I am good with knowing my deficiencies. What sucks is being told that they are my fault because I should be “smart enough to overcome them”.
Agreed 100%, being a specialist in something always has led to someone taking a pot shot at your deficiencies.
Or being a jack of all trades and getting potshots for not being an expert in everything just because you pick up the basics quickly.
People who say that are just trying to be a dick to you. Say something soul-searing to them in response and they’ll stop.
Most people just don’t understand that being really good at something doesn’t mean you can’t be terrible at something else. Like, I can problem solve a wide variety of things, but there are a few things that I just have no success at even if I know the problem and the likely solution.
The most infuriating one for me is that if I can’t see something then I cannot line it up right. A screw or bolt out of view means I have a 50/50 chance of ever getting it started even though I know how I can move it to fit in. Like I know to tilt and whatever, but without a visual frame it becomes impossible. A ton of people just yell me I am not trying hard enough, even though attempting to learn for decades hasn’t worked out for me.
But with even the slightest view I can get it started no problem. Being told I am not trying hard enough is infuriating when I am just being honest that it is my limitation.
Alternatively, I’ve met plenty of people who are so desperate to climb the ladder that, even knowing full well their deficiencies, they climb to a level where those deficiencies become detrimental for everyone around them.
If you aren’t a good organizer, and climb into an organization centric position, that’s 100% on you. If you aren’t a good leader and take a coordinating position, that’s on you. If you aren’t good at lining up blind screws, and you knew that was a core competency for your job when you took it, that’s on you. It’s not that I expect you to be “smart enough to overcome” whatever you’re bad at, but you shouldn’t be in positions where something you’re bad at, but can’t overcome, is a major part of your duties.
At that point, yes, I’m going to be “mean” and directly point out your deficiencies.
Can you tell I had a fun meeting today?
It seems like you’re describing the phenomenon where people get promoted up until the point where they don’t do a good job anymore.
I never knew how people can not see that the position was not for them and still accept it, and even work the job for years.
I could take a job where I had the technical responsibility for what my team makes, but I don’t ever want to be anybodys boss. All of that personal stuff on a day to day basis, negotiating pay, etc just isn’t for me.
It’s actually insane how many teachers and other education professionals waved me off with ‘you’re smart enough, just try harder’ while I was obviously suicidally depressed and extremely dysfunctional. Having undiagnosed autism because I was a teenage girl in the '00s was fun.
Girls, undiagnosed autism, and suicidal tendencies? Name me a more iconic trio!
Ah, the ol’ “here’s the test here’s exactly what you need to do to be successful” followed by “lol that was never the real test.”
The guilt that “you could have done more with your life”, despite being a successful engineer with a happy family.
“Gurtaj is a principle software engineer at Google you know! You used to be the same grade in school. What happened?”
“Dad, I’m running a multimillion dollar startup right now”
“Tsk tsk”
“with all that million dollar you still can’t be a doctor, did you know your nephew could play violins blindfolded while performing a surgery when he was still 3 years old. What a disappointment”
Meanwhile,
“Osrs is running a multimilion dollar startup you know! You used to be the same grade at school. What happened?”
“Dad, I’m a principle software engineer at Google right now!”
“Tsk tsk”
Dude…fuck…are you me?
I’m in this picture and it makes me keenly aware of what I could accomplish if I didn’t just coast by
Go with what makes you happiest, most often more effort can lead to less rewards. Ultimately you have to find your comfort zone.
wise words. I started just playing to my strengths a few years ago, instead of overachieving for the nebulous award of being “the best”, and my life has gotten immensely more fulfilling.
my current employer isn’t asking me to be the best in my field, just good at what I do, and that feels great. I get shit done, and don’t feel the need to constantly reinvent the wheel. or feel the stress of failure when something is over my head.
We all think we are there, it’s not a good mentality. No judgement, I am with you
AscendedMeme.jpg: Being Dumb | Being Gifted | Being Just Smart Enough to Coast by Easily in life while enjoying it.
I’m in this picture too, but the red part
Let’s be honest, most of us think we’re in the blue zone, when we are probably in the red zone
No, people in the red zone think they’re in the green zone.
FB proved this
And everyone believing they’re in the blue zone is statistically speaking very likely in the yellow zone.
Sometimes we wish that our impostors syndrome was true
I just wish I didn’t know that whatever is true none of it matters anyway.
Most likely most of us would be in the yellow zone
Look at the mathematician here
In order to bother with something like lemmy, you’re probably above average intelligence (specifically to do with computers)
You can be good with computers but dumb everywhere else, plenty of people like that exist
I had to do an official test along with a psychological examination for reasons when I was almost 18 years old, so I know at some point I was in the blue zone or above, but it doesn’t really fucking matter when you have autism, a mood disorder and have been neglected by your parents so you never learned things like determination or frustration tolerance. I think I shaved a solid 10 IQ points off anyway from almost a decade of substance abuse issues, so now I’m just autistic and dysfunctional without the gifted part.
Serious question: what kind of drug abuse does it take to shave off 10 IQ points? I've done my fair share and would prefer not to have that happen to me - if it hasn't already.
A ton of amphetamines and other stimulant research chemicals and a fuckton of alcohol. I think probably the latter is mostly to blame.
I still suffer from this. Promising early start, intense self-confidence issues and depression by the end.
Doubt is a sign of intelligence. Which can sometimes lead to confidence issues. Just try to keep things in perspective and not let doubt keep you from taking calculated risks. It’s when we allow ourselves to become paralyzed that things regress. A lot of it is environment as well so there’s no simple answer but I can assure you thet you’re not alone.
The secret is we’re all gifted and talented in our own ways. Our society is structured to benefit and work for a specific kind of gifted and talented. You got to an early start, and then when it was determined your talents weren’t profitable, the problem was framed as you wasting them instead or the system failing you.
Not to mention our current identification of gifted and talented is basically just “So you know how that one kid has ADHD and his lack of structure in their home life results in poor grades? Well we put them in the remedial class. There we will teach them coping and organization skills. Meanwhile, this other kid? They also have ADHD but we don’t realize it because their grades are fantastic. Turns out their home life is stressful in a specific way that means they get good grades, but they don’t really know why or what structure is helping them. I school we will put them in the gifted and talented class. There, they’ll be in an unstructured environment where they can learn and explore at their own pace and OH NO NOW THEY’RE ANXIOUS AND UPSET BECAUSE THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO BECAUSE THEY WERE THRIVING IN THE STRUCTURE OF A REGULAR CLASSROOM”
Our education system is not based on individual need and instead on assuming everyone is basically the same, just more or less advanced
I definitely identify with the second kid. Being tossed around so much because they tried to figure me out and failed definitely doesn’t help. “You’re good! But not good enough.”
Many such cases!
This is funny, but even the most intelligent people are inflicted with this. Don’t let it keep you down, we cannot be good at everything.
Its been consistently self-reported by Harvard students. And another effect is present, too - excellence leads to being placed in competitive environments, where everyone else is just as excellent. And this can make brilliant people feel stupid.
Intelligence also doesn’t necessarily translate to actual success. I’ve been through numerous assessments as a child that confirmed I am comfortably in the “green zone” (if measured by IQ, that is), but I also have pretty severe ADHD so I can only really make use of my brain for short periods of time.
I can get a week’s worth of work done in a day, but only once a week, and I spend the rest of the week wondering where I’d be if only I could work like that every day. I was also a decent student in school/uni but never near the top of the class, because I couldn’t bring myself to study for anything more than a few days before the exam.
I wish my iq was 20 higher or lower, idk just gimme out of the blue zone
The older I get the more I profoundly identify with Cypher. Ignorance truly is bliss.
I say it regularly, I would prefer to be ignorant… At least then I wouldn’t be hyper aware our species stinks.
Seriously, sweet ignorance and the woman in the red dress, every day.
I get what you mean… though, I feel like an IQ test is a biased test, I took one as a teenager and scored high. Which was a morale boost at the time, but a few months later I had medical problems and ended up having a stroke and had to basically start all over with speech, motor and memory.
Sure, I survived. But I went through every therapy, started back up and realized I wasn’t close to what I was before. Which was crushing, sure I knew it wouldn’t be the same and I’m still above average, but the latent memories of my capabilities before constantly haunt me.
I didn’t mean to depress anyone, just enjoy the blue zone if at all possible. I constantly try remembering, it can get worse. /hug
though, I feel like an IQ test is a biased test
IQ as used by worm-brained US citizens daily (that is, to measure intelligence) is pseudoscience
Thank god, it’s pseudoscience now. Though I was tested over 2 decades ago, it seemed silly they made a big deal out of it.
Cool name. Are the new ones as enormous as they say?
Thanks, and do you mean the Butthole Spiders?
Of course I mean the butthole spiders! What do they do with their time since the revamp? Maybe we could convince the judge to let us old school the Dahmer types for a few bearamies? I pulled off toe nails until I was transferred to running coffee shops in the rehab neighborhoods so I never got to see the new spiders.
I like the term “twice exceptional”. All of my biggest strengths are aspects of myself that come with tradeoffs. For 20 years straight, I was praised for the strengths and scolded for the tradeoffs. Motherfucker, you can’t enjoy how quickly I learn things I’m interested in and also treat me like I’m lazy when you expect me to sustain equal amounts of interest in 10 different things that bore me and I fail. You can’t enjoy all the art and tech I make and then get annoyed when it’s difficult to break me out of a hyperfixation.
I firmly believe that the tortured artist stereotype is bullshit. There’s nothing about being an artist that requires you to be miserable. But we sure do treat people like shit when their brains work differently.
The later half is so true, early on when you’re a statistical anomaly you can get special treatment, but once you become a small problem or the skill backfires they blow up as if it couldn’t have been seen coming. They expect 100% efficiency like you’re a battery to sap and don’t care how it affects you mentally.
Being gifted only refers to intelligence most of the time. But intelligence alone won’t make a person excel at their field. You can be among the most intelligent people but still stay in the blue zone.
I think excellence comes to be when intelligence meets motivation, purpose, creativity, social skills or other factors.
And when it comes to the blue zone resilience would be a key factor. If one is intelligent of course you realize your faults quicker as well. However it takes resilience to keep going in the face of your own doubt.
That’s why in the real world people who are very convinced of themselves and their own ideas will get far even if not gifted at all.
Agreed with most of your post but uhhhhhhh
That’s why in the real world people who are very convinced of themselves and their own ideas will get far even if not gifted at all
Confidence isn’t as good for finding the truth or good solutions as it is for tricking other people’s brains into thinking that you’re a reputable source of information. If you mean “will get very far” as in “capable of raising through the ranks of a hierarchy, regardless of what they actually do with their position later” or “capable of establishing their own little flat-earth cult”, then sure, a confident dumb person can achieve that. Not sure that’s something to be celebrated though.
This just reads like a post about how you should be a good little capitalist slave.
They don’t mention a job once. “Field” can refer to study, or anything else.
Imagine how mediocre you’d have to be to reply like that.
You don’t think weren’t “gifted, motivated” people in Soviet communist Russia?
Sooo mediocre. That’s why it reads like a dumb capitalist plug.
In Soviet Russia everyone is excellent
Holy shit guys, I get the anti work rhetoric, but you’re essentially saying “don’t work hard for anything, just live by coasting”. I really hope this pendulum stops swinging and finds a happy medium
Yeah, I don’t really give a shit anymore. After covid, and seeing how my country treated it as political, and how people are disposable, why would I want to try? I have a job, they think I’m good at it, and it keeps a roof over my head.
I’ve been making other people large piles of money off of my work my entire adult life and I just don’t care anymore.
I’ve had jobs where I didn’t try before, and I just got super bored. My above comment isn’t even necessarily regarding jobs, it’s regarding putting in effort in life. It applies to personal projects etc too. I have an issue with procrastination because of my childhood, and I find it really satisfying when I can actually focus and get a project done.
If you get enjoyment out of doing fuck all, then more power to you, but myself and many others actually enjoy doing things.
The creator of this comic is a self-described pro-sweatshop neoliberal, which explains the “woe is me, I’m too smart for my own good” delusions.
Sure, because something so egregious would definitely show up in a Google search for “Zach Weinersmith sweatshop”, right?
Unless…you’re exaggerating on the Internet to stir up outrage?
Yeah the comic reeks of PMC brainworms. I say that as someone with PMC brainworms. “You’re special enough to make decisions, but make sure you cultivate too much self-doubt to make true change.”
Do you have a source for that? I cannot find anything about it online in Google, Wiki or even in ChatGPT delusions.
I don’t think he’s ever come out in favor of sweatshops? Maybe you’re think of Matt ygelsia from vox.
Who wants to bet that most commenters will place themselves in the blue zone?
Thankfully I can look down on everyone as I’m firmly at the top of that curve.
Is it surprising that people like that gravitate to a place like this?
No it’s not and it’s also weird to treat that percentile as if people in it are extremely rare. People who fall in the blue area (noticably higher than average intelligence, but not exceptional) are about 15% of the population. The problem is that people somehow feel attacked if someone claims themself to be clever and it’s accepted to shame them for that.
A lack of self-awareness does come with its perks.
I reject uniform distribution theory and only recognize the graph that looks like a pair of torpedo titties.
I can’t unsee it now.
There’s that joke about wearing regular clothes on Halloween to go as the “gifted kid”, and when people ask what you’re supposed to be you sigh and say you were supposed to be a lot of things.
“I’m a homicidal maniac. They look just like everyone else.”
Was this from Dexter? I feel like this is from Dexter.
I was in the “gifted and talented” program as a kid and all it meant was I got more homework lmao. Good thing I loved reading and actually enjoyed being assigned novel chapters
I think I pretty quickly came to the conclusion that I was effectively being punished for understanding the normal material more easily than my classmates, and I didn’t get why my “gifted and talented” work was necessary, since it was, to me, bonus material, and not even interesting bonus material.
A core memory of mine is after showing up one time without an assignment done, my teacher decided to go around the room asking what everyone wanted to be when they grew up. All my G&T classmates said standard kid answers like doctor, lawyer, firefighter, whatever. Not being a smartass, I gave the genuine answer that, because I really liked Taco Bell, and there was a taco bell in walking distance, I’d be happy to work there and get some free Taco Bell.
Teacher called my parents.
How the fuck was I supposed to know giving a real, and in hindsight significantly more attainable answer was unacceptable? We were in elementary school, so why the hell would I know at that point that basic food service is basically non-viable in America?
Had the top conversation in third grade. Have spent the rest of my life in the blue zone.
I avoided it by coasting, they did testing in kindergarten and I realized fast I didn’t want the attention. Especially being treated like a trophy by my dad.
Do I regret coasting now, of course. Do it for your self-confidence, later in life you’ll be happier you did.
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