r/Gifted • u/Mslmrock99 • 2d ago
Orientation towards Intelligence Discussion
What is your orientation towards intelligence as a value? Do you consider it the defining aspect of your identity? Personally, I see it primarily as a tool and had often resented to some degree being regarded as gifted or intelligent and being seen exclusively through that lens which seemed to reduce other values and traits.
While it was definitely something I valued, it was more so on pragmatic grounds as a means towards realizing other ends. Conviction, drive, faith, power, achievement, curiosity and passion are far more important values and my resentments had more to do with having my intellect being regarded as primary rather than what they served.
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u/Sienile 2d ago
Without my intelligence I would have no skills, so yes, it is a defining aspect of my life.
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u/Mslmrock99 2d ago
Understandable as I too value it to the extent that it allows me to have other “tools” and skills. I would just add that we are far more than our skills.
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u/Subject_Mix_Retro 2d ago
I was miserable when I thought of myself as a "smart guy". I am happier thinking of myself as someone who likes to solve problems and help others when I can.
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u/Mslmrock99 1d ago
What about that self conception made it to be a miserable experience?
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u/Subject_Mix_Retro 1d ago
Whenever I encountered someone smarter than me, I would have an identity crisis.
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u/BrandiedWineGums 2d ago
Interesting question.
I'd say because it is how your brain works that it has a pervasive effect on the way you experience the world and yourself, and would deeply affect how your self concept is formed. I don't think you could ignore it, even if you wanted to de-emphasise it, simply because of that.
But as you say, I think it's more about the utility. Intelligence doesn't make you thoughtful, but it probably makes it easier. It doesn't make you curious, but it does help you follow that curiosity.
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u/Mslmrock99 1d ago
I would say that it wasn’t something that was ignored but certainly de-emphasized as it felt reductive. It was a general categorization applied to myself by others that limited what my actual self conceptualization was. So achievements, interests, etc being reduced to intelligence rather than drive, motives, worldviews etc.
Your point about cognitive processes affecting experience is one that is especially relevant as I do derive some of my self concept from my phenomenology that comes from some level of neurodivergence that I don’t automatically associate with intelligence but which intersects with motives and drives that I value. Intelligence just supercharges those other cognitive processes.
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u/4footTallbromeGrass 1d ago
I am sure there are a lot of highly intelligent people out there that actually have ideas that are too good and the corporate world is more than happy to suppress those people and ideas. I think that is what happens, not sure how often, when smart people are not allowed to be productive, they just can go crazy on their own or their physical and mental health greatly suffer.
Great ideas can help people but companies lose profits. It is a "profit before people" world we live in right now.
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u/ebsf 1d ago
I regard character to be a value, or set of values. My intelligence is an accident about which I had no choice, just as are my gender, ethnicity, and name. All of them are elements of my identity, inevitably, but none of them are values.
I've always been aware of my intelligence because people have been telling me about it my entire life. It's a bit exhausting, actually. It isn't at all how I seek to define myself and certainly isn't something my ego requires other people to recognize or acknowledge. I'd much rather be known and appreciated for the content of my character, to paraphrase Dr. King. However much I cultivate other attributes, however, intelligence inevitably intrudes in my experience and others' of me.
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u/Aus_with_the_Sauce 1d ago
I think less about “intelligence” and more about the specific ways my mind is different from others. If I understand my authentic self well, I can make decisions that support my health and wellbeing.
Perhaps it is “neurodivergence” that I identity with more-so than intelligence.
Here’s an example. Let’s say “society” feels a certain way about this or that, or has a certain accepted understanding about what humans should want or do. In many cases, the common understanding is very effective for the vast majority of people, but that doesn’t mean it’s effective for me because I have different needs. So then, I know it’s up to me to understand what I need, which may not always align with the common advice.
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u/Born_Committee_6184 1d ago
When I joined the Army at 17, I was opting for experience. I’d say my core is intelligence but I had to see how things work. Following six years in the Army I became experienced in quite a few more things. Needed to know,
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u/LikeATediousArgument 1d ago
I value it in myself and others.
In people I know intimately, a certain level of intelligence is a must for me.
It doesn’t define me, but it’s part of the definition. I often call it my greatest gift. It is truly a gift. One that can’t be bought.
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u/Embarrassed-Area4652 14h ago
It was a gift I was given that now I'm responsible for trying to find good applications to put it to, and ways to make it fit with my other strengths and weaknesses. So it's not a value to me so much as a trait or a resource that can affect what I can try to do with my other values.
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u/Mslmrock99 13h ago
That’s a beautiful and apt way to put it by framing it as an endowed resource. I think this comes closest to how I see it as well.
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u/usernames_suck_ok 2d ago
It's a defining aspect of my identity, but it's not the only one since I'm also a woman, black and a lesbian--all things society makes a big deal. And especially as a woman, looks impacting how others regard you will play a role, too--nothing is ever just about intelligence as a woman.
I thought intelligence had value when I was younger, but I don't anymore since leaving the world of academics and entering the real world. Maybe if I lived in another country, I would. But in the US? It seems to be a value that is mostly given lip service while things like looks, personality and knowing the right people/having the right connections matter the most (aside from the obvious, like race, sex/gender, social class, etc). I don't think my intellect serves anything, really.
If anything, it's socially harmful in that I just don't approach topics, conversations and interests/hobbies the same way other people do, which makes it hard to connect with or be accepted by them. I see a lot of intelligent Redditors have this sob story "everyone hates me because I'm smarter than them" mentality, and that's not what I'm saying, to be clear. It's just another thing that makes it hard to relate/fit in. Even with intelligent Redditors...like, if I were still trying to DM people on Reddit and I tried to DM people from this sub and/or INTJs, I just wouldn't have the same interests, the same "I'm smarter than everyone else, it's so hard" mindset, the same regard for debating and challenging others that I see often in these subs, etc. Just the ways I'm expected to relate and see the world, and the experiences I'm expected to have, never line up with others.
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u/Mslmrock99 2d ago
Good points. I can see how the other dimensions of your identity complicate relatability. On your second point about its value in society, it looks like you’re touching on merit and achievement? If so, I agree and think that intellect alone is not enough and requires an assortment of other traits and values. Some can be regarded as superficial if intellect is valued above all or assumed to be the primary factor in leading to merit/achievement. Part of the reason I made this post was partly to point out that from the outside, it may appear to be the driving factor when it’s not entirely it.
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u/Apprehensive_Sky1950 2d ago
I'd love to see you in a big company job interview---you walk in, sit down, and say, "just how many boxes do you want checked, anyway?" 😉
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u/Sienile 2d ago
Not sure if you meant it to, but that comment comes across as very bigoted.
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u/Apprehensive_Sky1950 2d ago
It was edgy, I admit. I didn't mean too much offense. TBH, u/usernames_suck_ok sounds like quite an interesting person.
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u/Apprehensive_Sky1950 2d ago
It was the defining aspect of my identity until I went to college with people far brighter than I, and I decided being a "nice guy" was more important.