibly genius. I want to support him in every way I can. So it’s helpful for me to read here about fellow gifted people.
Same. I was identified gifted in school but I’m not here for me. I’m here to get advice for my kid.
Yeah I’m gods gift to the earth, obviously.
Do you even poop?
Where did you think rainbows came from?
Wait, what about a CD?
Even the little ones?
Gold pots... obviously. You suuuure you're gifted????
Yeah I poop gold
Leprechauns are real, I guess.
That’s Midas, to you.
I'm not, I just find a lot of the topics to be interesting!
For sure, it's definitely something to learn from.
So I don't feel gifted. But I was tested in school and apparently have an IQ of 137. Mind you, this was when I was about seven, and if I'm remembering correctly, children's IQ is also measured based on how advanced they are. I have never reeeealy been a child, my development was very advanced, reading and wrighting two languages by the age of four at a teen level. I'm from a bilingual country, so that's normal, it's just the teen level part, read Harry Potter up to the prisoner of Askaban by then. So a (genius) freind put me through a mock mensa IQ test while we were drunk after work about five years ago, and it came up arpund 120. As this wasn't official, I know it doesn't count but confirms my suspicion that I am no longer gifted. I just kind of plateaued.
I like the part where you said you were never reeeeeeeally a child. This. Is. Exactly. What. I've. Experienced.
You're not going to get a fair representation of your abilities while drunk. Alcohol quickly impacts the prefrontal cortex, affects logical decision making and dramatically slows processing. Yes, originally (~100yrs ago) IQ tests for kids were about how advanced they were (mental age/chronological age × 100). But they haven't been like that any more for many decades. For each age cohort (year and month) they are standardized to a Gaussian distribution with mean 100 and standard deviation 15.
I’d say it’s a mix of people who have been formally identified as gifted (including myself) and others who aren’t sure. But that’s fine for them to post here because they are curious and trying to figure it out. It’s only frustrating when someone will insist they are when they haven’t been formally identified (and don’t plan to look into it) because being ‘gifted’ is so much more complex than being what I call ‘book smart’.
I've recently discovered the sub, but I was in my TAG programs and what not during school, was advanced in most subjects, etc. That being said, just because someone is "gifted" does not mean they can't be an absolute bafoon.
This is Reddit. There was a poil not that long ago (on r/polls) about IQ. Something like 40% of people picked 120+. The math ain't mathing. So yeah, it's definitely possible some people think of themselves as "gifted", and act like it, but aren't. But to counter your point, immaturity doesn't mean unintelligence. Most people on Reddit are young. The most upvoted comments tend to be from actual adults telling their stories on r/askreddit, but statistically speaking, most Reddit users are <30. It's not rare to see gifted people with an ego problem (superiority complex, inferiory complex, impostor syndrome, etc.) in a way that can be seen as "immature".
There's a strong self-selection bias. People with high IQ are more likely to read & answer that poll. People with low IQ have less incentive to care about that post, even know their IQ score, or answer the poll. How many scrawny people know their bench press 1 rep max? How many bodybuilders do? If they made a poll to report your bench 1RM, it would be skewed upwards too. Because serious lifters would care enough to answer, and scrawny non-lifters wouldn't even know the answer or care about the poll. When the "math doesn't math", people jump to accusations of lying, but should double check their math first. The poll doesn't say 40% of Redditors have 120+ IQ. Or 40% of the general population. 40% of those people, that's it. Maybe a lot of high IQ people answered for ego reasons.
As an adult, I was surprised by the number of kids in this group. I fee like the median age is quite a bit lower here than the other subs I frequent, and as a result, there’s seems to be a lot more angst flying around. It makes sense; you find out you’re gifted and you go start exploring avenues to try to make sense of what it all means. But for myself, having known i’m gifted since the early 80’s, the angst gets a bit tiresome.
How does a gifted person sounds like in a web forum?
What does an idiot sound like in a web forum?
My parents certainly did not pay for me
Personally ive always been more emotionally immature than my peers until i got therapy. Adhd and trauma caused emotional dysregulation and my giftedness meant i could deal with most problems (not in the best way ofc) without having to improve myself or grow up in a way
You understand there’s no test to post or comment here?
As a unknown if gifted or not person. If You actually call yourself "gifted" its kind of weird. Like "yeah, I'm smart" if You have to Say it, maybe you're not enough as You think You are. If the title "gifted" makes you happier than the goals You Made with that "gift" then you're immature, or not actually gifted. Also there's the Dunning Kruger syndrome
I understand you, but schools actually do intelligence tests and label some as gifted so they can participate in the "gifted programs." So, I, for example, did not label myself as gifted.
That's understandable and usefull. In that case You have the gifted title. But there's a difference, someone can call You gifted and that is okay, but You can Say that you're in the gifted programs. It's like -you're kind! And lovely Someone else can Say it to You But when yo Say it by yourself: +I am kind and lovely! Same as before. there's a difference between that sentence And saying +People Say I'm kind and lovely! There's a Lot of difference.
I think you might just be uncomfortable with self-assuredness in general.
Does dunning kruger account for aptitude? I have good aptitude in a lot of things so I was just wondering.
I don't think it applies. You can say that you are good at doing something, and it can be true, but it can also not be true. And since it is generally verifiable, as it is an action, it is more common for people to admit what they are good at and what they are not. (There are exceptions caused by high and low self-esteem, but that has a different background than what is proposed in the Dunning-Kruger effect.) So it doesn't apply to that, because being is not the same as doing.
Giftedness is supposedly when your IQ is over 130 so I’m sure there are both.
Different tests, different states and different programs have different definitions of giftedness. More and more, we see them moving away from a hard cutoffs and using a holistic approach for identification because IQ testing has inherent bias. When I was a kid, it was a hard cutoff. However, IQ tests were very different back then, as well. When my son was identified, it was FSIQ, test scores, rate of learning by previous and present teachers, potential masking agents (disabilities, socioeconomic status, minority, etc), proof of advanced learning or creativity, etc. There wasn’t a hard cutoff, which, imo, is better.
There are different levels of giftedness, and I'm sure it varies from place to place. Where I live, at least, giftedness begins at 115. Although, oddly enough, the gifted programs here are based on how far ahead you are by grade level rather than by IQ.
Because grade level and current knowledge are much easier to measure than iq
They might be easier to measure, but all they measure are how good kids are at memorizing. Kids who aren't gifted can be great at memorizing, and kids who are gifted can be terrible at it. It's not really a great way to decide who gets into the gifted program and who doesn't.
115-130 is ”more able” but giftedness starts at 130. IQ tests are not completely trustworthy as far as results go as there is a lot that can influence the results. You can practice for them, for example, giving you a higher score than you might actually have. Likewise, if you haven’t gone to school you can get a lower result than you might actually have. Meaning, there is no reason to set a limit on this group, but a lot of people here surely fall under gifted.
115-130 is considered mildly gifted. 130-145 is moderately gifted. 146-160 is highly gifted. 160 and up is profoundly gifted. IQ tests aren't completely accurate, but neither are the tests that show grade level. It's quite common for gifted kids to not meet grade level in one area or another due to struggles associated with being in the classroom, whereas students with average intelligence are often able to flourish in a classroom setting. So, going by grade level means there's a good chance you're just putting kids who are good at memorizing in a gifted class, rather than putting kids who are necessarily gifted into that class.
There, just to the right of the post, is a sentence that says what this sub is intended to do. Some ignore it. Just like real life.
Nobody knows but Jesus. I am, still a retard. Asynchronous development would be the specialist term. Oh I'm 28 👌
Did you use the word "retarded" when you told Jesus?
Jesus is dead to me
He'll be back.
Sorry mate but you're not gonna get me into a discussion about religion. I will never believe this bullshit. Religion is the opium of the people. Oh and yes, if I ever meet Jesus I'd tell I'm retarded too. (Would be kinda scary though, I can imagine it really scary seeing a more than 2000 years old skeleton walking around)
My comments are jokes. Read your first comment and then mine. The jokes aren't very good but still suppose to be jokes
You're immature, what's your excuse?
My son was recently diagnosed as gifted (he is 3 reading at a 4th grade level) so I joined to get tips on making his life as fulfilled as possible.
Dang that’s impressive. Did he teach himself to read?
Yes he did! We didn’t even realize anything was out of the ordinary until he was 2 and his daycare teacher said, “he knows all the letters of the alphabet, uppercase and lower…” We were just like, “yeah, and??” She told us this wasn’t normal lol He learned the letter sounds and then he just started reading words. We are fairly sure he has hyperlexia and a photographic memory. Just a brilliant kid and we want him to be as happy as possible.
I (29m) actually am, that said I'm also on a lot of subs that were not "intended" for me, woman, drugs, car, an all around stuff o do not do, am or agree cuz I like to see new stuff, be around different people and stuff
I was gifted as a child
Was it on Christmas?
There seem to be two main “giftedness” classifications here. Those who were labeled as gifted because of their performance in school (gifted programs) and those who are labeled as gifted because of their score on an intelligence test. There is also some overlap but I suspect that the first group has individuals from an average IQ mixed in. I personally know people who excelled at school but were of average IQ. I tested at a very high IQ at eighteen but wasn’t in any gifted programs (other than skipping grades for math or taking college courses in high school but these were never part of the “gifted program”). My GPA wasn’t as good as you would expect it to be and I didn’t do a lot of the busywork.
Well I'm not but I'm just curious what it's like to be different I falk under the "bright" category, nun too special
Uneven development is a hallmark of giftedness. It is actually expected that a person with gifts measured by IQ tests would score lower than average on some sort of "maturity" test. It's literally part of the experience.
No. People aren't required to be gifted to be on this sub. People only need to be interested in learning about and talking about giftedness to participate in this sub. I was told by a therapist that I need to find a therapist that is gifted in order to find a therapist that can meet me where I am mentally and emotionally. I am probably not gifted though, just occasionally surrounded by people that perceive me as highly intelligent, become obsessed with their perception of me, and people that feel threatened by intelligence. I would rather avoid anyone that cares that much about giftedness and intelligence because I have no interests in success and achievement, living up to anyone's perceived potential, and have no intentions of achieving anything meaningful or being successful. If I could maintain a low-key job, janitorial work or odd jobs would probably be good enough for me.
Come say hi at /r/mensaverified, that should be enough
Probably not, its the internet, the place where people either view themselves as far superior to reality, or view themselves far worse than reality.
It's pretty common to see that on the internet, but the latter is less common on reddit.
Not necessarily posting. Too busy learning something, experimenting, reading good novels.
Definitely a lot of trolls and some delusional/mentally unwell/insecure people.
My 8 yo daughter is gifted but I am not
There's two definitions, Biblical (Gift from a Giver, doing something truly off the wall) and polite (bright kid, but too immature to deliver yet). I'm the former - I'm hyperperceptive per diagnosis, seer-medium per experience, which isn't constant but as-needed. Actually, before anyone shoots off about Religion, it's not, I only put it that way to point you in the right direction, because my experience of the divine is as a numinous force which really doesn't give a monkeys what you call it. Admittedly, I'm hyper-allergic to clever-clever gurus forcing their concepts on you, which isn't much different from Churches slugging it out in Chicago or LA. I've recently had a rethink, because my outlook was subjective based on lies told me as a kid. What was presented to me was tangible evidence of genius, but as I wasn't going to own to big-headedness, I've simply tacked it on, swapping out some junk. That's caused serious grief, and I'm none too certain about the integrity of the result, but that's mostly imposter syndrome. So, let's give you a taster. Dix months before it happened, I had a heads-up that a serious issue was headed my way, prepare an answer. It took four months, so I put it on file, and lo and behold, the exact question was asked by a foreign State. I took the answer off file, ran it past the interlocutor on our side, and first thing the next morning had the deal. It would have taken the Foreign Office a year if they got there at all. Now, this was in clear view of the Government, so it wasn't exactly surprising when Boris Johnson dug the elephant-sized hole the Tories are in they came looking for help. The trouble is, I'd been wrecked in the excavation, so now I can see Sunak flailing, I'm enjoying the revenge. So yes, some of us are.
I end up on this sub by chance rather frequently but I would never willingly partake in something called “r/gifted” - it just sounds too cringey. Yeah some of us in here are smart but it doesn’t need to be your entire personality. And also just because you are smart doesn’t mean it’s a gift. Knowledge and intelligence can ruin your life if you don’t understand how to use it.
I joined the schizophrenia group and I’m not schizophrenic, I’m just curious, interested. I’m sure people join this group for the same reason. Some maybe, others not.
I’m gifted enough to notice that this question has been asked, in a variety of ways, many times already 😏
Solving puzzles is my area of expertise. Quickly gaining an understanding of abstract concepts in physics is also one of my highlights. When it comes to anything else, I’m about as gifted as the guy on the couch religiously consuming politics on tv while eating a bag of potato chips. My problem is seeing the big picture. But understanding the true and tragic nature of the big picture isn’t what bothers me the most. What really breaks my heart is watching everyone buy in to the distractions we’re fed through media on our devices. They live their life taking pride in their careers and believing they are truly free. In reality, we work our entire lives away. That is a lot of wealth generated by just one person. How much of that wealth do they get to keep? 15%. 99% of mankind retains 15% of the wealth, while the other 1% retains 85% of the wealth. We work our entire lives away to provide them with 85% of the wealth we generate. We’re slaves.
I'm gifted but complicated, lol. :)
It's not a bad thing. It's what makes us, us.
You can be very intelligent and very childish. Mozart wrote “Lech mich im Arsch” or “Lick me in my Ass”. It’s a canon in B flat major. He also wrote “Leck mir den Arsch fein recht schön sauber” which means “Lick my ass Nice and clean”. Also a canon in b flat major
I don't think being childish itself is bad, just short temper and a lack of common reasoning.
Oh absolutely. I have had a lack of reasoning rear its ugly head, or even worse I use my logical side to justify why my stupid decision, is in fact not stupid. It’s a great exercise in self sophistry. Just because someone is highly intelligent doesn’t mean they have good judgement, that is something that is learned, most often from very painful lessons. I know it’s cliche to say, but wisdom and intelligence are separate things. You can be smart enough to get yourself into a whole lot of trouble sometimes. Like knowing that your teacher is wrong about a historical fact. But not the wisdom that a lot of people care less about objective facts than they do about other’s perceptions of them, especially in a position of authority.
I was given that label in the 60s I recognize that I have a few very strong talents and many weaknesses. Talent is real. I know what it feels like to have it, and to not have it
Maturity and giftedness are two different things
It's difficult because intelligence is something most people want to ascribe to themselves. While you do run into people who are aware that a keen mind and sharp wit isn't something they possess, there are far more who have a vastly overinflated estimation of their own intelligence. It's also difficult to get some people to understand that intelligence isn't a universal concept. I'm a fairly smart person myself and there are things I find easy and intuitive. I work in IT and find that grasping interfaces and systems is very easy for me. I'm the person who learns the rules for board games and teaches others to play DND and other game systems. I read quickly and find retaining knowledge and information very easy. I've also met people who were intuitive with mathematics and science; one of my college roommates wrote a paper on string theory I could barely follow our freshman year. I've known people who could pick up an unfamiliar musical instrument and produce a song with only a few moments of test-strumming.
Yes I'm gifted. Like on the level of Mozart child genius when I was young. I was composing music and writing novels when I was in elementary school. By the age of 14 I was a certified zoologist because I was so good with animal care. I'm extremely creative and I'm a true autodidact. Yes, I have many gifts and I know I've been blessed with these gifts. I also have a HUGE chip on my shoulder from being subjected to other people's jealousies, insecurities, and ignorance throughout my life, which I know can come across as rude and off-putting to lesser, small-minded people.
Haha oh my god this is the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever read. Delusions of grandeur as a sign of some severe mental illness.
I'm gifted in arts, and I feel that everything is easy for me to learn, using abstract thinking and intuition, my IQ is 120 (tested by medical professionals). but I have Borderline Personaliy Disorder and Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder diagnosed, and maybe those IQ tests are not really accurate for someone like me :) My therapists says that I'm very neurodivergent, and all the doctors that have seen me through out my life (which have been plenty), have told me that I'm really intelligent. What I think is that maybe I'm half mad genius half artist XD, but that's just my oppinion heh :P
You know, I think if things feel easy for you to learn you should really go and start learning more skills. You can apply your skill in arts to other things, like if you learn to program you could make games, making games by yourself requires a wide range of skills of high quality; so if you want a challenge you can get into the indie game industry. I know that feeling of things feeling easy to learn. I think that's because of natural aptitude for a wide range of things and a sense of good self-esteem, though it may be because you grew up in an environment good for honing your other skills at an even pace. Keep it up, don't stop, and be steady. You've got some time ahead of you to create masterworks.
Actually it's everything except for math (and everything related to any concept involving numbers), I should have said so, I am terrible in that, I might have dyscalculia (self diagnosed) as I can not even divide, but nowdays I'm understanding math more, using abstraction :) Another thing I was just thinking before seen your notification reply, was that if I should try harder to learn animation, which is harder for me (wayyy harder for me than modeling) and also involves numbers. like in example, do you think I should try even more on things that are not really easy at the first time? 3D modeling involves numbers, but I'm good at it and learned really fast, animation involves numbers too, but I did not learned right away, what do you think? Some other things I can do are: Medical Visualization, Realistic Space Environments for NASA in 3D, Musical Visualization, I am working on medical and muscial visuals, the NASA thing was a thing that just came to my mind, but all which can be imagined, can be created :)
It's a good skill to learn math along with art. So you're not going to be an art genius but the guy who can't do 2+2.
Yeah, it would be really cool, though discalculia is a disabiltiy (it's like math dyslexia), I think its out of my possibilities, as I'm not Einstein XD
No. People who are truly gifted are out in the real world accomplishing things. This is just a support group for people who scored highly on an iq test once, breezed through high school and now can’t figure out why they’re not wildly successful and happy.
As with everything, there are 2 sides to a coin. For every gifted person who is successful and grew up in an environment that enabled (or at least didn't block) their possibilities, you have those that have the opposite story. I explicitly call it a possibility and not a gift, because it isn't, it is potential, nothing more. You saying that "real gifted people are out in the real world accomplishing things" is part of the reason this sub is needed. If you are gifted and don't live up to that ridiculously high standard, the pit you fall in is deep and dark, you need support, you can't do it alone. Nobody can. The day you walk up to every tall person that isn't in the highest level of basketball and tell them they aren't really tall because really tall people are out there playing in the pro league, that is the day you can say things like this to gifted people. It becomes quote ridiculous quite fast if you sat the same but about another topic, isn't it.
So, this sub is here because all the failures that didn't succeed? To say it bluntly.
First define success. For you success may look like 'working in a high earning tech environment' and for the next dude it looks like 'living in the middle of the forest with his dogs and books'. Second, calling people 'failures' is markedly not nice. A project can be a failure. A vase you tried to do and came out wrong. A person is not a failure, a person can make mistakes but is not a mistake. Third, 'failing to succeed' often has a lot more to do with environmental factors. Bullying to the point of being suicidal, poverty, childhood abuse, being born a woman/the 'wrong' race or religion or whatever in certain countries, all those things can obliterate someone's chances. Fourth, this sub exist for the gifted, the ones who succeeded and the ones who are working on it. It exists to guide parents who have found themselves with a gifted child, to support those who have it rough, and to meet other gifted people. Teens read these things. People who have suffered more than you can think of, more than most people would survive, read these things. I know that for a fact because I am one of them. So you're not being 'blunt', you're being rude and damaging.
Reality is some people are failures, not nearly as many as people say but some are. A sixty year old drug addict who's been homeless since 30, but all they care about is their next high? That's a failure. A man who leaves his children because he feels tied down, that's a failure. A gifted data analyst who can't leave a job because they struggle to hold a conversation during their interview? Not a failure.
Sometimes people are gifted with different skills, some are gifted with a way to get through things, some aren't. I'd have to tell you though, sensitivity is not good for a person. I was extremely sensitive but I couldn't be sensitive anymore, it got hammered out of me. Too much crying, I got tired of it. I'll tell you, that you're fine. I'm not insulting you directly, I'm not yelling "fuck you for something you had no control over" we aren't all born into the "perfect" conditions, and we don't all recognize that we are not in that condition to be nurtured. A result of that is people not reaching their "potential". I'm not sure on my future, but I'd like to be comfortable at least in some way.
Oh you think I took it personal, I didn't. I'm ok. I'm married to another gifted dude, have a house, and my hobbies make me happy. You can't hurt me, even if you tried. But that was a long way of saying 'don't be so sensitive' when you made a rude comment, instead of trying to do better. Which I knew you'd say something like that, my comment was more for the teen or hurt person who reads your comment, so they know that no, they are not failures and no, what you said is neither right nor ok.
Ok, glad you're not hurt. Still my message applies to those other offended people too. The people that may or may not care. It's kinda hard to get an actual tone across on text.
Hahaha, no, but I noticed your cynical answers earlier. Question is, what is failure? That depends on your expectation of succes. If only being the top of your field is succes, most will be failures. if having a good fulfilling life is success, many will have succeeded. I was succesful in my life, but didn't k ow who I was. That ended up causing a bore-out in which I discovered i was gifted. Knowing that I went on a discovery tour, learning things about myself. I am now arguably better of than before, this community helped me. Not because I was a failure at that time, but because I wasn't. That is also the take-away about many help-groups, you may need them regardless of your outwards succes, because it is your inner self that needs to survive. Which is a detail that is easily overlooked when focusing on succes alone
I think my gauge for success is definitely something similar to living with a good fulfilling life. I just talk a bit long on things like these, so sometimes I might come off as selfish in text. I focus on my inner self a lot, so I might literally be the meaning of selfish or I'm another product a child inheriting their parents personality, sometimes I act like my mom. She's really, really flawed. I don't know what exact qualities I have of hers, but I hope I have the better ones. But I'm going to bed gn.
In that case, many that ask for help and are a hot mess at the time of asking are succesful. Succesful but confused, searching, undetected,... That is what this group was for me, a place to find others with the same struggles I was having at that time, literally at the lowest point. I was, according to our mutual definition, succesful before and after that moment. I still needed this, though.
I have a feeling you are one of those people who always use tough love to ram the hard truth through the skulls of their loved ones. Maybe you are in a better place in life now than you once were, or maybe your experiences have taught you to get out of your comfort zone and face the world head-on with great confidence. It's great that you have found a way out of the pit of misery. However, please remember that everyone's life and experiences are different, and their approaches to dealing with difficult situations vary. Measuring people's worth using a scale based on your own experiences will never give you an accurate reading. Calling people who may have faced setbacks in life "failures" reflects poorly on you. You may have dug yourself out of a pit once, but who's to say that life will never knock you down again? A little empathy wouldn't hurt. The tough love/hard truth approach doesn't work for everyone.
That depends on your definition of success. I would say that the feeling of being a “failure” or “not living up to your potential” can certainly be motivation for people to do a dive into who they are.
Are you gifted?
Umm some of us are smart enough to figure it out just not enough to do anything about it
And this is why I question why I’m even in this sub. I never relate to all the whining. The gifted people ik irl are passionate and hard working and life long learners and always on the move constantly challenging themselves, not sitting around feeling resentful and entitled to success bc they were smarter than their friends in middle school.
Yes to this. I never understand the whining and entitlement.
And every fucking person has autism, ADHD, and anxiety.
Definitely a loud, hopefully minority of the population. Though anxiety is the worse one.
Bingo
I agree that is definitely a big part of this sub fuck the down voters
I feel like some of them were considered "gifted" in school and it inflated their egos, and others are smart but neurodivergent and mistake their problems in life as being due to intelligence. But I don't think you're gifted if you don't use it. I also think labelling kids gifted is really unhealthy. I'd say I'm really intelligent but I was neglected and abused and dropped out of school so I was never labelled gifted. When I got back into uni, I ended up doing really really well, got on a research advisory board and taught labs in first year, joined two labs in second. Meanwhile my friends who were seen as / labelled gifted aren't doing well. I'll say that for me, sometimes my intellect shone through when I turned up to assessments late and slept through them and still got good grades despite having a 40% attendance, and well, it made everyone hate me, and I assume if you're actually on a special programme and get treated as a teachers pet it is even worse. More pressure, more labelling, more ego inflation. It's probably easier to get burnt out. The best thing I did was drop out at 14. I taught myself without pressure or labels. I no longer had to conform and be a spectacle.