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Where Do the Failed 0.1% Go? (2015) [pdf]

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Re: Where Do the Failed 0.1% Go? (2015) [pdf]

#71

Post by vinay427 »

narrator wrote: post #61
throwaway942 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Throwaway for obvious reasons. I do not mean this comment as a brag. Far from it. I am one of these people - I tested with an incredibly high IQ (nearly 200 at the time, though I know that fades). I graduated with a 4.2 GPA, and a 3.9 average (because on semester I chose to 'punish' my mother who was taking credit for my high grades, and got a D just to prove it) I have a very hard time with life in general. People b…

One fun thing that's an endless and pleasurable time sink for people who like to learn things is reading and analyzing medical studies. Just go to pubmed.com and look up anything. If you don't understand a word, just look it up on Wikipedia, and just keep going. There are millions of papers to read and you can follow those rabbit holes around forever. It's endless entertainment and fun trivia. You shouldn't bother yo…

> You shouldn't bother your doctor with it as it's like talking about digital compression technology with the cable tv installer

You might need to find a new doctor. The good ones that I know, including one of my parents, read medical papers all the time to stay up to date on studies which are obviously relevant to their job. There are numerous inventions that have come about because of inventive strategies applied by doctors. Maybe this doesn't apply to all doctors, but the ones I have interacted with (in the US) are quite intelligent.

Re: Where Do the Failed 0.1% Go? (2015) [pdf]

#72

Post by cmrdporcupine »

ryandrake wrote: post #53
japhyr wrote: post #15

Teachers disliked him, because they knew how easily he picked up information. I'm a teacher, and this is one of the things that frustrates me deeply about our education system. I welcome students like this; they're so much fun to work with. But I usually have to make them feel accepted before I can begin to work with them. I teach in a small alternative high school, and by the time bright students get to me, they're…

It's not that the teachers _dislike_ him, it's that they are frustrated that he is not following the curriculum and conforming to the lesson sequence and timeframe planned for. I found US public school education was not about learning and mastery. It's about conformity and obedience. Learning the subject matter is secondary--the key to succeeding at this institution is to do things in the expected way, at the expecte…

Unfortunately all these 'lessons' mimic skills that will be needed by adults in the corporate world. Work in groups even when they're dysfunctional, show off and write lots of supporting documentation to get yourself promoted, and learn to tolerate seemingly arbitrary or broken management decisions.

Re: Where Do the Failed 0.1% Go? (2015) [pdf]

#73

Post by this-dang-guy »

ap22213 wrote: post #36
itnAAnti wrote: post #18

I know of at least two other people from small towns whose IQ and life stories are similar to those shared in the article. I think high IQ individuals becoming isolated, social outcasts is more common in small towns, where accelerated curriculums and gifted and talented programs are more rare. If you know a highly gifted child, refer them to the Davidson Academy, a free public school for the profoundly gifted. http:/…

Got any resources for preschools? I've got a serious pending problem with my youngest. She's 18 months old and already on par with an average 4-5 year old (and even older in some ways). It's really freaking my wife and I out - we cannot keep up with her curiosity and motivation to learn - we just don't have time or resources. We're worried that by the time she starts school, she's going to be so far ahead that she wo…

My kids were also pretty bright, so I just taught them how to access info they were interested in... and got out of the way.

When they came to me with tough questions, we would learn together. It was fun, and they seem to have turned out ok.

Re: Where Do the Failed 0.1% Go? (2015) [pdf]

#74

Post by clairity »

ryandrake wrote: post #53
japhyr wrote: post #15

Teachers disliked him, because they knew how easily he picked up information. I'm a teacher, and this is one of the things that frustrates me deeply about our education system. I welcome students like this; they're so much fun to work with. But I usually have to make them feel accepted before I can begin to work with them. I teach in a small alternative high school, and by the time bright students get to me, they're…

It's not that the teachers _dislike_ him, it's that they are frustrated that he is not following the curriculum and conforming to the lesson sequence and timeframe planned for. I found US public school education was not about learning and mastery. It's about conformity and obedience. Learning the subject matter is secondary--the key to succeeding at this institution is to do things in the expected way, at the expecte…

as i learned when i went to college, figuring out this hack was actually not so clever unless you find ways to keep learning and improving despite the imposed limitations.

Re: Where Do the Failed 0.1% Go? (2015) [pdf]

#76

Post by scandox »

owenversteeg wrote: post #64

Anyone else fascinated by the "window of comprehension" mentioned in the article? It's really fascinating to me. As the article says, it's the idea that "no meaningful communication is possible among people not sharing a common window of 30 IQ points." I have no idea how true it is, but it's a really interesting idea. At least in my experience it's a probabilistic thing: as people get more different in IQ communicati…

I was certainly very interested in this concept. I admit my instant reaction was one of complete repugnance. Human communication comprises a huge array of different things, the minority of which have to do with abstract reasoning. IQ is a very specific measure of one aspect of human intelligence.

In a sense this concept (the window of comprehension), reductive as it seems, would be more likely to reinforce the problems the individuals mentioned have, by emphasizing human communication as an intellectual rather than a social activity.

In general my experience of very intelligent people is that they have an excellent ability to interact with people of all types, including people with relatively undeveloped powers of abstract thought. After all understanding context is to my mind a strong indicator of intelligence.

On the other hand I'd be interested to hear more from people of very high IQ on this topic - if they think they can get their ideas across to me over the 30 point barrier

Re: Where Do the Failed 0.1% Go? (2015) [pdf]

#77

Post by [deleted] »

ap22213 wrote: post #54
ap22213 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Got any resources for preschools? I've got a serious pending problem with my youngest. She's 18 months old and already on par with an average 4-5 year old (and even older in some ways). It's really freaking my wife and I out - we cannot keep up with her curiosity and motivation to learn - we just don't have time or resources. We're worried that by the time she starts school, she's going to be so far ahead that she wo…

By the way, although my wife and I are fairly intelligent, neither of us are as intelligent as our parents. For instance, my father apparently taught himself to read and write at around 2 and started to teach himself logic and algebra soon after. At 3, he wrote a math / philosophy paper detailing a complex cosmology and metaphysics in which he used logical arguments to disprove God. He never did much with his life -…

[deleted]

Re: Where Do the Failed 0.1% Go? (2015) [pdf]

#78

Post by cryptarch »

ryandrake wrote: post #53
japhyr wrote: post #15

Teachers disliked him, because they knew how easily he picked up information. I'm a teacher, and this is one of the things that frustrates me deeply about our education system. I welcome students like this; they're so much fun to work with. But I usually have to make them feel accepted before I can begin to work with them. I teach in a small alternative high school, and by the time bright students get to me, they're…

It's not that the teachers _dislike_ him, it's that they are frustrated that he is not following the curriculum and conforming to the lesson sequence and timeframe planned for. I found US public school education was not about learning and mastery. It's about conformity and obedience. Learning the subject matter is secondary--the key to succeeding at this institution is to do things in the expected way, at the expecte…

I think that at most public schools there are two separate paths of least resistance:

* Do most of your homework and get acceptable grades. This is what most students do.

* Don't do jack and be consistent. Many teachers will give up if you never do homework, and if you skip enough classes there won't be enough time to sit out all your due detention. It's also well possible that your school has a leaky detention administration and it ends up never happening.

Re: Where Do the Failed 0.1% Go? (2015) [pdf]

#79

Post by rch »

matt_wulfeck wrote: post #67

I'm going to put this out there. Gifted children need mentors more than they need teachers who understand their abilities. There are many things that will make them struggle in school, and without a mentor to be there with them offering advice and keeping them grounded then there's going to be the same issues popping up over and over with each new year. What we need is a sort of Big Brother/Sister program but not for…

We also need to educate parents about the potential benefits of a mentor program. It can be particularly difficult to convince people in the top quintile that they are ill-equipped for any task related to their children.

Re: Where Do the Failed 0.1% Go? (2015) [pdf]

#80

Post by jfoutz »

throwaway942 wrote: post #48
narrator wrote: post #31

Warning! /r/iamverysmart post ahead! I normally wouldn't engage in this, as it's extremely poor manners and terribly arrogant, but it's on topic here and I think other potential /r/iamverysmart posters might benefit, so here goes: One of the problems of being intelligent is learning how to tolerate and accept boredom. I used to rebel against being bored and being ahead of the class. I would think: "this is all so eas…

Throwaway for obvious reasons. I do not mean this comment as a brag. Far from it. I am one of these people - I tested with an incredibly high IQ (nearly 200 at the time, though I know that fades). I graduated with a 4.2 GPA, and a 3.9 average (because on semester I chose to 'punish' my mother who was taking credit for my high grades, and got a D just to prove it) I have a very hard time with life in general. People b…

> My life is a fucking hell, and I also spend a lot of time contemplating suicide.

I do this also.

A little unsolicited advice. I know it's a throwaway, so i don't know if you'll see it. but here it is.

Maybe you want to go skydiving, or visit petra, or build a farnsworth fusor. You're going to have really bad days or maybe years. I know it sounds hollow, and in the middle of those bad times it's a pretty flimsy support. But please consider promising yourself to follow through on one dream before you follow through on a plan.

Make sure you're really done. Make sure there's nothing in the whole world that's interesting that you want to learn about. Because, when you follow through, you're really done.

It's ok to ruin your health and credit rating to do something crazy if you're on the way out anyway. Jump out of the plane. Travel the world. Build the machine. It's your life, and you should live it as you see fit. But that extra bonus time in life can be pretty nice. Please please try everything out before you decide you're done.

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