I reveal all

[Quagmire]

You're not making this sound any better for me. The last person I welcomed here turned out to be a little iffy. Does that count against me or for me?

We're holding you responsible for everything they do.

That'll teach you to be nice to people.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

@sooda ,

Maybe I can shed some light? In America most public schools have a individuals on staff whose job is to identify children with above average intelligence. The purpose for identifying these children is 2-fold. The obvious straight forward purpose is to allow academically high-achieving children to advance more quickly in their studies as a practical matter. ( Note: social and psychological implications are also taken into account on a case by case basis ) The second purpose is to prevent problems often associated with children who are "too smart for their own good".

The process for identification of these children involves standardized testing which is administered in almost all public schools.

hyperlink >>> wikipedia.org - Gifted education

Well...not in the US, but I'm a former primary teacher with some background on this.
If you imagine a bell curve, the top 2.5% by IQ (yeah, I know, but let's assume it's a decent measure)are every bit as at risk as the bottom 2.5%.

Typically, these aren't the 'smart' kids, nor are they necessarily even seen as smart by their peers.
Schools are designed on somewhat outdated models, but in brief they are better organised for dealing with 'normal' kids, even if smart.

The interesting thing is that in a sample size of 100 kids, you'd have 50 patents convinced their child is gifted. They're at once right and wrong. Most kids have some exceptional gifts. But almost all kids are not 'gifted' in the hardcore cognitive sense that most people mean.

And...whilst this varies by definition of 'gifted'...standardised testing is a horrendous way of identifying gifted kids, who almost be definition have non-standard methods of interpretation and cognition.

 

[dybmh]

standardised testing is a horrendous way of identifying gifted kids, who almost be definition have non-standard methods of interpretation and cognition.

That's really interesting. Here in the US, it's still standardized tests, at least in my local district. Without standardized tests, what elements contribute to identifying kids who may be better served outside of typical classrooms?

 

[sealchan]

I was born. I was unlike other kids. When I was 8, I learned where babies come from, and I would ask my mom "Where do babies come from?" just to make her squirm and give false answers. By 13, I was building robots and programming personal apps. I was quite a positive person and I spent my time collecting action figures. At age 14, my mom and dad started to argue about raising me, where to live, and what food to eat. The arguments became bitter and I would drowned them out with Linkin Park. In one argument, my mom said some hostile things which can be summed up as, "I do not care for him because he's not a Christian. He's your job." My dad was an atheist and he was good to me. What I heard from my mom made me bitter. I hated life and started dressing like a punk rocker. I hated everything. I withdrew socially a bit, wouldn't even spend time with my grandma anymore. At 17 I was recovering and I got a job. It was a night job and the boss was the biggest bully you had ever seen. I left after 7 months feeling abused. By 17, my mom had gotten mildly more tolerable.

By age 20, I had a bit of an awakening. I found a website where I met two Unitarian Universalist Christians who were well-educated and good at debate. Blessed with wonderful educations. They made a huge impact on my life. Another year went by and on my 21st birthday, I had a strong headache. Upon the end of the headache, I started experiencing delusions and was diagnosed with Schizophrenia, changing my life. I also suspect I had developed a learning disorder. Keep in mind I wasn't just a genius previously but a beyond-genius. Now certain areas of my brain didn't function the best. At age 24 my dad experienced a sudden death which was really a side effect of him not getting regular checkups. My dad kept the family sane with his fair views and strong opinions. With him gone, my family slumped into a further form of 700 club style ideas. I was a Christian at this point, but that didn't make me all that compatible with them. After my dad died, I had my first homo relationship, even though I figured out by age 18 I was bi. At age 25, I dated a woman who was Christian but also more or less into the occult. I had *kind of* gotten into it too. One night we attempted to meet each other in spirit and I'm not sure we did, but some weird stuff that is hard to describe did happen. So this was an online relationship and every night, we would do this well spiritual "thing" that would seem to get us closer, whatever it was.

When me and her met for a first date, she said "Your voice sounds unintelligent." I said "It's due to my Schizophrenia." She said "It's quite unattractive, and too much for me at this time." and she left. By 30 I had realized that I had achieved the impossible: by aiming for the heavens in improving my condition, I became a bit of a functional human being.

The paranormal:

I've had strange, bizarre occurrences in my life. I once had a spirit seem to keep harrassing me until I bought a book on bringing spirits to the beyond. I did a deliverance of sorts and either I gained peace on the matter or the spirit did, because it was no more. Upon doing so, I asked my mom, "I'm crazy, aren't I?" She said "Maybe not. I have a confession to make. As a kid, I was into the occult. I got into it after we lived in an old house a year after a murder took place . And I may have opened a door or two." I'm thinking, "WHAT?" Later on my grandma told me, "Your mom is a Christian now who keeps you on a leash and protects you, I know. But as a kid, she was wild."

Now the worst part of it all? My mom wanted to hide all of this from me, but had to tell me as soon as I experienced weird things happen. So here I was. A person with a connection to the spirit world.

And this spirit connection and the stress of my job at the time, even though I liked the job, caused me to start overdosing on caffeine. By the time I had like X amount of caffeine always swimming through my bloodstream, I was seeing ghosts, demons, angels. And things were becoming cartoon like. So I had a breakdown, a soft, gentle one but one where I was delusional. The headache at age 21. Diagnosis with Schizophrenia. Learning disorder.

At age 28 when being mentally reviewed by someone, I found out I could memorize and recite the value of pi to a pretty insane level, yet I couldn't remember what I ate the day before for breakfast. I could solve some high level math, yet not tie a specific knot that was of an intermediate skill level.

On dating:

My dating life has been active and interesting. The woman I should have been with, I think, I blew it. The women I didn't blow it with, blew it for me. I'm not very much attracted to people but I enjoy flirting and the emotional side of things.

Eery things happening in my life:

1. Every person who has ever I feel really harmed me in my life, was a Christian conservative. All 7-8.

2. I once tried to draw a rabbit with my eyes closed and somehow, in some unexplainable way, drew something that looked like a pentagram.

3. Every time I get on a professional website, like Quora, I am somehow, some way, offered a job. Has happened a good 8 times.

Other notable events in my life:

I learned the most I have ever learned in life from fiction books and movies and video games, the most being from the video games Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. They were a better education than school, in a sense.

The future:

I want to study more on the subject of Yin & Yang. I can't really define my religion once again, only my political beliefs. Oh well though -- I mean, I don't post in the DIRs because I wouldn't know well enough what option to choose.

I want to tackle the subject of the existence and nature of God and finally make a decision on the matter, whether He is worth my time thinking about.

I want to regain some more conventional, practical IQ points and once again be an intelligent genius.

I want to get a makeover and become this handsome, beautiful devil that people will regret missing out on. Lose some weight too.

Closing statements:

Well, now you think I'm interesting, a character, or that I'm crazy!

Avril Lavigne is single. Maybe I should marry her?!?

Not sure how much of this stuff will even seem credible. But yeah, here I am, existing in this plane of existence.

Not only was that informative and personal, it was interesting and relatable. Thank you for sharing!

 

[sealchan]

I am the Yin to people's Yang that will take them down the rabbit-holes.

I thought RF was the rabbit-hole...

 

[sealchan]

But let's talk a little more about the subject of being self-absorbed. Us narcissists have a very Philosophical "truly, the only thing we can be sure that exists, is us." view. I think the honest ones do try though. On Quora, people confuse narcissism with a sort of "serial killin" mentality. It's horrible. The way I plan to make things work for myself here is by being honest, trying, working a little at a time, and making light of myself. Sometimes by the time you make people laugh with your rather morbid sense of humor, they accept the whole package. I also feel that yes, dark humor sometimes leads to narcissism.

You strike me as a highly intelligent, self-conscious NT (intuitive thinking) type. Do you find you have something in common with people who are autistic?

How has schizophrenia affected your life? Is it an accurate diagnosis?

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

Do you find you have something in common with people who are autistic?

How has schizophrenia affected your life?

Is it an accurate diagnosis?

Question 1: Not really; I know this because I have an autistic family member.

Question 2: It has hindered my abilities, especially in the past.

Question 3: It's hard to tell as us patients don't have years of college on such a subject to know.

 

[sealchan]

That's really interesting. Here in the US, it's still standardized tests, at least in my local district. Without standardized tests, what elements contribute to identifying kids who may be better served outside of typical classrooms?

Have you heard of Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences?

 

[sealchan]

Question 1: Not really; I know this because I have an autistic family member.

Question 2: It has hindered my abilities, especially in the past.

Question 3: It's hard to tell as us patients don't have years of college on such a subject to know.

I dont know that it would take years of college...

 

[sealchan]

It's a Star Wars machine the Sith use.

I used to try to build snow speeders out of legos. I had one of the Classic Space kits from the late 70s.

AT-ATs would have been cool but I didn't have enough pieces. My brother wanted to build a spider-type vehicle.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

Have you heard of Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences?

I looked it up. Whether or not I have in the past... I may end up agreeing with it upon more study.

 

[sealchan]

I looked it up. Whether or not I have in the past... I may end up agreeing with it upon more study.

I think it is a very promising approach. At the very least it seems to take a cue from how natural systems actually work...they develop multiple approaches with differing skill sets amongst the various individuals involved in a given system. From genetic diversity being the hallmark of species adaptability to multi-cultural societies harboring the same, we should expect to see in any given population a rich array of differently abled individuals.

 

[dybmh]

Have you heard of Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences?

I had not; but it does make sense.

 

[Mark Dohle]

Interesting post, we are each unique, that you are normal. The most unique thing about humans is that they are all unique.

I have no problem believing that you are much smarter than me. Sorry about your mother and how she presented what the Christian path, or way of life, or what our relationship with Christ changes us.

Good for you for being so honest, and I love the way you respond to those who were a bit frisky lol.

Peace
Mark