Really Intelligent People

SpicyDuck

SpicyDuck

SpicyDuck

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You know, like these child prodigys' etc. Why are they able to be so clever, intelligent and learn so fast?

Is there a physical difference in their brain, or does anyone have the ability to match this height of intelligence?

Quite an interesting question I think. It amazes me, what some people can acheive.

Phil.
 
OvertoneBliss said:
You know, like these child prodigys' etc. Why are they able to be so clever, intelligent and learn so fast?

Is there a physical difference in their brain, or does anyone have the ability to match this height of intelligence?

Quite an interesting question I think. It amazes me, what some people can acheive.

Phil.
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Alls I know is its 2:00am, i'm tired, not that intelligent and this is way too deep for this time of night :D :p
 
I had one of those in my class at school. He knew a lot of facts and could do stupidly complicated calculations in a matter of seconds but had no real world experience to put any of it to use. He was totally devoid of any social skills as he studied 24/7. I kind of felt sorry for the guy, was more like a machine than a person.

In his case I think he was just naturally 'gifted'. I don't consider it a gift, I consider it a handicap. These sort of people aren't of any use in the real world as they lack any sort of communication or interaction skills.
 
Scuzi said:
I had one of those in my class at school. He knew a lot of facts and could do stupidly complicated calculations in a matter of seconds but had no real world experience to put any of it to use. He was totally devoid of any social skills as he studied 24/7. I kind of felt sorry for the guy, was more like a machine than a person.

In his case I think he was just naturally 'gifted'. I don't consider it a gift, I consider it a handicap. These sort of people aren't of any use in the real world as they lack any sort of communication or interaction skills.
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Interesting.

It seems really common that these people have some sort of problem, or will no doubt develop one later in life. This subject reminds me of the film Pi, which is very much to do with what has been mentioned up to now. Very interesting and a good watch for anyone who's interested.

Phil.
 
OvertoneBliss said:
Interesting.

It seems really common that these people have some sort of problem, or will no doubt develop one later in life. This subject reminds me of the film Pi, which is very much to do with what has been mentioned up to now. Very interesting and a good watch for anyone who's interested.

Phil.
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Yeah I know what you mean, and pi is an awesome film :) however I have met some really intelligent people here at uni, some suffer from this 'pi' condition but most of them are really practical and interesting people :confused:
 
sometimes it's a;most as if the brain devotes so much attention to a certain type of process that it seems to neglect another. So you'll see people with truly brilliant mathematical ability who lack any kind of interpersonal ability. It's almost as if there is a finite amount of data that can be processed by the brain and if a particular amount of information is able to bew processed by one section then this must come at the expense of other areas of brain function.
 
DanH84 said:
sometimes it's a;most as if the brain devotes so much attention to a certain type of process that it seems to neglect another. So you'll see people with truly brilliant mathematical ability who lack any kind of interpersonal ability. It's almost as if there is a finite amount of data that can be processed by the brain and if a particular amount of information is able to bew processed by one section then this must come at the expense of other areas of brain function.
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I see what you mean there.

It's almost as if every person has 100 units of brain and different areas are filled with an average number but, in some people, these numbers are significantly higher or lower than they usually should be. Thus, lacking in one area and being amazing in another.

Another interesting thing is that drugs manage to kill and eventually, over time, decrease certain abilities in parts of our brain. I wonder if their are any techniques available in order to increase areas just as easily as it is to destroy them.

Phil.
 
personally I think you can't have everything.
Your either booksmart, streetsmart or a bit of both but then again you will lack in other areas,
personally I am acadamically above average, have reasonble "real life" skills
but I am totally unable to appreciate or do anything artistic or drama type stuff, I cannot appreciate paintings, dramas, music (I have NO taste in music, I rarely listen to it, I dont really know many, if any bands etc)

edit - also I have very little feelings for others, not in a selfish way,
for example if someone tells me xyz is in hospital and all i can think is big deal (dont flame me on this, its just the way I am)
But on the other hand I think of other people in day to day situations, holding doors open, thank you etc etc, manners I suppose.

edit no2- A great deal of my time is devoted to ways of making and saving money. I am a bigtime cheapskate and kinda argumentative.
 
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Scuzi said:
I had one of those in my class at school. He knew a lot of facts and could do stupidly complicated calculations in a matter of seconds but had no real world experience to put any of it to use. He was totally devoid of any social skills as he studied 24/7. I kind of felt sorry for the guy, was more like a machine than a person.

In his case I think he was just naturally 'gifted'. I don't consider it a gift, I consider it a handicap. These sort of people aren't of any use in the real world as they lack any sort of communication or interaction skills.
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He could very well of been autistic.
 
jamoor said:
personally I think you can't have everything.
Your either booksmart, streetsmart or a bit of both but then again you will lack in other areas,
personally I am acadamically above average, have reasonble "real life" skills
but I am totally unable to appreciate or do anything artistic or drama type stuff, I cannot appreciate paintings, dramas, music (I have NO taste in music, I rarely listen to it, I dont really know many, if any bands etc)
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Interesting. I, on the other hand, pretty much live in the creative part of my brain. I write music, stories, poems, draw, learn languages etc.

I personally think that when you don't like something, it's just a matter of finding that one thing that kick starts certain areas of the brain. Up until I was 16, I didn't like or have any interest in anything creative and now, it's what makes me who I am.

I have a lot of varying and real life experience as well as being, in my opinion, of average intelligence.

Phil.
 
I think some people are born with a 'genius' type gene. So people find learning and taking in new things 2nd nature. Most people have to work at it. But some people are naturally gifted.

But as said I have found through out school and college there are the people who are clever and have a social life and then there are people who are clever and not very popular.

I think this is always the case. I'm sure everyone will no someone growing up who can do well in tests with out much revision and simular. So people can just take things in.

Like the TV program, the 7 year old surgeon. He had no social skills and couldn't talk about anything bar that he read from a book. Purerly factual.

But when you are so amazingly clever when do you cross the line into being kinda mad/ eccentric?

People like Steven Hawking have writen book on things that no-body really understands. Also if anyone caught on TV not long ago, a documentry about 'The Real Rain Man'. He can remember anything he reads. He could tell you the day of which you were born from the date. He could work it all out but his social skills were lacking, he had a disease, handy cap which can be the answer to why a lot of people are amazingly clever that is. Because they can't concentrate on everything and normally take in a lot.
 
Shotgun_ned said:
He could very well of been autistic.
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reading that post, i thought the exact same thing. there was a guy in my year in school - stupidly intelligent, but had NO interpersonal skills whatsoever. he was a really nice guy, if you could get him talking but he was just never interested.
 
<---- first hand knowledge / experience with this kind of thing.

My son is autistic. Right now in fact he is playing along with the built-in songs on his Yamaha keyboard. One problem, he's doubled the tempo on the metronome :eek:

He was doing algebra at the age of 7. He can understand the concepts in calculus better than I can. Give him the chance, and he'll rip apart ANY computer program, change it to his needs / wants, then recompile (or whatever you do nowadays) it back into working order.

But he has the interpersonal / social skills of a 5 year old. He's 12 (13 on the 15th of April). It's incredibly frustrating at times to have someone that can quite literally leave you FAR behind in the music area (I used to TEACH music), ask you questions about math that you can't even find the answers to on the internet, yet he will embarass the hell out of you in public because he will burst out into a full laughing fit at something that just wasn't all that funny. Or he'll start crying for absolutely (to anyone else) no reason at all. Or he'll step out in front of a moving car to read the number plate......

OvertoneBliss had it right - "It's almost as if every person has 100 units of brain and different areas are filled with an average number but, in some people, these numbers are significantly higher or lower than they usually should be. Thus, lacking in one area and being amazing in another."
 
Haha, I have no doubt in my mind that it can be incredibly frustrating to live with someone who is gifted in such a way. :)

They say we use 10% (1%, 15%, whatever) of our brain and so, I'm under the impression that with the right tuition, motivation or sheer will power, we all have that same potential.

It's like when we get angry and our strength suddenly increases by 200% or whatever; it's all relative to the right things happening, in order for our brains to accomplish something which was before, not normal to ourselves or totally beyond our normal acheivements.

If someone were to hold your family and threaten to kill them all if you don't learn Polish in 1 month, well, their is no doubt in my mind that 90% of people here would be fluent in time.

Relativity doesn't just apply to time, it appears to apply to almost everything. Afterall, life is relevant only to the observer. Everything else is just another obstacle or formula we need to work with, around or crack in order to achieve whatever it is that we live for.

Which takes us to; What is the meaning of life?

... but let's not go there! :p :D

Phil.
 
How I see it, is that people are giving a skillset totalling 100%. How that 100% is made up differs from person to person, for example a person might be a great footballer, but lack any sort of intelligence ;).. same goes with these bright sparks. They have great natural intelligence yet suffer (in the majority of cases) from any sort of social skills.
 
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