"new du group- former gifted children?"

I remember a high school class where we were asked to write an essay about whether we were a conformist or a non-conformist. Of course, everyone wrote that they were non-conformists except for ME. I figured that if you are a TRUE non-conformist you would go against the crowd and actually proclaim yourself a conformist PLUS I also figured out that we have to act as conformists in at least 95% of what we do in order to function in society. For example, speaking a common language, abiding by traffic regulations to avoid accidents, getting vaccinated, etc.. Of course, my essay stood out from the rest of the other essays of the "non-conformists" proclaiming themselves to be non-conformists. Likewise we now have the DUmmies proudly asserting that they were all young geniuses in this THREAD titled, "new du group- former gifted children?" Yes, DUmmies, you are all just too good to be true...in your own minds. So let us now watch the DUmmies engage in an orgy of self-congratulation in Bolshevik Red while the commentary of your humble correspondent, who learned to speak by the age of nine, is in the [brackets]:

new du group- former gifted children?

[new du group- current braggarts?]

i know there are lots and lots folks at du who are what the pinheads call gifted and talented. at the risk of sounding like a braggart, i am, at the age of 51, finally realizing that my membership in this group has kinda screwed up my life. living among "normal" people (no offense intended) can be extremely difficult. most of us wish we were just normal folks. most of us deny our gifts, and consequently make a lot of bad decisions in life. gifted and successful go together a lot less frequently than most folks would think. gifted and miserable, or troubled, probably outweighs that by a lot. i think it would be great if there was a du group where we could hang out with our peers. anybody?

[strange how this "gifted" dummie never learned learned the rules of capitalization.]

Agreed. The world rewards superficially affable mediocrities -- the more well-connected, the better, of course -- over those who see and speak clearly...and it infuriates me. Always has, always will.

[We're just too good to be true.]

I can remember being told I was "gifted". I can remember being told that teh sky was teh limit. It was all a lie because society today no longer rewards the genius (I say that without any trace of snobbery, it's simply a description), it no longer rewards the free-thinker or teh maverick, it rewards the mediocre, the safe and dependable. You have to put up with being resented your whole life, called an "elitist" because you don't think the world should be run by mediocrities dumber than a box of rocks and as a child, you get physically attacked too.

[I can't help it...I'm a friggin' GENIUS!]

Often, we have problems with personal relationships as well. We often end up with minor mental illnesses (depression most often) too. Theories vary as to why but the most common one is that our minds are set up for analytical thought and therefore, we have problems with the irrationality of emotion (my own theory is that this is why so many of us end up in computing or hard sciences. If something goes wrong, it's not because teh PC doesn't like you or resents your intellect or is having a bad day, it's because you got something wrong and you can go through and fix it).

[MINOR mental illnesses?]

There was a time, when my own depression was at it's worst (I was unmedicated at the time which didn't help) when I wept and wailed and would have given absolutely anything to be "normal". To be happy with the small life of the masses, to believe what I was told, to not see the complexity of everything.

["Please make me stupid like the normal people!"]

I too was a "gifted" kid, and the hardest part for me is that real life has matched up to the endless possibilities I was told would be open to me because of my intellect. I think it is very common for people who work with gifted children to present this idea that gifted kids are guaranteed success, and it can be kind of a rude awakening to discover that being gifted doesn't give a person any more opportunities than anyone else. Sometimes being gifted can even be a disadvantage because, as you said, society rewards the mediocre. Being very intelligent just makes a person appear strange or like an outcast or misfit.

[Nice try. You are a misfit and an outcast so you blame it on the fact that you THINK you are a genius.]

In many ways I see gifted education as a form of special education, because gifted kids aren't able to fit in with mainstream kids in many cases and they need different education taught at a different pace. There have honestly been many times I wished that I were just average, and I didn't wish for my kids to be gifted. It seems like life looks a lot easier when you don't have the inclination to analyze or question everything.

[This looks like a common theme in DUmmieland. A bunch of socially maladjusted misfits who blame their creepiness on the fact that they THINK they are geniuses.]

When you clear away all the BS, American culture is very anti-intellectual, and very punishing of people who are different. Sports is an acceptable means of standing out —- it’s terrific if you are a star at basketball or football —- but gods forbid you should mention excelling in calculus or English class.

[Then the jocks promise not to beat you up if you let them cheat off you in class.]

You are absolutely right about how American society not only doesn't value intellectual ability, but it distrusts it and discourages it. There is a strong and growing anti-intellectual attitude in this country. Just look at the 2004 elections and why people said they voted for Bush - they would prefer a guy they'd like to have a beer with than someone they considered "too smart" like Kerry.

[Too bad for your theory that Bush scored HIGHER than Kerry in a military INTELLIGENCE test required for officers.]

My beautimous and bright daughter, "Kaghime", was in G&T classes from 1st - 3rd grades. It was quite the experience and thankfully, at the time, there were progressive thinking folks in the schools of Colorado (mid-80's). Unfortunately the program was axed when she hit mid-3rd. However, she continues to be very gifted and talented, IMNSHO.

[You're such a genius for naming you beautimous daughter, "Kaghime."]

i went to lutheran schools my whole life- and there was no effort made to seek out nor accomodate "gifted" students- after all, god loves everyone equally, right...? had i been in public schools, i would most likely have been skipped ahead- instead i was pretty much told to "hold back" to be fair to the other kids.

[A DUmmie blames the Lutherans for being a misfit.]

I am now a classic underacheiver who has struggeled with depression and substance abuse issues for most of my adult life. I do ok - have a decent job, etc. but I deeply unsatisfied with my life. I feel like I think everything through too much and come up with the notion that most of what goes on in daily life is just pointless. I think part of that is depression, but I believe my thinking is what gets me depressed in the first place.

[Thinking about what a nerd you are is what gets you depressed in the first place.]

It would be interesting to read this group though I am not quite sure what kinds of people you would get.

[I'll let the next DUmmie who wins a Kewpie Doll for having a brief moment of mental clarity answer that question...]

Lots of smug superiority, methinks. So it WOULD be interesting to read.

[And FUnnie!]

lots of jealous, insecure, mean spirited onlookers i suppose. just like life.

[lots of entertained onlookers.]

i was also a very gifted child. i would like to be part of this group

[if you are a dummie with warm blood flowing through your veins and have a false sense of smug superiority hiding the fact that you are an awkward maladjusted creep, you qualify as a former gifted kid despite the fact that you can't capitalize.]

Being in the "Gifted Program" in grade school only got me shunned, beat up and recess deprived by the same type of people who are running our country now. Being in that same program in Jr. High made me an outcast and a nerd. By the time I was in high school, I had given up on academics and just did enough to get by. I was grateful to get to college and realize that everyone was "gifted" in one way or another. I am not so sure that being branded as "Gifted" when you are nine years old does one any good.

[WAAAAHHHH!!! George Bush beat me up for being "gifted!"]

I was in a g/t program in grade school. One of my grade school teachers gave my parents advise AGAINST me joining this program but we went ahead with it. I had to change schools, make new friends - mainly new friends who were a lot more 'book smart' than I was. It did nothing for my self esteem. In fact, I think it destroyed my self confidence. The expectations were high. I could never live up to them. I could talk an owl out of tree when it came to current events and politics at a very young age. I had zero interest in learning anything about science or math. Even those branded as gifted have different gifts. I felt like a failure. I never measured up. It took me years to get over this...I don't know if I really ever have.

[You are correct. You never did get over the fact that you are a socially maladjusted NERD.]

I know as a child I imagined myself as being an alien from an advanced society who was implanted in my human mother.

[An alien from the Planet Cretin.]

In the first grade, in 1949, I had a teacher who was outraged that I could read; that I "read ahead" in Dick and Jane and finished in ten minutes what she had planned for a whole week's reading aloud experience. Her response was to isolate and humiliate me in front of the whole class.

[She must have been an EVIL Republican.]

When I was four years old I marched into the local library and asked the Librarian to give me the hardest book you could ever read, because I was smart and could read Anything.. and I was dead serious, I'd been reading at High School level or higher at age 4.. She gave me Kant, philosophy.. smart lady.. but I realized that while I could read the WORDS that the concepts were meaningless to me as a child, so I put the book back on the shelf and vowed to have many life experiences so that everything in that philosophy book would ring true when I was older, and I knew I'd have to be much older to completely comprehend Kant and others (my younger brother's middle name is Durant, after Will Durant, my father's favorite philosopher)..

[Too bad the librarian didn't give you a book by Whittaker Chambers.]

had four scholastic scholarships and a 136 IQ and lost it all first semester in college to go completely wild. and i still once in a while fight the resentment that my parents or anybody did not step in to see what the hell was going on with me.

[A DUmmie is angry at OTHERS for not keeping him from acting like a jerk.]

Yeah I could use a group like this. Giftedness f*cked me over bigtime.It lead to alot of the abuse I went through growing up.It is so very hard to relate to people when they do not understand. It sure had a way of alienating me from day 1. I could use a group like this,alot.Please DU add it,and I'll join it!

[Please DU, add a group of fellow misfits who also conveniently blame their failures and social awkwardness on being "gifted."]

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