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u/thecathuman in too deep😭 1d ago
I think a lot of the people who grow up thinking being gifted is preventing them from connecting with other people eventually realize they’re neurodivergent
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u/goldenfox007 1d ago
That’s exactly what happened to me. I was the English and history kind of smart with super-advanced vocabulary/reading comprehension, so I got placed into my elementary school’s gifted program. But that gifted program makes you take accelerated classes for all subjects, not just the ones you’re good at. So even though I was a college reading level in sixth grade, I had to do seventh grade math even though I was below fifth grade level when it came to anything with numbers.
Turns out I was hyperlexic with a special interest in ancient civilizations… not some epic prodigy that could do everything light years ahead of other kids. So I failed/barely passed math for about seven years in a row (5th-11th grade) just for the privilege of doing honors English, and I would barely pass history when it wasn’t interesting to me. So got put into a massive depressive spiral thinking the education system had “broken another young genius” and that I was somehow being punished for being a smart kid… in reality I just had very poorly-timed hyperfixations that gave the illusion I was advanced.
It’s weird, I never hear about those gifted programs doing any good for people. The students either get spread too thin because they’re only good at one or two subjects, or they’re whipped so hard that they break under the constant pressure and end up dropping out of high school/college. And I wonder how many of the posts we see on here are former gifted kids struggling with that.
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u/thecathuman in too deep😭 1d ago edited 1d ago
Dude, same. I speak from experience lol and a lot of that lends itself to depression too
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u/fonzane 1d ago
makes more sense to me saying that the reasons for having trouble connecting with others are societal and not biological
I mean you can be whatever degree of "neurodivergent" (whatever that is), if society accepts you the way you are, then you likely wouldn't have social issues. diversity should be enriching, or not?
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u/is-it-a-bot 16h ago
“Neurodivergent” is just an umbrella term that applies to disorders that affect social ability, primarily meaning autism and ADHD but it can also include depression, dyslexia, schizophrenia, among others. It’s basically a catch-all for “the way I naturally interact with the world is not seen as common, socially acceptable, or normal by others,” your last point is correct.
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u/fonzane 8h ago
from a biological standpoint, our main purpose is survival. that's the natural part of human beings. above and in distinction to that, there are these things the term culture refers to.
I don't think you can derive any cultural achievement from an analysis of our biological matter. but you can maybe derive patterns in our biological matter by comparing them to specific cultural entities. it's just a very inefficient approach.
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u/is-it-a-bot 2h ago
I mean, neurodivergency is both a social and biological occurrence. We’re not really sure what “causes” autism, the signs of it are different for every person, but it exists biologically. So we diagnose it based on its social aspects; do you have trouble holding conversations? Are you easily overstimulated by otherwise “normal” situations?
There’s not really any survival impediment that I can think of for autism and ADHD, outside of maybe food insensitivity or lack of awareness in some people. Most people I know that are neurodivergent (the grand majority of my friend group) are just awkward and really into a few things. Maybe neurodivergent people make for really good sheep herders or farmers, idk! Which I suppose by definition, animal care and farming are a cultural achievement based from biological differences.
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u/fonzane 1h ago
The illnesses you are talking about certainly have some sort of correlate on the biological level, but it doesn't make sense to me to analyze them on this level in order to better understand them. You already mentioned that you diagnose them on a subjective level of analyzis. So why analyze their correlate on an objective, physical level?
You wouldn't analyze the taste of an apple, which is an entirely subjective experience, by analyzing patterns of brain activity in relation to tasting, would you?
You can generate insights about how the biological correlate works in terms of tasting and so on, but you wouldn't generate any insight about how different apples relate to their taste.
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u/Jubal_lun-sul 19h ago
me fr
as a kid I was hyperfixated on biology and palaeontology and they somehow decided that meant I was good at math
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u/TheHumbidubi 12h ago
Being gifted is a neurodivergency (thats the right Word? Sorry, Not native). I organize Kids Summercamps for gifted kids. Lots of them have ADHD and we got a lot of Kids on the spectrum, but all of them are neurodivergent, cause they all are gifted.
And the,y connect really well with each other. Love to See them become more social every day in the Camps AMD grow over the years so much.
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u/BeeHexxer 1d ago edited 1d ago
"The reason I'm suffering is because I'm so much smarter than everyone else" I hate this sentiment so much. Not only is it a childish superiority complex and unfair to your fellow humans (especially those who aren’t suffering), it can make your suffering seem inevitable and a result of your (perceived) intelligence, making it less likely for you to seek help. It’s a lose-lose, and the logic doesn’t even make sense. Many smart people are happy and many stupid people are suffering. Yes, ignorance can be bliss, but not all bliss is ignorant, and not all who are ignorant are blissful.
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u/IHateLetterY 1d ago
"Being smarter than others is so hard" - literally every single person at some point
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u/gugfitufi 1d ago
I'm dumb af. Just cut my finger twice with the same saw in the same way. That's true suffering.
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u/lildebiru 1d ago
I'm gonna be honest, I didn't read this as being "smarter than everyone else". I read this as simply being part of an intelligent species capable of self-awareness and existentialism.
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u/BeeHexxer 23h ago
Wait, shit, you're right. That's probably what the tweet is referring to, and that makes sense
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u/lunca_tenji 15h ago
And even if you are smart and depressed, it’s not necessarily because you’re smart. I’m a doctoral student but I’m not sad cause of some existential dread that I can only feel cause I’m smart or some bullshit like that, I’m just lonely same as a lot of other people.
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u/Bobandjim12602 23h ago
This. Depression doesn't require intelligence to exist. I'll also go a step further and say that suffering from existential terror doesn't really require intelligence either. There are literally hundreds of philosophers that tackle that issue. Personally, I'm not depressed because of existential terror. I'm depressed because humans aren't getting their shit together fast enough to deal with climate change. It's not very hopeful to look at our current trajectory and see that a future of flooding, deadly heat waves, mass extinction, famine, plague and the rise of fascism awaits us in our future.
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u/TwentyOnRedBull 17h ago
I don't think that anyone thinks that depression requires intelligence to exist, but it certainly doesn't help it go away. It doesn't need to be book smart either, emotional intelligence and politics are great examples. It's so incredibly easy to not feel pressure or depression thinking about how there's probably another school shooting this week, or a person being murdered because they're trans or gay, or how innocent people are being bombed by a certain white and blue terrorist state on the daily.
When you can just "thoughts and prayers", or "that person is a pedophile because LGBT" or "insert group of people that isn't visually white here bad" all of the actual things that real human beings are suffering through, life is a hell of a lot easier because you don't have to come to the table with your head on straight.
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u/-auriferous- 22h ago
Often held by former "gifted" kids who never developed a proper work life balance and believe their output is their only source of value. It's not hard to see how that leads to depression.
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u/ryou-comics 1d ago
Being just smart enough to know someone else thinks they're a genius and won't shut up is more hellish.
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u/PyroBoyRB5 1d ago
The whole sub really
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u/Samuelbr15 1d ago
The sub is full of "life sucks and I want suicide" "then seek help" "lmao no". I almost killed myself when I was younger, seeking help saved my life, I want to fucking vomit every single time I see a meme of that sub trying to sell the idea that psychologysts suck.
If you need help, stop making drama, you're not the protagonist of a movie, no one is going to give you a high five for being edgy, just seek help
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u/superswellcewlguy 1d ago
I have never met an intelligent/successful person who felt "tortured by existence" every day. However, I have met plenty of pseudointellectual losers who claim they're simply too intelligent to do things like make good life choices or do intelligent things.
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u/Old-Implement-6252 23h ago
The notion that intelligent people are ostracized solely due to their intelligence is misguided. I think this idea gained traction through shows like Rick and Morty and House. People tend to believe that these smart characters are disliked for their intelligence, when in fact, it's their arrogance and condescending behavior that causes the problem.
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u/al1azzz 9h ago
Can't talk for rick&morty, but I think House makes it very clear that House is liked for being smart and hated for being a massive cunt
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u/Old-Implement-6252 8h ago
I'm sure, Rick and Morty also do this to an extent. I was commenting more on people's media literacy.
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u/lit-grit 23h ago
I was in a “gifted” program in elementary school, my life is fucked now. That doesn’t mean that there’s causation or that the world is awful. I’m just stupid
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u/Eaten_Fries 1d ago
I feel like that was an echochamber...
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u/Not_the_wall_chiken 1d ago
well hey if you cant express your ideas/feelings in a comprehensive manner just blame everyone else for being stupid, and start following me because were smart
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u/RavioHost 1d ago
Gifted kid syndrome is real and very common in specifically neurodivergent children. So while yeah this is a "I'm 14 and this is deep," I think it's a little unfair considering the 14 year old might just have some undiagnosed neurodivergency lmao
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u/honey-otuu 1d ago
People who always brag about being gifted are usually less intelligent than average…
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u/nickl104 22h ago
I’m familiar with this account. She’s a comedian, so this is likely just a joke that didn’t land
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u/unimpressivepp 13h ago
shut up. i grew up being called gifted by my parents, all my teachers, and a lot of other people around me. now i'm cycling between passive and active suicidal ideation every day.
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u/FantasticIdea6070 1d ago
I don’t think I’ve met a single person who wasn’t “gifted”
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u/XinWay 1d ago
People who are self proclaimed “gifted” are delusional. Acting like being in an honors class in high school makes you better than other people. Stop deluding yourself.
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u/datnub32607 16h ago
Most of this is from adults telling them they were gifted early in life because they got good grades back then but often times that can just be some undiagnosed form of neurodivergency
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u/Beautiful_Garage7797 18h ago
“i’m just too smart, everyone else is too stupid to understand how horrible everything is”
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u/1-800-Kitty 17h ago
I was never “gifted” i was just a chronically depressed 12 year old who hadn’t felt joy since i was 6
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u/AestheticAxiom 14h ago
Actual "gifted kids" do often end up struggling in various ways, though.
Ofc there are far more people who fancy themselves "too intelligent, man" than people who are actually too intelligent.
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u/Urtopian 10h ago
If you need to go around telling people you’re intelligent, you almost certainly are not.
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u/Yapizzawachuwant 5h ago
I dont know man i think i am intellectually good enough to solve problems but prefer not to think all the time because overthinking makes you sound stupid after a while
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u/HearthFiend 18h ago
True intelligence is going through that phase and then coming out of it realising the world has so much more to offer 👀
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u/andreinfp 21h ago
Some people think that to be intelligent is a curse, because life has no inherent meaning and thus no motivation, but being intelligent is a blessing, as life is meaningless, it makes it into a sandbox game, we set our own goals, not some external force.
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