I have a high IQ and I have found it easier to digest information, correlate that information and draw conclusions that my peers
This was identified in early grade school and resulted in both selection into gifted programs and the occasional beating on the playground by my peers
As a result, I have usually sought to disavow any claim to intelligence and work with people at the level that they are comfortable at, only bringing on additional capacity as needed to keep things moving along
Being identified as 'exceptional' is both gratifying and painful, and I would normally attempt to avoid it.
This because people both set higher expectations for me and seek an opportunity to prove themselves by besting me
I feel your pain, I do
I always suspect that I am 'different' from the rest ever since I was a little kid --- and even without 'trying' I always manage to 'get the answer'
That brought a whole lot of jealousy and angst amongst my peers - and when that happened in the midst of the cultural revolution of China, of course I got in trouble very fast
All kinds of labels were heaped on me, 'counter-revolutionary', 'foreign-spy', whatever that you could imagine I was burdened with it
But unlike you, I refused to back down --- why should I?
Why should I fall into their level of mediocrity, to dumb down myself, to stoop low, just so that I could be one of them?
Fuck that!
I am what I am. If I am born 'different' so be it
By the time I took the IQ test I was in my mid-twenties, and at that time I was already in the USA, and the result wasn't actually surprising, at least not to me (supposed to be one in 300+ million, or something like that)
Am I 'special' because my high IQ? Not really. As I said, I am what I am. Even if my IQ level turns out to be a goose-egg, I am still what I am
I do not despise those who can't comprehend the things that I can, no matter how they try. I mean, why should I?
They are they. I am me
They have their own lives to live. I have mine
But I continue to be me, that 'me' that I am born with
I continue to do the things that I want to do, even if the society around me doesn't appreciate what I do
Hey, I have but one life to live, and I am going to live it to the fullest