Extreme Intelligence: The Dark Side We’re Not Talking About
Extreme intelligence does not always guarantee success or happiness. High ÄO also has another side that we don’t always talk about. The unattainability of the high goals of a person with such ability causes existential anxiety, social isolation, mental problems, and constant dissatisfaction.
Some people are quick to say that intelligence is not the same thing as wisdom, and the latter is something that many (but not all) of those with an ÄO of more than 120-130 points are missing.
Thus, Jeanne Siaud-Facchin, a psychotherapist and one of the best-known experts in the field, explains that nothing is as paradoxical as the brains of these people.
Being very intelligent brings with it a certain weakness. They have a certain kind of mind that can evoke thousands of ideas at a time. They are fast, original, and can produce – in mere seconds – endless reasoning and concepts.
However, they are not always able to master so much information. There is so much capacity in their cognitive world that a single stimulus is enough to put their nerve cells on fire immediately, shaping many ideas. But they do not always succeed in giving a concrete or correct answer.
All of this can create a lot of frustration and dismay. Life is not always awesome and easy for an adult or a child with great abilities. No one has told them how they should use their complex brains, which are very enthusiastic and productive.
In fact, life becomes more complicated for people with an ÄO of over 180. As we see in the story of the world’s smartest man with an ÄO of 250, life can become a real tragedy.
Being extremely intelligent, a paradoxical gift
We live in a society where talented people are respected. We are fascinated by people with unique abilities and skills. We admire people who dominate a particular field of science, art, or sports… So much so that there is no shortage of mothers and fathers who say they want a child with a high ÄO. In a way, the idea that being very intelligent is synonymous with the word success is still present in our daily lives.
On the other hand, children themselves also have the view that nothing can be as awesome as “being very intelligent”. Can there be anything better? It is said that the “talented” passes the exams with good grades without having to try or hardly study at all. However, every educator, every psychologist, and the parents of such children know that these ideas do not always come true.
First, it is very possible that a student with a high ÄO will go unnoticed during their school life. It’s also likely that he doesn’t get good grades and isn’t good at making friends and he’s that helpless student who has delved into his own world in the last rows of the classroom where he doesn’t attract attention.
Intelligence that is hard to master
The reason that extreme intelligence does not always guarantee to be the best in the class is complex. First of all, there is the boredom. A child with great abilities is not interested or stimulated by the things around him, and he just “disconnects”. He takes a passive attitude that can even lead to failure at school.
In other cases, on the other hand, there are students who do not know how to control their thoughts and reasoning. Sometimes, by answering a simple test question, a child may begin to reason, ponder, and draw conclusions. And never answer the question itself.
In the book “Too smart to be happy,” one girl explains that when her peers come up with just one thing to find a solution, she comes up with 25. She feels unable to come to one conclusion.
Woody thinking. The way of reasoning used by extremely intelligent people is called tree-like thinking. When confronted with irritation, the mind begins to develop ideas one after another, albeit in many cases without a clear association. It makes a tree very dense with endless “branches” that a person cannot control or arrange.
An emotional natural disaster
Another aspect that needs to be considered is hypersensitivity. Being extremely intelligent means seeing the world and reality with a very profound and afterlife view.
Sometimes just watching the news makes such a person feel incomprehensible, hateful and skeptical of humanity towards themselves.
Emotions take over from him. He is unable to control the impact that certain events have on them. With events that most people don’t notice.
Things like lies or dishonesty take over him, as do social inequality and wars. It is confusing to feel that he may not be able to achieve the many idealistic ideas he has in mind.
Moreover, contrary to the idea that extremely intelligent people are cold, their capacity for empathy is immense. Thus, they may prefer to isolate themselves so that they do not have to suffer. Keep a distance so they don’t have to get too involved and hurt themselves in some way.
Their emotional worlds are complex, but they also channel that intensity through creativity and inspiration.
Extreme intelligence should not mean that happiness is out of reach
At this point, you might think that extreme intelligence is practically a disease. But that is not true. Let’s think a little.
A talented child who goes through school unnoticed develops little academic interest and lives in physical isolation where problems such as anxiety and depression may increase.
On the other hand, the World Health Organization gives us a warning: we should not use ÄO alone as a “diagnosis” of talent. Because intelligence is indistinguishable from emotion, without hypersensitivity, hypersensitivity, overripe, over-irritation, without woody thinking and speed of thinking…
Being extremely intelligent may mean living in a very private corner where emotions and thoughts are chaotic, deep, and very intense.
Our role as parents, educators, or psychologists is thus to provide them with appropriate methods of finding balance and peace. Methods to reach their potential – and happiness.
