have you been told your whole life that you are intelligent

[acidbit]

i hear people talk about how they were deemed a "gifted kid", though i was thrown in the special ed classes myself. though during childhood and to this day i still get told that i am very intelligent and even if that was the case i think i am too mentally ill to take advantage of it

anyone?

 

[Malaria]

Yep, I've been told I'm smart and gifted my whole life. As a young child, I was ahead of my class in reading and writing.

But the older I've gotten, I now feel behind everyone else, I feel like I have some kind of weird "arrested development". Strange how that works.

 

[RemainingDubious]

i was thrown in the special ed classes myself. though during childhood

i haven't been told i'm intelligent my whole life. Over the last few years i've been told i'm very intelligent or very knowledgeable.

i used to to have to go special ed classes when in primary school. i used to even have to attend speech therapy sessions at hospital when i was very young.

i personally don't understand why people assume i'm intelligent, when i'm usually a complete idiot, most of the things i've learnt has been learnt the hardest way.

 

[sserafim]

I was told that I was intelligent, and that I was smart and gifted. People would always call me smart. I excelled at reading, and read levels beyond my grade level. I was also talented at writing. On the ACT I scored 36 (full score) on the English and reading sections. I guess I've always been gifted at English, reading, and writing, but somehow I majored in STEM instead. Lol my crush assumed that because I was a STEM major, I was smart. I was good at science as well, but I guess I just had a natural aptitude for reading and writing. I feel the same as @Malaria, I think that I also have arrested development. I haven't been able to fully become an adult or successfully transition into and enter adulthood, I just don't want to grow up or be a real adult. I wish I could be a kid again...

 

[Pluto]

Me being intelligent:

 

[BlessedBeTheFlame]

It's funny how they seemed to stop, once people realized how fucking wrong they were. Always a fucking problem child, can't hold back his fucking emotions, had to redo a grade and then still refused to put in any work. I can tell they think the same, but are too pussy to just bluntly say it. Humans disgust me. I know they want me to finally off myself, but are always going to stop short to wipe themselves off of any guilt. It's not the hypocrisy, it's the fucking guilt. How can you look at my life and feel guilt at making me off myself. Feeling guilty over removing a parasite is delusional.

 

[Meteora]

Not as a child, my parents didn't give a shit, the only thing that counted was that I did not make any problems.
In adulthood I was told it often and I never knew what to make out of it.
I d rather be not intelligent but happy.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I did get told this a lot early on but I just as early realized how burdensome being blessed with intelligence is so I started acting stupid until it became true because now nobody relies on me for things I can't solve.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

I thought and I still think I'm intelligent. But I used my "intelligence" in the "wrong ways" and I can't make that kind of intelligence I have into money anymore. Intelligence is sth very complex and it can't be measured easily it always depends on certain things someone is intelligent in. Someone who knows about maths is not necessarily a good carpenter but both are intelligent when it comes to their special things they are good in.

 

[NumbItAll]

Yeah let's put insane expectations on kids because they're good at doing useless schoolwork. Intelligence barely even matters in this life, what really matters is fitting in socially and being a manipulative dickhead.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

Yeah, I've been told that I'm extremely intelligent for STEM subjects like maths and physics. However, on the opposite end, I was extremely stupid when it came down to english and I still am. This is because of autism. However, right now, I'm definitely not intelligent when compared to other people and I learn slower too.

But the older I've gotten, I now feel behind everyone else, I feel like I have some kind of weird "arrested development". Strange how that works.

I relate. I'm behind others too. I got a theory as to how this works but I'm not too sure about it. My theory as to why this tends to happen to children who were called gifted during childhood (and, yes, I've seen this happen for various people who said they were called gifted when they were kids) is that those who were called gifted tend to attribute their results on their brain hence they didn't need to work hard. However, on the other hand, the non gifted kids who attributed their results to hard work tend to work hard throughout education whereas some gifted kids didn't. Education in primary school is far different from education in university which is far different from work. The latter two can't really be relied on intelligence alone and requires a lot of hard work to achieve which non gifted kids would be better prepared for

I got another theory which is that those who were called gifted tend to be neurodivergent (or at least that's the impression that I get) and some neurodivergent people tend to excel massively in one area but severely lack in other areas whereas non gifted people tend to be all rounded as a whole which is essential for university and work

 

[tbroken]

I really was when i was young, but due to a minor health problem in youth i lost my mine, and now it's only filled with shit.

 

[Forever Sleep]

No, quite the opposite. I think my parents think I'm pretty stupid in certain areas. I certainly can be but, I don't think I'm as stupid as they think. My dissertation tutor said she could see me doing a PhD. Lol. I didn't even tell them. I thought they'd laugh! That was a nice little ego boost though.

Really though- that only happened because I did so badly in a dissertation on a previous course. I hadn't understood the point of it was to argue an idea with supporting quotes. I got it right the second time.

I'm certainly terrible at certain subjects though. Maths and science especially. Actually, a funny story. My science teacher on parents day was singing my praises to my Dad. My Dad looked confused and said- 'Are you sure this is my daughter we're talking about?'... And... it wasn't!! Not sure which is worse. The tutor being so unprepared or my Dad having so little faith in me! Fair play though. Science was never my strongest subject.

I don't think I ever got anything less than a B though- in any exam. I have two first class BA degrees. I'd say I'm pretty average really. I'm creative though. My strengths aren't academic.

 

[falling_snow]

i was considered a gifted child, that until my parents knew that i wanted to kms and was gay. they stopped considering me as their child directly.
dumb motherfuckers

 

[sserafim]

Yeah, I've been told that I'm extremely intelligent for STEM subjects like maths and physics. However, on the opposite end, I was extremely stupid when it came down to english and I still am. This is because of autism. However, right now, I'm definitely not intelligent when compared to other people and I learn slower too.

I relate. I'm behind others too. I got a theory as to how this works but I'm not too sure about it. My theory as to why this tends to happen to children who were called gifted during childhood (and, yes, I've seen this happen for various people who said they were called gifted when they were kids) is that those who were called gifted tend to attribute their results on their brain hence they didn't need to work hard. However, on the other hand, the non gifted kids who attributed their results to hard work tend to work hard throughout education whereas some gifted kids didn't. Education in primary school is far different from education in university which is far different from work. The latter two can't really be relied on intelligence alone and requires a lot of hard work to achieve which non gifted kids would be better prepared for

I got another theory which is that those who were called gifted tend to be neurodivergent (or at least that's the impression that I get) and some neurodivergent people tend to excel massively in one area but severely lack in other areas whereas non gifted people tend to be all rounded as a whole which is essential for university and work

Oh I forgot to mention that I was very adept at logic as well. People would say that I was very logical, I always aced logic riddles and puzzles. I also have Asperger's/autism, so this could be why. My parents wanted one kid to be a doctor and the other to be a lawyer, and maybe I should've gone for lawyer instead. I agree, maybe gifted people like us breezed through school and slacked off instead of working "hard" like the non-gifted kids. I used to get teased in middle school for being smart, the other kids would take my progress reports/report cards and look at my 100s in all subjects. But they say to "work smarter, not harder", so….I would say the thing I suck at is socializing and talking to people, I've never been actually able to feel like a human being, sometimes I feel like an AI instead haha. I think I would put my EQ in the negatives, I wish it were higher but I have ASD so that's just how it is I guess. Honestly I'm jealous of the people with high IQs and EQs. They're the successful ones in life. I only have a high IQ, but not EQ :( I wish I could have a high EQ as well. It would make life so much easier…

 

[ijustwishtodie]

I would say the thing I suck at is socializing and talking to people, I've never been actually able to feel like a human being, sometimes I feel like an AI instead haha. I think I would put my EQ in the negatives, I wish it were higher but I have ASD so that's just how it is I guess. Honestly I'm jealous of the people with high IQs and EQs. They're the successful ones in life. I only have a high IQ, but not EQ :( I wish I could have a high EQ as well. It would make life so much easier…

Same here. If the same things that are used in academics get used to judge how good somebody is in "the real world", I think I would do quite well even if I am slower than the average. However, the real world isn't based around academics at all and is instead based around how social you are and how well you present yourself in interviews (which, again, is just basically being good at being social)

 

[Final_Choice]

Yes, my value as a child has always been directly tied to how well I do in school. Through that all I focused was doing well and I was told I was intelligent and would go on to do great things, they were wrong.

 

[tsumihoroboshi]

Not growing up, no. ;; I was always in special and remedial classes bcus I couldn't keep up. I think my highest grade was getting an A once, ever. Mostly got Cs and Ds. My highest marks were always in reading though. I still don't know how to do division bcus of those special classes too. I didn't even learn basic subtraction until I tried to get my GED and had a teacher slowly explain to me how it worked bcus I have dyscalculia. I also didn't learn how to properly write essays/composition until going to that same class. Teachers in school just never gave me the time of day to slowly teach me anything. I thought that was the point of special ed and remedial classes! Ugh.

I'm now at an age though where the only people that call me smart are people that are a lot slower than me and that don't know basic computer functions. My family calls me a genius because I... know basic... keyboard commands and how to upload a file? It makes me feel SOO much stupider when I'm called smart for that. I'm not smart at all and never really was. Never really will be.

I used to have friends that resented gifted students for being "favourites". I disagree completely. From the outside looking in, being gifted at something fills the expectation that you are only allowed to be gifted in those certain areas. You don't get much room for experimentation. You have societal expectations to be the best. While students like me ultimately got ignored and pushed to the wayside, I do not envy or resent any gifted student. They struggled in their own ways just like I did.

 

[dragonofenvy]

I was the smart kid in school, and boy was that shitty. See, lots of people are jealous of smart kids because we can do everything in school with effortless success. We can get homework done effortlessly, we barely have to study for tests and yet still do well. I mean, what's not to envy about that?

The sad thing is, that most smart kids hurt inside. They usually don't have many friends, they don't get invited to things, and they're ridiculed for being smart. Eventually, things begin to fall apart for them. They start to not be able to socialize properly because they've had so little experience with it. "Eh, fuck it! I don't need friends. People are shit anyways!" They slowly begin to lean more on their IQ instead of their EQ. This is gonna hit them real hard during high school especially.

They go through high school, they're probably top of the class, and took some college-level courses too. It seems like they're on track. They finally go to college and, suddenly, college is tougher. When I did my first test in college I got a whopping 58%. I felt like a moron. I had to study for tests? Unbelievable! See, when you spend your time with effortless success in school studying and working on classes outside of school is a real challenge. I pushed through it and managed to get my shit together and got a perfect GPA.

But looking back, what do smart kids do? They spend so much of their time investing in their future, trying to do well in school. But they never got to go to parties, because they were putting their time into school. They never had friends because they were always someone who was off. They put their whole identity into being the smart kid, then when they become an adult, they realize being smart doesn't matter and everything just crashes down on them. They realize they've wasted so much on something that doesn't matter, and missed out on so many experiences that do.

There are numerous examples of these gifted kids that fall into this. I was the same way. Man would I trade some IQ for some EQ, but not before taking a time machine back when I was younger so I could have those experiences I wish I could have today.

 

[ConstantPain]

Yes, I was also labeled as gifted and talented from a young age. This meant extra work in my school, like instead of outdoor recreation, a small group of us had to stay inside and work on logic problems. As much as that sucked, I never saw my intelligence as a pass for not working hard. I did the work to graduate school early and never regretted getting out of high school sooner than planned.
What I found in college and employment is that greater expectations are placed on those of us considered intelligent. I've always had to go above and beyond in my work but also have faced having superiors who are threatened by me.
When I look at others in society, I sometimes loathe them and sometimes envy their lack of intelligence. Perhaps ignorance is bliss. Intelligence certainly has done nothing to improve my quality of life.

 

[weirdog]

allways ,it didnt help me tho