4 ms·
I'd like to tell you about my most gifted friend. He is my classic definition of genius. He is a particularly lovely human being, handsome, tall and can do most
by rustynails 11y ago
I'd like to tell you about my most gifted friend. He is my classic definition of genius. He is a particularly lovely human being, handsome, tall and can do most intellectual tasks exceptionally well (eg. Chemistry, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, software engineering, etc). He matches the best I've seen in any of those fields (and I've been involved in complex systems and software for decades).
So, what does he do for a living? Odd jobs. He has held one steady job in the decades I've known him. This is because he has poor social skills (although I've tried to help him learn the ropes of understanding people) and because he finds accepting other people's mediocrity frustrating as he politely tells them their errors - and conversely, they resent his cleverness.
I was lucky enough to work with someone similar to my friend about 10 years ago. As his boss, I sat down with him and basically said "you are very clever but you are also ignorant. You change external interfaces that drive significant changes to the rest of the system. You must stop it for the sake of the project". He exploded and told me to "f* myself" in front of the project team of ~100 to hear. Two hours later, he apologised and thanked me for my honesty and wisdom (translation: courage to tackle the wild brumby). When I saw him a few years ago, he was a different person. He thanked me for my kindness and patience back then, which meant a lot to me.
To wrap it all up: some people truly March to the beat of their own drum. I thrive on these people.
Good luck. I hope you find your groove. No one else will find it for you, unfortunately.
- jokoon 11y ago> I thrive on these people. What do you mean ? You mean you manage them ? I agree that it must be quite delicate. In recent years I've started to understand what politics, public opinion and management really are about. I guess that's something I'd tell a math genius to get interested in, which is the art of compromise, negotiation and game theory, which can apply to take care of twenty five-years-old kids. > To wrap it all up: some people truly March to the beat of their own drum. Well people who have higher intelligence feel and know they are smarter, and since they are less people who are as smart as them to contradict them, nobody really can question their thoughts. > Good luck. I hope you find your groove. Thank you, that's truly heartwarming to hear it. > No one else will find it for you, unfortunately. I guess one day psychology and management will evolve and gain traction to improve society, I'm not so desperate about the future.