It's possible for both phenomena to coexist. Extreme case: Suppose 95% of left-handers are low-functioning, and 5% of them are INCREDIBLY high-functioning. You'

It's possible for both phenomena to coexist. Extreme case: Suppose 95% of left-handers are low-functioning, and 5% of them are INCREDIBLY high-functioning. You'd then have them simultaneously overrepresented in top positions AND scoring lower on IQ, verbal scores, etc. If true (in a less extreme sense), I imagine it would be vaguely correlated with post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth. Some of the most amazing people humanity has produced went through unimaginable suffering. And yet the vast majority of people who go through hideous suffering end up dysfunctional. So it's something like– most people with a disadvantage get messed up, but the few who manage to overcome it, manage to overcompensate dramatically.