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I don't know about "gifted," but I certainly suffer from this. I suspect most people have at some point. I don't think of myself as "gifted." Some people have

I don't know about "gifted," but I certainly suffer from this. I suspect most people have at some point. I don't think of myself as "gifted." Some people have said I am, but I doubt it: I work hard, I read, I acquire knowledge. Anyone can do that. Besides, even if I am gifted, It's not a healthy attitude to have. You start to get presumptuous, and arrogant, which means that you'll learn less. And I'm arrogant enough: I don't need a swelled head. In short, statistically, I'm probably not gifted, and it's unhealthy to believe you're gifted anyways, so even if I am, I'm better off not knowing. This might be totally insane, but it seems reasonable to me...

pg_is_a_butt 10y ago
you're certainly not gifted, but you are an ignorant hypocrite. why would you introduce the additional multisyllable word "statistically" when you were already talking about things in "probable" terms, thus implying a statistical approach... but then you have the audacity to claim you're reducing your point "in short"... no... no, you aren't. a gifted person wouldn't do that. a gifted person would call you an idiot. you're all idiots.
bigtunacan 10y ago
As far as societal measures go I was identified as "gifted" at a young age. I was shipped off to special schools and classes, offered grade skipping, started taking college courses while in high school, "identified" by Mensa and Who's Who. In the shorter term, while I was younger, it did make me arrogant. As I got older that went away. It certainly didn't result in me learning less. I have always felt lonely, for a long time depressed, then eventually just detached and separate from the world. I'm almost 40 now and learning is still a way for me to tune out a world that I feel set aside from.
- rak00n 10y ago
  If you don't mind me asking, how did you cope with loneliness?
  - MawNicker 10y ago
    I suspect learning. Loneliness is ultimately not the signal we think it is. It's conditioned from other more fundamental signals. One such signal is the desire to learn. To become a better version of yourself. Sustained loneliness is eventually disintegrated and mediated more fundamentally. Empathizing with the intellectual giants of history can yield wonderful quasi-imaginary friends. Notably many such people lived very similarly and have wonderful things to say about it; Almost as if they intended to be your temporally long-distance friend. If you love them as they were then you will come to see that they loved you too. Truly to the depth that they could know you. It both humbles and inspires.
jacalata 10y ago
Some of the most arrogant people I know reject the notion that they are gifted (as in, born lucky) in favor of the idea that they just work hard and anybody else could do the same but everyone else is too lazy. I think there are some definite positives in recognising the advantages you were born with.
- qwertyuiop924 10y ago
  You can always be arrogant if you try hard enough. But not being arrogant is far harder. Personally, I believe that I might have had a bit of an advantage in some fields. Not because I'm necessarily better, but because my approach functions better in that area. But most people can do the same thing if they wanted to. It's merely that everybody has a limited amount of focus, and most people choose to spend it differently. Looking down on them is unproductive, and also incorrect: they're probably experts in something you don't know anything about.
hexane360 10y ago
Gifted children are very likely to suffer from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome (the opposite of Dunning-Kruger). Because they're gifted, they tend to hold themselves to a much higher standard, and don't even realize it. Maybe that's also unhealthy, but it's pretty much the opposite of arrogance.
naasking 10y ago
> I don't think of myself as "gifted." Some people have said I am, but I doubt it: I work hard, I read, I acquire knowledge. Anyone can do that. This is a common perception that needs to die. You might as well say that anyone can dunk a basketball. Some people really just can't. Innate ability does exist, even mentally. I agree with the rest!
- qwertyuiop924 10y ago
  Innate ability does exist, yes, but it's not as uncommon as you might think. IIRC, the people who have trouble learning to program, for example, are those that have difficulty forming a coherent mental model of assignment, and other similarly basic ideas. How many people like that do you know? Sure, innate ability can sometimes make things a bit easier, but a lack of it rarely makes things impossible, AFAICT. I may be wrong...

pg_is_a_butt 10y ago

you're certainly not gifted, but you are an ignorant hypocrite. why would you introduce the additional multisyllable word "statistically" when you were already talking about things in "probable" terms, thus implying a statistical approach... but then you have the audacity to claim you're reducing your point "in short"... no... no, you aren't. a gifted person wouldn't do that. a gifted person would call you an idiot. you're all idiots.

bigtunacan 10y ago

As far as societal measures go I was identified as "gifted" at a young age. I was shipped off to special schools and classes, offered grade skipping, started taking college courses while in high school, "identified" by Mensa and Who's Who. In the shorter term, while I was younger, it did make me arrogant. As I got older that went away. It certainly didn't result in me learning less. I have always felt lonely, for a long time depressed, then eventually just detached and separate from the world. I'm almost 40 now and learning is still a way for me to tune out a world that I feel set aside from.

rak00n 10y ago
If you don't mind me asking, how did you cope with loneliness?
- MawNicker 10y ago
  I suspect learning. Loneliness is ultimately not the signal we think it is. It's conditioned from other more fundamental signals. One such signal is the desire to learn. To become a better version of yourself. Sustained loneliness is eventually disintegrated and mediated more fundamentally. Empathizing with the intellectual giants of history can yield wonderful quasi-imaginary friends. Notably many such people lived very similarly and have wonderful things to say about it; Almost as if they intended to be your temporally long-distance friend. If you love them as they were then you will come to see that they loved you too. Truly to the depth that they could know you. It both humbles and inspires.

jacalata 10y ago

Some of the most arrogant people I know reject the notion that they are gifted (as in, born lucky) in favor of the idea that they just work hard and anybody else could do the same but everyone else is too lazy. I think there are some definite positives in recognising the advantages you were born with.

qwertyuiop924 10y ago
You can always be arrogant if you try hard enough. But not being arrogant is far harder. Personally, I believe that I might have had a bit of an advantage in some fields. Not because I'm necessarily better, but because my approach functions better in that area. But most people can do the same thing if they wanted to. It's merely that everybody has a limited amount of focus, and most people choose to spend it differently. Looking down on them is unproductive, and also incorrect: they're probably experts in something you don't know anything about.

hexane360 10y ago

Gifted children are very likely to suffer from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome (the opposite of Dunning-Kruger). Because they're gifted, they tend to hold themselves to a much higher standard, and don't even realize it. Maybe that's also unhealthy, but it's pretty much the opposite of arrogance.

naasking 10y ago

> I don't think of myself as "gifted." Some people have said I am, but I doubt it: I work hard, I read, I acquire knowledge. Anyone can do that. This is a common perception that needs to die. You might as well say that anyone can dunk a basketball. Some people really just can't. Innate ability does exist, even mentally. I agree with the rest!

qwertyuiop924 10y ago
Innate ability does exist, yes, but it's not as uncommon as you might think. IIRC, the people who have trouble learning to program, for example, are those that have difficulty forming a coherent mental model of assignment, and other similarly basic ideas. How many people like that do you know? Sure, innate ability can sometimes make things a bit easier, but a lack of it rarely makes things impossible, AFAICT. I may be wrong...