Uniquely Bright: Experiences and Tips?

An anonymous reader writes: "I would like to hear from fellow /.ers that consider themselves unusually but non-traditionally 'bright' and how you have dealt with it. What are you doing now? What did you do for education? How is your life now? I'm on the verge of entering college, never having liked school much yet always in love with learning. I would like some tips, suggestions, and experience in living with an extra degree of intensity, depth, and general intelligence. I love learning, yet I never have found school enjoyable. I'm incredibly intense and concentrated, yet I often become bored of specific projects in a few months. It's not anything diagnosable (I've looked into it) but more an inherent trait. Academically, I have managed to be alright, but nothing spectacular. Lots of people I meet think I should have a 4.0 easy, but I'm pretty far from it. My interests are broad, from computers (linux/os x/php/mysql/etc) to photography to cookery, I'm creative and technical. Friends and others recognize my strength in these areas. I can't stand being completely technical alone, but I love it in moderation. My attention span is practically unlimited when I am interested in a topic, and I get intensely interested in it. I want to hear from people who share some or all of these traits. I'm just coming up on entering college, so most of my life is ahead of me. I'd like to hear about everything from your education to your career to things you wish you had done differently!" Sounds like an INTP to me.

College Life

[Laivincolmo]

Unfortunately in today's business setting, some sort of official training is neccesary. Even if you have spent 10 years of your life working with computers every day, you still unfortunately need a college degree. I'm planning on going to college in the fall and enduring the classes while also learning through experience. I think it was Herman Hesse in Siddhartha who said something about it being impossible to be taught anything. The experience is everything...

College

[moertle]

I hope you are going to a school that offers a wide range of degrees. I always liked taking spare electives in non-technical classes. Also I would get into a good research program, usually this means paying your dues by volunteering your time until you prove yourself useful. I worked in 2 research centers and they offered enough diversity where I could change gears every couple of months. Also my current job has been a commercial spin-off of the research lab I was working in. So it can be pretty rewarding.

Re:Jesus

[Quickfoot]

Sounds like you could have Asperger's syndrome, it is on the autistic spectrum but very high functioning, you have quite a few of the symptoms.

I'd look into it, you can't take any blood test to be diagnosed, and most doctors would not diagnose you correctlyl, a huge percentage of people diagnosed with ADD or ADHD actually have Aspergers/High Functioning Autism.

Look in your phone book for a development disorder specialist, they should be able to tell you yes or no based on an evaluation.

Consider a non-traditional school

[suitti]

I wanted an engineering degree. External discipline is a waste of time for me. Given something I'm interested in, I'm plenty self-motivated.

For engineering, I went with Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester Mass. When I was there, it was strictly pass/fail, with failing grades dropped from the transcript. I understand that it's now A/B/C with failing grades dropped.

It's no joke. It's quite expensive, and only about 30% actually get a degree. However, you get the freedom to take the courses you want and persue projects free form. There are two degree requirement projects. Mine both required four terms (semesters). I worked both in teams, though that isn't strictly required.

External, forced discipline is, in my opinion, demotivational. However, it appears that most people require it.

WPI is good for undergraduate education in Engineering and a few sciences (chemistry, physics, etc.). Don't even consider it if this isn't what you want.

No school prepares you with knowledge needed for what you'll do next. WPI prepares you with how to figure out how to aquire new skills as you need them. If you get this, you are ahead of the game.

Your first textbook should be ...

[garyok]

... "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. Forget about how damn clever you think you are, just remember that all anybody has ever really been doing is trying to give you a boost when they tell you you're clever. You're not that clever. No-one is. Everybody has their own talents (and deficiencies) and people deserve respect, not some teenage nitwit telling them they're all dummies in comparison to him. Try to be clever and and 'beat' people in arguments and you'll only piss people off.

You want to learn something useful: it's better to be kind than clever.

Interesting

[Metasquares]

I could have gotten the first post, but I'll write a long-winded and hopefully helpful response instead of the one liner I'd need to keep it that way... and probably end up with a post that never gets read :)

I'm an INTJ (Myers-Briggs tested) and a junior in college (Major - Computer Science, Minor - Mathematics). I'm currently working as a math tutor and a software developer for the AQUAINT project, which is an ARDA-funded question and answer system. I'm also working with ontologies and the semantic web a lot as a side project until I'm able to devote more time to AQUAINT. I seem to share a lot of traits with you, so I'll try to give any advice I think particularly relevant to myself. Here's what I've thought of from my own transition:

• I do very well with the responsibility I'm expected to carry in college. I resent people who continue to treat me like a child, but fortunately, there aren't too many left. Even the crowd that traditionally likes to make fun of my sort accepts me in a college environment.
• My GPA has shot up drastically since highschool. I was barely maintaining a 3.0 in highschool; now I have a 3.96 (and only because of one anal professor). This could be, in part, because my highschool GPA was an underestimate, therefore I ended up in an easier college than I should have.
• If you catch a professor's attention and you are proficient at what you do, you may very well end up with a job. Unless you have some objection, you should probably take it, since it usually leads to something bigger and may very well start your career off with an advantage.
• I've found that it pays to specialize a bit in college, but not so much as to lose other potentially valuable skills. In particular, I tried some new things, and found out I was a great composer of music. I guess the lesson here is to try new things, but concentrate on what you're good at.
• To summarize, college is a time of ideals and opportunities. Make sure not to get bogged down in the rest of the reality of college, because the next 4 years will literally determine the course of a good part of your life. Make sure to get the most you can out of them.

As for what I would have done differently, I suppose I should have looked into residential life. I saw the dorms and immediately said "I am not living there", but I may have very well missed out on a good deal of what "college" is.

I would have taken a lighter course load had I known what I was getting into. I don't have much free time left after 18 credits of class and two part-time jobs on the side. I'd also have taken my friends' advice sooner and "loosened up" a bit more. I'm a very uptight person by nature, but there isn't really a reason for it; everyone seems a lot less judgemental in college.

Best of luck, and feel free to contact me if you want to share experiences or anything.

Re:Advice

[jarich]

Smart is not always what succeeds.

Exactly. Smart is important but discipline more so. If you can't finish something, you'll never succeed at anything. And this "stick-to-it-ness" is what you'll learn in college (if you can finish it).

Why did I have to take 3 semesters of calculus, then 2 semesters of calc based stats, etc? Was it because all computer science folks need to know how to calculate volume under a curve?

No. It is to teach you how to think, how to stick with something and to finish it.

If you are as smart as you think you are, add discipline and the world is your oyster.

Re:Own business

[Anonymous Coward]

Uh huh.

Truly bright people know when it is in their best interest not to appear bright.

Maybe too much intelligence isn't your problem...

Re:No, I disagree

[jrockway]

Getting a PhD is helpful. At Abbott, for example, you start at level 17 whereas BS people start at 13. 17 means much higher pay, and your own office. So it does pay off. And being called Doctor isn't a bad thing :)

Been there, done that, here's my exp

[MotorMachineMercenar]

Your description of yourself is right on spot: that's what I am, too. And I'm INTP, as well. I'm currently 29 and will go to grad school in the fall. And I sounded a lot like you when I was your age. And what I've heard from friends I've gotten a lot better over time. This is mostly due to input from friends, often highly critical in no uncertain terms ("you soulless fuck") and objective self-evaluation of my strengths and weaknesses.

I know it's hard to change when you think you are The greatest in the world. But when you see and realize YOUR life will be much better when you don't act like an asshole all the time and pick your fights (verbal and physical) you'll become an even better person. I still don't possess "empathy," but I can consciously avoid hurting other people's feelings. This is especially important with point #2 below.

Here's my experiences:

1. Don't let people know how bright you are. No, really. They don't want to hear it for various reasons. It will only alienate/intimidate/annoy them and might actually cost you some very good potential friends.

2. Cherish friendships, girlfriends and other relationships. In the end the world is a very lonely place if you're out there alone with your brightness. Seriously, if you already have good friends, keep in touch with them and TAKE TIME TO ACTUALLY BE A GOOD FRIEND. If not, join a martial arts club, debate team, whatever rocks your boat. There are very good people out there. They are not necessarily as bright as you are but that doesn't mean they will not be valuable, good friends for you.

3. Find something you really, reallllly like and try to turn that into a career. If you pick a major that slightly interests you you will get bored to death real fast. Imagine how it'll be when you graduate and you actually have to earn a living doing that same shit. It doesn't work.

4. Since you've probably picked up your school it might be late, but get to a school that makes you study. That means either a very expensive, top-tier highly competitive private school or a military college. Otherwise you'll end up partying and blowing your parents money off for four years with nothing to show for it. I went to a military college myself and graduated on Dean's List. Now I'm going to a "regular" grad school (although it's the best one in Europe in my discipline) so I'm pretty worried whether I can focus myself with all the girls and booze out there.

5. I don't know if you are on a high horse, but if you are, get off it. No one likes an arrogant prick. People detest arrogant and intelligent pricks even more. Your life will be much more fun, easier and interesting if you treat other people with respect regardless of their mental or physical capabilities. Also refers back to point 2.

I hope that answers some of your questions. Life can be really hard for people like us because there just isn't enough interesting stuff to do and the world is full of stupid people. But I feel the above five points should get you ahead to a good start in an interesting adult life.

In the end, listen to your own feelings. Feelings means how you feel, it's a tough concept (at leat for me), but you'll get better over time. Also, make concious effort to gauge how other people feel about others and especially you. If you hurt your friend's/loved one's/etc. feelings, acknowledge that out loud to them at the spot and apologize or make it up. Most people "out there" care a lot about that kind of crap. About emotions and stuff like that. But when you realize that you have the power to make other people feel as good as you feel about yourself, it will come back to you in a good way, with interest.

Also, observe your own behavior and how you react to different situations or people objectively. This way you can adjust your behavior to within norms if that is necessary. This is to make your life easier and to not make you stand out like a sore thumb from the grey masses. Pick the times when you stand out. And strive to stand out in posit

whatever

[Kallahan]

It appears 90% of the slashdot readers are insightfull enough to point out you arrogant. Guess what, those same people view Bill Gates and Steve Jobs as arrogant. The problem with colledge is this, all it amounts to is a piece of paper and a GPA, does anyone give a damn if you learned anything? No. Why is this? Simple you will learn how to do your job on the job, most people in the technical field really learn what they need to do in the field? Can you program, sure I've bet you've tossed together dozens of programs, now write a 3d engine. The point being, just because you know how to program, doesn't mean you know how to program very specific products. So in closing, go to school, get a worthless paper (valued at 20-200 thousand dollars) but remember, that this is more of a test than a learning experience, sure you'll learn things, lots of stuff, then promptly forget it. Just like high school. Only when you get a real job where you do things over and over again will you learn what needs to be done.

Re:Philosophy!

[Anonymous Coward]

PS. Philosophy is Greek for "Lover of Learning" or "Lover of Wisdom".

Actually, that would be "philosopher". Philosophy would be love of wisdom.

Re:TENACITY!

[Zibblsnrt]

Is it a real world? Sticktoitiveness: No, and it never will be.

Bzzt! [reference.com]

-PS

Asperberg's?

[richardtallent]

Beyond normal INTP, there is a chance that you (and some other posters here) have undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome. I didn't know until less than a year ago, and I'm 28 now. Fortunately I've coped well over the years and adjusted for the rough stuff (social cues, facial recognition, pushing myself through college, etc.), but it's still a conscious struggle.

On the good side, though, I enjoy above-average intelligence, a voracious appetite for learning (at least learning about the stuff I'm interested in at the time), and a great memory for numbers and oddball facts (counterbalanced by a terrible memory for nearly everything else).

Not to fear: Asperger's, like its cousins Autism and possible Schizophrenia, it a "continuum" disorder: some people have it bad, others have it just enough for diagnosis but not enough to greatly affect their lives. It's often mis-diagnosed as ADD, ADHD, or just plain smartass.

Google for it and read up. There was an article in Wired recently that made the statistical tie from technies to Aspies, for instance. If you have it bad enough, you may be able to receive some accomodation from your university, but even if not, understanding the potential issues can help you make a conscious effort to work around inside your rewired brain to achieve your goals.

Re:TENACITY!

[Anonymous Coward]

WRONG

It is not a word. It is at best a colloquialism. At worst it is a sentence with two grammatically incorrect suffixes glued to it like bumper stickers. A marketing committee added it to the dictionary, not a scholar of language.

Re:Good Luck Buddy...

[delcielo]

Do be careful not to polarize the world. It's not populated with only dumbasses and geniuses.

There are indeed aimless hordes of people who don't have the ambition you will; but even they will tend to be aware of the fact on some level. The difference is that they are able to resign themselves to it, whereas you and I are not. Sometimes, for brief moments, I wish I could too.

But we need to be careful of condescending to them. Our higher intelligence gives us no special right to rudeness, or greater consideration from society. If there is a lesson in life that we could learn from them, it's that you only deserve what you work for. All men are created equal. The gene pool entitles you to nothing.

Be a smart guy. Fulfill your potential to the greatest extent possible. But don't despise the rest of society. The thing you find after time is that the average Joe isn't quite as shallow as you might have thought, and that the average "smart guy" isn't as deep.

As you get older, being more intelligent than those around you becomes a little less painful. Both you and your age-peers begin to realize that it means less and less in terms of how you treat each other.

Cheers.